Esther, Chapter 9:

Verses from Esther, Chapter 9 of the book of Esther in the Bible.

Jews take revenge on their enemies

• 1. On the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the month of Adar, the king's decree would come into force. On that day, the enemies of the Jews expected to triumph over them, but the opposite happened: the Jews gathered in their cities, in all the provinces of King Xerxes, to defend themselves from those who sought their destruction. No one could resist them, for all people feared the Jews.
• 2. And all the nobles of the provinces, the satraps, the governors, and the king's administrators supported the Jews, for the fear of Mordecai had come upon them.
• 3. Mordecai was esteemed in the palace, and his fame spread throughout the provinces, making him increasingly powerful.
• 4. The Jews struck all their enemies with the sword, killing and destroying them, doing whatever they wanted with them.
• 5. In the citadel of Susa the Jews killed and destroyed five hundred men.
• 6. They also killed Parsandata, Dalfom, Aspata,
• 7. Porata, Adalia, Aridata,
• 8. Parmasta, Arisai, Aridai and Vaizata,
• 9. the ten sons of Haman, son of Hamedata, the enemy of the Jews. However, they did not take possession of his assets.
• 10. That same day, the total number of deaths in the citadel of Susa was reported to the king.
• 11. Then the king said to Queen Esther, “The Jews have killed and destroyed five hundred men and the ten sons of Haman in the citadel of Shushan. What will they have done in the other provinces of the empire? Now, what is your request? You will be attended to. What is your desire still? This will also be granted.”
• 12. Esther replied, “If it pleases the king, let the Jews who are in Shushan also act tomorrow in accordance with today’s decree, so that the bodies of the ten sons of Haman will be exposed on the gallows.”
• 13. Then the king gave the order to do so. The decree was published in Susa, and the bodies of Haman's ten sons were exposed on the gallows.
• 14. The Jews of Shushan gathered together on the fourteenth day of the month of Adar and killed three hundred men in Shushan, but did not take possession of their possessions.
• 15. Meanwhile, the rest of the Jews who lived in the provinces of the empire also came together to protect themselves and get rid of their enemies. They killed seventy-five thousand of them, but did not take possession of their property.
• 16. This happened on the thirteenth day of the month Adar, and on the fourteenth day they rested and made it a day of celebration and joy.

The Purim celebration

• 17. The Jews of Susa, in turn, gathered together on the thirteenth and fourteenth days, and on the fifteenth they rested and made that day a feast and a joy.
• 18. Therefore, Jews living in towns and cities celebrate the fourteenth day of the month of Adar as a day of celebration and joy, of exchanging gifts.
• 19Mordecai recorded these events and sent letters to all the Jews in all the provinces of King Xerxes, near and far,
• 20. establishing that they should celebrate annually the fourteenth and fifteenth days of the month of Adar,
• 21. for in those days the Jews were freed from their enemies; It was a month of sadness that turned into joy and mourning that turned into celebration. Mordecai ordered them to celebrate these days as festivals and moments of joy, exchanging gifts and offerings to the poor.
• 22. The Jews accepted this celebration and adopted it as a custom, fulfilling what Mordecai had written to them.
• 23. Because Haman, the son of Hamedata the Agagite, enemy of all the Jews, had planned to destroy them and cast the “pur”, that is, lots, to annihilate and exterminate them.
• 24. When these facts came to the king's attention, he issued written decrees that Haman's evil plan against the Jews would be turned against his own head, and that he and his sons would be hanged.
• 25. Therefore, these days were called Purim, after the name “pur”. In view of everything written in this letter and what you have witnessed and experienced,
• 26. The Jews decided to establish this celebration as a custom, that they, their descendants and all who joined them as converts would never fail to celebrate these two days annually, as Mordecai and Queen Esther had established in writing.
• 27. They should remember and celebrate these days in every family, in every province and in every city. These days of Purim should never be left aside by the Jews, nor by their descendants.
• 28. These days should be remembered and celebrated by all generations, in each family, in each province and in each city. These days of Purim should never be forgotten by the Jews and their descendants.
• 29. Queen Esther, daughter of Abiail, and the Jew Mordecai wrote with all authority a second letter to confirm the first, about Purim.
• 30. Mordecai sent letters to all the Jews in the one hundred and twenty-seven provinces of the empire of Xerxes, wishing them peace and security,
• 31. and establishing that these days of Purim should be celebrated on the determined dates, as Mordecai the Jew and Queen Esther had decreed and established for themselves, for all the Jews and for their descendants. They also added observations about times of fasting and lamentation.
• 32. Esther's decree confirmed the provisions of Purim, and this was recorded in the annals.

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