Esther 9 - English Standard Version Anglicised (ESVUK)

The Jews Destroy Their Enemies

9 (A)Now in the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar, (B)on the thirteenth day of the same, (C)when the king's command and edict were about to be carried out, (D)on the very day when the enemies of the Jews hoped to gain the mastery over them, the reverse occurred: the Jews gained mastery over those who hated them. 2 (E)The Jews gathered in their cities throughout all the provinces of King Ahasuerus to lay hands on those who sought their harm. And no one could stand against them, (F)for the fear of them had fallen on all peoples. 3 All the officials of the provinces and (G)the satraps and the governors and the royal agents also helped the Jews, for the fear of Mordecai had fallen on them. 4 For Mordecai was great in the king's house, and his fame spread throughout all the provinces, for the man Mordecai grew (H)more and more powerful. 5 The Jews struck all their enemies with the sword, killing and destroying them, and did as they pleased to those who hated them. 6 In Susa the citadel itself the Jews killed and destroyed 500 men, 7 and also killed Parshandatha and Dalphon and Aspatha 8 and Poratha and Adalia and Aridatha 9 and Parmashta and Arisai and Aridai and Vaizatha, 10 (I)the ten sons of Haman the son of Hammedatha, (J)the enemy of the Jews, (K)but they laid no hand on the plunder.

11 That very day the number of those killed in Susa the citadel was reported to the king. 12 And the king said to Queen Esther, “In Susa the citadel the Jews have killed and destroyed 500 men and also the ten sons of Haman. What then have they done in the rest of the king's provinces! (L)Now what is your wish? It shall be granted you. And what further is your request? It shall be fulfilled.” 13 And Esther said, “If it please the king, let the Jews who are in Susa be allowed (M)tomorrow also to do according to this day's edict. And let the ten sons of Haman be hanged on the gallows.”[a] 14 So the king commanded this to be done. A decree was issued in Susa, and the ten sons of Haman were hanged. 15 The Jews who were in Susa gathered also on the fourteenth day of the month of Adar and they killed 300 men in Susa, but they laid no hands on the plunder.

16 (N)Now the rest of the Jews who were in the king's provinces also (O)gathered to defend their lives, and got relief from their enemies and killed 75,000 of those who hated them, but they laid no hands on the plunder. 17 This was (P)on the thirteenth day of the month of Adar, and on the fourteenth day they rested and made that a day of feasting and gladness. 18 But the Jews who were in Susa gathered (Q)on the thirteenth day and on the fourteenth, and rested (R)on the fifteenth day, making that a day of feasting and gladness. 19 Therefore the Jews of the villages, who live in (S)the rural towns, hold the fourteenth day of the month of Adar as a day for gladness and feasting, as (T)a holiday, and (U)as a day on which they send gifts of food to one another.

The Feast of Purim Inaugurated

20 And Mordecai recorded these things and sent letters to all the Jews who were in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, both near and far, 21 obliging them to keep the fourteenth day of the month Adar and also the fifteenth day of the same, year by year, 22 as the days on which the Jews got relief from their enemies, and as the month that had been turned for them from sorrow into gladness and from mourning into (V)a holiday; that they should make them days of feasting and gladness, days for sending gifts of food to one another and gifts to the poor.

23 So the Jews accepted what they had started to do, and what Mordecai had written to them. 24 For Haman the Agagite, the son of Hammedatha, (W)the enemy of all the Jews, (X)had plotted against the Jews to destroy them, and (Y)had cast Pur (that is, cast lots), to crush and to destroy them. 25 But when it came before the king, he gave orders in writing (Z)that his evil plan which he had devised against the Jews (AA)should return on his own head, and that he and his sons should be hanged on the gallows.[b] 26 Therefore they called these days Purim, after the term (AB)Pur. Therefore, because of all that was written in (AC)this letter, and of what they had faced in this matter, and of what had happened to them, 27 the Jews firmly bound themselves and their offspring and (AD)all who joined them, that without fail they would keep (AE)these two days according to what was written and at the time appointed every year, 28 that these days should be remembered and kept throughout every generation, in every clan, province, and city, and that these days of Purim should never fall into disuse among the Jews, nor should the commemoration of these days cease among their descendants.

