Victory for the Jews
9 The ·order [edict; decree] the king had commanded was to be ·done [executed; carried out] on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month [C March 7], the month of Adar. That was the day the enemies of the Jews had hoped to ·defeat [overpower] them, but ·that was changed [the opposite happened]. So the Jews themselves ·defeated [overpowered] ·those who hated them [their enemies]. 2 The Jews ·met [assembled] in their cities in all the ·empire [L provinces] of King ·Xerxes [L Ahasuerus] in order to ·attack [strike; L lay hands on] those who wanted to ·harm [destroy] them. No one ·was strong enough to fight [L could stand] against them, because ·all the other people living in the empire were afraid of them [L dread of them fell on all the peoples]. 3 All the ·important men [nobles] of the ·states [provinces], the governors, ·captains of the soldiers [high officials], and the king’s officers helped the Jews, because they were afraid of Mordecai. 4 Mordecai was ·very important [L great] in the king’s ·palace [L house]. He was famous in all the ·empire [L provinces], because he was becoming ·a leader of more and more people [more and more powerful/influential].
5 And, with their swords, the Jews ·defeated [L struck] all their enemies, ·killing [slaughtering] and destroying them. And they did ·what they wanted [as they pleased] with those people who hated them. 6 In the ·palace [citadel; fortress; 1:2] at Susa, they ·killed [slaughtered] and destroyed five hundred men. 7 They also killed: Parshandatha, Dalphon, Aspatha, 8 Poratha, Adalia, Aridatha, 9 Parmashta, Arisai, Aridai, and Vaizatha, 10 the ten sons of Haman, son of Hammedatha, the enemy of the Jews. But the Jews did not ·take [plunder; confiscate] their ·belongings [property; C this shows they attacked out of self-defense, not for material gain; 8:11; Gen. 14:23].
11 On that day the number killed in the ·palace [citadel; fortress; 1:2] at Susa was reported to the king. 12 The king said to Queen Esther, “The Jews have ·killed [slaughtered] and destroyed five hundred people in the ·palace [citadel; fortress; 1:2] at Susa, as well as Haman’s ten sons. What then have they done in the rest of the king’s ·empire [provinces]! Now what ·else are you asking [L is your petition]? I will do it! What ·else [more] do you want? It will be ·done [granted]!”
13 Esther answered, “If it pleases the king, give the Jews who are in Susa permission to do again tomorrow what the king ·ordered [decreed] for today. And let the bodies of Haman’s ten sons be ·hanged [impaled] on the ·platform [gallows; pole].”
14 So the king ·ordered [decreed] that it be done. A ·law [edict; decree] was given in Susa, and the bodies of the ten sons of Haman were ·hanged [impaled]. 15 The Jews in Susa ·came together [assembled] on the fourteenth day of the month of Adar [C March 8]. They ·killed [slaughtered] three hundred people in Susa, but they did not ·take [plunder; confiscate] their ·belongings [property; 9:10].
16 At that same time, all the Jews in the king’s ·empire [L provinces] also ·met [assembled] to ·protect themselves [defend their lives] and get rid of their enemies. They ·killed [slaughtered] seventy-five thousand of those who hated them, but they did not ·take [plunder; confiscate] their ·belongings [property; 9:10]. 17 This happened on the thirteenth day of the month of Adar [C March 7]. On the fourteenth day they rested and made it a day of joyful ·feasting [banqueting].
The Feast of Purim
18 But the Jews in Susa ·met [assembled] on the thirteenth and fourteenth days of the month of Adar [C and killed their enemies]. Then they rested on the fifteenth day and made it a day of joyful feasting [banqueting].
19 This is why the Jews who live in the country and small villages celebrate on the fourteenth day of the month of Adar [C March 8]. It is a ·day [holiday] of joyful ·feasting [banqueting] and a day for exchanging ·gifts [gifts of food].
20 Mordecai ·wrote down [recorded] everything that had happened. Then he sent ·letters [dispatches; scrolls] to all the Jews in all the ·empire [provinces] of King ·Xerxes [L Ahasuerus], far and near. 21 He ·told [called on] them to celebrate every year on the fourteenth and fifteenth days of the month of Adar, 22 because that was when the Jews got rid of their enemies [C a descendant of Saul (2:5–6) had overcome an Amalekite and descendant of King Agag (3:1), thus completing God’s mandate (Deut. 23:3–6) that Saul failed to accomplish (1 Sam. 15)]. They were also to celebrate it as the month their ·sadness [sorrow] was turned to ·joy [gladness] and their ·crying for the dead [mourning] was turned into ·celebration [a holiday]. He told them to celebrate those days as days of joyful ·feasting [banqueting] and as a time for giving [presents of] food to each other and ·presents [gifts] to the poor [C Purim thus became an annual festival still celebrated by the Jewish people today].
23 So the Jews agreed to do what Mordecai had written to them, and ·they agreed to hold the celebration every year [L to continue what they had begun]. 24 Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, was the enemy of all the Jews. He had ·made [devised] an evil ·plan [plot] against the Jews to destroy them, and he had thrown the Pur (that is, the lot [C dice-like objects]) to choose a day to ·ruin [crush; afflict] and destroy them. 25 But when the king learned of the evil ·plan [plot], he sent out written ·orders [edicts; decrees] that the evil ·plans [plot] Haman had made against the Jews would ·be used against him [L fall/return on his own head]. And those ·orders [edicts; decrees] said that Haman and his sons should be ·hanged [impaled] on the ·platform [gallows; pole]. 26 So these days were called Purim, which comes from the word “Pur” (the lot [C dice-like objects]). Because of everything written in this ·letter [dispatch] and what they had seen and what happened to them, 27 the Jews set up this ·custom [tradition]. They and their descendants and all those who join them are ·always [L without fail] to ·celebrate [observe; keep] these two days every year. They should do it ·in the right way [L as it is written] and at the time Mordecai had ·ordered [decreed]. 28 These two days should be remembered and ·celebrated [observed; kept] ·from now on [L through every generation] in every family, in every ·state [province], and in every city. These days of Purim should ·always [L not fail to] be ·celebrated [observed; kept] ·by [among] the Jews, and their memory never fade among their descendants.
29 So Queen Esther daughter of Abihail, along with Mordecai the Jew, wrote with full authority to confirm this second ·letter [dispatch] about Purim. 30 And Mordecai sent ·letters [dispatches; scrolls] to all the Jews in the one hundred twenty-seven ·states [provinces] of the kingdom of ·Xerxes [L Ahasuerus], writing them ·a message [L words] of peace and ·truth [or security; assurance]. 31 He wrote to ·set up [establish] these days of Purim at the ·chosen [proper; appointed] times. Mordecai the Jew and Queen Esther had sent out the ·order [edict; decree] for the Jews, just as they had ·set up [established] for themselves and their descendants instruction concerning fasting and ·loud weeping [lamentations]. 32 Esther’s ·letter [command] ·set up [established] the rules for Purim, and they were written down in the records.