Now in the
twelfth month, that is, the month Adar, on the
thirteenth day of the same, when the king's
commandment and his decree drew near to be put in
execution, in the day that the enemies of the
Jews hoped to have power over them, (though it
was turned to the contrary, that the Jews had
rule over them that hated them;)
02 The Jews gathered themselves together in their
cities throughout all the provinces of the king
Ahasuerus, to lay hand on such as sought their
hurt: and no man could withstand them; for the
fear of them fell upon all people.
03 And all the rulers of the provinces, and the
lieutenants, and the deputies, and officers of
the king, helped the Jews; because the fear of
Mordecai fell upon them.
04 For Mordecai was great in the king's house,
and his fame went out throughout all the
provinces: for this man Mordecai waxed greater
and greater.
05 Thus the Jews smote all their enemies with the
stroke of the sword, and slaughter, and
destruction, and did what they would unto those
that hated them.
06 And in Shushan the palace the Jews slew and
destroyed five hundred men.
07 And Parshandatha, and Dalphon, and Aspatha,
08 And Poratha, and Adalia, and Aridatha,
09 And Parmashta, and Arisai, and Aridai, and
Vajezatha,
10 The ten sons of Haman the son of Hammedatha,
the enemy of the Jews, slew they; but on the
spoil laid they not their hand.
11 On that day the number of those that were
slain in Shushan the palace was brought before
the king.
12 And the king said unto Esther the queen, The
Jews have slain and destroyed five hundred men in
Shushan the palace, and the ten sons of Haman;
what have they done in the rest of the king's
provinces? now what is thy petition? and it shall
be granted thee: or what is thy request further?
and it shall be done.
13 Then said Esther, If it please the king, let
it be granted to the Jews which are in Shushan to
do to-morrow also according unto this day's
decree, and let Haman's ten sons be hanged upon
the gallows.
14 And the king commanded it so to be done: and
the decree was given at Shushan; and they hanged
Haman's ten sons.
15 For the Jews that were in Shushan gathered
themselves together on the fourteenth day also of
the month Adar, and slew three hundred men at
Shushan; but on the prey they laid not their
hand.
16 But the other Jews that were in the king's
provinces gathered themselves together, and stood
for their lives, and had rest from their enemies,
and slew of their foes seventy and five thousand,
but they laid not their hands on the prey,
17 On the thirteenth day of the month Adar; and
on the fourteenth day of the same rested they,
and made it a day of feasting and gladness.
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18 But the Jews that were at Shushan assembled
together on the thirteenth day thereof, and on
the fourteenth thereof; and on the fifteenth day
of the same they rested, and made it a day of
feasting and gladness.
19 Therefore the Jews of the villages, that dwelt
in the unwalled towns, made the fourteenth day of
the month Adar a day of gladness and feasting,
and a good day, and of sending portions one to
another.
20 And Mordecai wrote these things, and sent
letters unto all the Jews that were in all the
provinces of the king Ahasuerus, both nigh and
far,
21 To stablish this among them, that they should
keep the fourteenth day of the month Adar, and
the fifteenth day of the same, yearly,
22 As the days wherein the Jews rested from their
enemies, and the month which was turned unto them
from sorrow to joy, and from mourning into a good
day: that they should make them days of feasting
and joy, and of sending portions one to another,
and gifts to the poor.
23 And the Jews undertook to do as they had
begun, and as Mordecai had written unto them;
24 Because Haman the son of Hammedatha, the
Agagite, the enemy of all the Jews, had devised
against the Jews to destroy them, and had cast
Pur, that is, the lot, to consume them, and to
destroy them;
25 But when Esther came before the king, he
commanded by letters that his wicked device,
which he devised against the Jews, should return
upon his own head, and that he and his sons
should be hanged on the gallows.
26 Wherefore they called these days Purim after
the name of Pur. Therefore for all the words of
this letter, and of that which they had seen
concerning this matter, and which had come unto
them,
27 The Jews ordained, and took upon them, and
upon their seed, and upon all such as joined
themselves unto them, so as it should not fail,
that they would keep these two days according to
their writing, and according to their appointed
time every year;
28 And that these days should be remembered and
kept throughout every generation, every family,
every province, and every city; and that these
days of Purim should not fail from among the
Jews, nor the memorial of them perish from their
seed.
29 Then Esther the queen, the daughter of
Abihail, and Mordecai the Jew, wrote with all
authority, to confirm this second letter of
Purim.
30 And he sent the letters unto all the Jews, to
the hundred twenty and seven provinces of the
kingdom of Ahasuerus, with words of peace and
truth,
31 To confirm these days of Purim in their times
appointed, according as Mordecai the Jew and
Esther the queen had enjoined them, and as they
had decreed for themselves and for their seed,
the matters of the fastings and their cry.
32 And the decree of Esther confirmed these
matters of Purim; and it was written in the book.
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