29 Then Queen Esther, (AF)the daughter of Abihail, and Mordecai the Jew gave full written authority, confirming (AG)this second letter about Purim. 30 Letters were sent to all the Jews, (AH)to the 127 provinces of the kingdom of Ahasuerus, in words of peace and truth, 31 that these days of Purim should be observed at their appointed seasons, as Mordecai the Jew and Queen Esther bound them, and as they had bound themselves and their offspring, with regard to (AI)their fasts and their lamenting. 32 The command of Queen Esther confirmed these practices of (AJ)Purim, and it was recorded in writing.

Footnotes

  1. Esther 9:13 Or stake
  2. Esther 9:25 Or suspended on a stake

Cross references

  1. Esther 9:1 : ch. 8:12
  2. Esther 9:1 : ver. 17
  3. Esther 9:1 : ch. 3:13
  4. Esther 9:1 : [See ch. 8:12 above]; ch. 3:13; 9:1
  5. Esther 9:2 : ver. 15, 16, 18; ch. 8:11
  6. Esther 9:2 : ch. 8:17
  7. Esther 9:3 : See Ezra 8:36
  8. Esther 9:4 : [2 Sam. 3:1]; 1 Chr. 11:9
  9. Esther 9:10 : ver. 13, 14; [ch. 5:11]
  10. Esther 9:10 : See ch. 3:10
  11. Esther 9:10 : [ch. 8:11]
  12. Esther 9:12 : ch. 5:6; 7:2
  13. Esther 9:13 : ver. 15; ch. 8:11
  14. Esther 9:16 : ver. 2
  15. Esther 9:16 : ver. 2; [ch. 8:11]
  16. Esther 9:17 : ver. 1
  17. Esther 9:18 : [See ver. 17 above]; ver. 1
  18. Esther 9:18 : ver. 21
  19. Esther 9:19 : Deut. 3:5; Ezek. 38:11; Zech. 2:4
  20. Esther 9:19 : ch. 8:17
  21. Esther 9:19 : Neh. 8:10, 12
  22. Esther 9:22 : [See ver. 19 above]; ch. 8:17
  23. Esther 9:24 : See ch. 3:10
  24. Esther 9:24 : ch. 3:6
  25. Esther 9:24 : ch. 3:7
  26. Esther 9:25 : ch. 7:9, 10; 8:3, 7
  27. Esther 9:25 : [Ps. 7:16]
  28. Esther 9:26 : [See ver. 24 above]; ch. 3:7
  29. Esther 9:26 : ver. 20
  30. Esther 9:27 : [Isa. 56:3, 6; Zech. 2:11]
  31. Esther 9:27 : ver. 21
  32. Esther 9:29 : ch. 2:15
  33. Esther 9:29 : ver. 20; ch. 8:10
  34. Esther 9:30 : ch. 1:1; 8:9
  35. Esther 9:31 : ch. 4:3
  36. Esther 9:32 : ver. 26

You Might Also Like:

Esther 9 - Young's Literal Translation (YLT)

9 And in the twelfth month -- it [is] the month of Adar -- on the thirteenth day of it, in which the word of the king, even his law, hath come to be done, in the day that the enemies of the Jews had hoped to rule over them, and it is turned that the Jews rule over those hating them -- 2 the Jews hav...
Read More

Esther 9 - Wycliffe Bible (WYC)

9 Therefore in the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which we said now before to be called Adar, (that is, March,) when slaying was made ready to all the Jews by Haman, and their enemies setted treason to their blood, on the contrary, the Jews now began to be the higher part, and to venge them(se...
Read More

Esther 9 - World English Bible (WEB)

9 Now in the twelfth month, which is the month Adar, on the thirteenth day of the month, when the king’s commandment and his decree came near to be put in execution, on the day that the enemies of the Jews hoped to conquer them, (but it was turned out the opposite happened, that the Jews conquered t...
Read More

Esther 9 - The Voice (VOICE)

9 The new law and orders of King Ahasuerus took effect on the 13th day of the 12th month (the month of Adar). It was on this day that those who were enemies of the Jews had planned to overtake them, but that was not the way it happened. Instead, the Jews got the upper hand over those who conspired a...
Read More

Esther 9 - Tree of Life Version (TLV)

Jews Defend Themselves9 Consequently, on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month (that is the month Adar), the king’s edict and his law drew near to be carried out. On that day the enemies of the Jews had hoped to overpower them, but contrary to expectations the Jews gained the upper hand over those...
Read More

Esther 9 - Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (RSVCE)

Destruction of the Enemies of the Jews9 Now in the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar, on the thirteenth day of the same, when the king’s command and edict were about to be executed, on the very day when the enemies of the Jews hoped to get the mastery over them, but which had been changed to...
Read More

Esther 9 - Revised Standard Version (RSV)

Destruction of the Enemies of the Jews9 Now in the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar, on the thirteenth day of the same, when the king’s command and edict were about to be executed, on the very day when the enemies of the Jews hoped to get the mastery over them, but which had been changed to...
Read More

Esther 9 - Orthodox Jewish Bible (OJB)

9 Now in the twelfth month, that is, the month Adar, on the thirteenth day of the same, when the devar HaMelech and his dat drew near to be put in execution, in the day that the oyvei HaYehudim hoped to have power over them, (though it was turned to the contrary, that the Yehudim had rule over them ...
Read More

Esther 9 - New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE)

Destruction of the Enemies of the Jews9 Now in the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar, on the thirteenth day, when the king’s command and edict were about to be executed, on the very day when the enemies of the Jews hoped to gain power over them, but which had been changed to a day when the J...
Read More

Esther 9 - New Revised Standard Version, Anglicised (NRSVA)

Destruction of the Enemies of the Jews9 Now in the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar, on the thirteenth day, when the king’s command and edict were about to be executed, on the very day when the enemies of the Jews hoped to gain power over them, but which had been changed to a day when the J...
Read More

Esther 9 - New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

Destruction of the Enemies of the Jews9 Now in the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar, on the thirteenth day, when the king’s command and edict were about to be executed, on the very day when the enemies of the Jews hoped to gain power over them but that had been changed to a day when the Jew...
Read More

Esther 9 - New Living Translation (NLT)

The Victory of the Jews9 So on March 7[a] the two decrees of the king were put into effect. On that day, the enemies of the Jews had hoped to overpower them, but quite the opposite happened. It was the Jews who overpowered their enemies. 2 The Jews gathered in their cities throughout all the king’s ...
Read More

Esther 9 - New Life Version (NLV)

The Jews Destroy Those Who Try to Kill Them9 Now came the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the month of Adar, when the king’s law was about to be carried out. It was the day when those who hated the Jews hoped to get the rule over them. But their plan was turned around, and the Jews ruled over t...
Read More

Esther 9 - New King James Version (NKJV)

The Jews Destroy Their Tormentors9 Now (A)in the twelfth month, that is, the month of Adar, on the thirteenth day, (B)the time came for the king’s command and his decree to be executed. On the day that the enemies of the Jews had hoped to overpower them, the opposite occurred, in that the Jews thems...
Read More

Esther 9 - New International Version - UK (NIVUK)

9 On the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the month of Adar, the edict commanded by the king was to be carried out. On this day the enemies of the Jews had hoped to overpower them, but now the tables were turned and the Jews got the upper hand over those who hated them. 2 The Jews assembled in ...
Read More

Esther 9 - New International Version (NIV)

9 On the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the month of Adar,(A) the edict commanded by the king was to be carried out. On this day the enemies of the Jews had hoped to overpower them, but now the tables were turned and the Jews got the upper hand(B) over those who hated them.(C) 2 The Jews assem...
Read More

Esther 9 - New International Reader's Version (NIRV)

9 The king’s order had to be carried out on the 13th day of the 12th month. That was the month of Adar. On that day the enemies of the Jews had hoped to win the battle over them. But now everything had changed. The Jews had gained the advantage over those who hated them. 2 The Jews gathered togethe...
Read More