Esther 9

1So on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which as we have said above is called Adar, when all the Jews were designed to be massacred, and their enemies were greedy after their blood, the case being altered, the Jews began to have the upper hand, and to revenge themselves of their adversaries.

2And they gathered themselves together in every city, and town, and place, to lay their hands on their enemies, and their persecutors. And no one durst withstand them, for the fear of their power had gone through every people.

3And the judges of the provinces, and the governors, and lieutenants, and every one in dignity, that presided over every place and work, extolled the Jews for fear of Mardochai:

4For they knew him to be prince of the palace, and to have great power: and the fame of his name increased daily, and was spread abroad through all men’s mouths.

5So the Jews made a great slaughter of their enemies, and killed them, repaying according to what they had prepared to do to them:

6Insomuch that even in Susan they killed five hundred men, besides the ten sons of Aman the Agagite, the enemy of the Jews: whose names are these:

7Pharsandatha, and Delphon, and Esphatha,

8And Phoratha, and Adalia, and Aridatha,

9And Phermesta, and Arisai, and Aridai, and Jezatha.

10And when they had slain them, they would not touch the spoils of their goods.

11And presently the number of them that were killed in Susan was brought to the king.

12And he said to the queen: The Jews have killed five hundred men in the city of Susan, besides the ten sons of Aman: how many dost thou think they have slain in all the provinces? What askest thou more, and what wilt thou have me to command to be done?

13And she answered: If it please the king, let it be granted to the Jews, to do tomorrow in Susan as they have done today, and that the ten sons of Aman may be hanged upon gibbets.

14And the king commanded that it should be so done. And forthwith the edict was hung up in Susan, and the ten sons of Aman were hanged.

15And on the fourteenth day of the month Adar the Jews gathered themselves together, and they killed in Susan three hundred men: but they took not their substance.

16Moreover through all the provinces which were subject to the king’s dominion the Jews stood for their lives, and slew their enemies and persecutors: insomuch that the number of them that were Billed amounted to seventy-five thousand, and no man took any of their goods.

17Now the thirteenth day of the month Adar was the first day with them all of the slaughter, and on the fourteenth day they left off. Which they ordained to be kept holy day, so that all times hereafter they should celebrate it with feasting, joy, and banquets.

18But they that were killing in the city of Susan, were employed in the slaughter on the thirteenth and fourteenth day of the same month: and on the fifteenth day they rested. And therefore they appointed that day to be a holy day of feasting and gladness.

19But those Jews that dwelt in towns not walled and in villages, appointed the fourteenth day of the month Adar for banquets and gladness, so as to rejoice on that day, and send one another portions of their banquets and meats.

20And Mardochai wrote all these things, and sent them comprised in letters to the Jews that abode in all the king’s provinces, both those that lay near and those afar off,

21That they should receive the fourteenth and fifteenth day of the month Adar for holy days, and always at the return of the year should celebrate them with solemn honour:

22Because on those days the Jews revenged themselves of their enemies, and their mourning and sorrow were turned into mirth and joy, and that these should be days of feasting and gladness, in which they should send one to another portions of meats; and should give gifts to the poor.

23And the Jews undertook to observe with solemnity all they had begun to do at that time, which Mardochai by letters had commanded to be done.

24For Aman, the son of Amadathi of the race of Agag, the enemy and adversary of the Jews, had devised evil against them, to kill them and destroy them: and had cast Phur, that is, the lot.

25And afterwards Esther went in to the king, beseeching him that his endeavours might be made void by the king’s letters: and the evil that he had intended against the Jews, might return upon his own head. And so both he and his sons were hanged upon gibbets.

26And since that time these days are called Phurim, that is, of lots: because Phur, that is, the lot, was cast into the urn. And all things that were done, are contained in the volume of this epistle, that is, of this book:

27And the things that they suffered, and that were afterwards changed, the Jews took upon themselves and their seed, and upon all that had a mind to be joined to their religion, so that it should be lawful for none to pass these days without solemnity: which the writing testifieth, and certain times require, as the years continually succeed one another.

28These are the days which shall never be forgot: and which all provinces in the whole world shall celebrate throughout all generations: neither is there any city wherein the days of Phurim, that is, of lots, must not be observed by the Jews, and by their posterity, which is bound to these ceremonies.

29And Esther the queen, the daughter of Abihail, and Mardochai the Jew, wrote also a second epistle, that with all diligence this day should be established a festival for the time to come.

30And they sent to all the Jews that were in the hundred and twenty-seven provinces of king Assuerus, that they should have peace, and receive truth,

31And observe the days of lots, and celebrate them with joy in their proper time: as Mardochai and Esther had appointed, and they undertook them to be observed by themselves and by their seed, fasts, and cries, and the days of lots,

32And all things which are contained in the history of this book, which is called Esther.

1Igitur duodecimi mensis, quem Adar vocari ante jam diximus, tertiadecima die, quando cunctis Judæis interfectio parabatur, et hostes eorum inhiabant sanguini, versa vice Judæi superiores esse cœperunt, et se de adversariis vindicare.

2Congregatique sunt per singulas civitates, oppida, et loca, ut extenderent manum contra inimicos, et persecutores suos. Nullusque ausus est resistere, eo quod omnes populos magnitudinis eorum formido penetrarat.

3Nam et provinciarum judices, et duces, et procuratores, omnisque dignitas quæ singulis locis ac operibus præerat, extollebant Judæos timore Mardochæi,

4quem principem esse palatii, et plurimum posse cognoverant: fama quoque nominis ejus crescebat quotidie, et per cunctorum ora volitabat.

5Itaque percusserunt Judæi inimicos suos plaga magna, et occiderunt eos, reddentes eis quod sibi paraverant facere:

6in tantum ut etiam in Susan quingentos viros interficerent, extra decem filios Aman Agagitæ hostis Judæorum: quorum ista sunt nomina:

7Pharsandatha, et Delphon, et Esphatha,

8et Phoratha, et Adalia, et Aridatha,

9et Phermesta, et Arisai, et Aridai, et Jezatha.

10Quos cum occidissent, prædas de substantiis eorum tangere noluerunt.

11Statimque numerus eorum, qui occisi erant in Susan, ad regem relatus est.

12Qui dixit reginæ: In urbe Susan interfecerunt Judæi quingentos viros, et alios decem filios Aman: quantam putas eos exercere cædem in universis provinciis? quid ultra postulas, et quid vis ut fieri jubeam?

13Cui illa respondit: Si regi placet, detur potestas Judæis, ut sicut fecerunt hodie in Susan, sic et cras faciant, et decem filii Aman in patibulis suspendantur.

14Præcepitque rex ut ita fieret. Statimque in Susan pependit edictum, et decem filii Aman suspensi sunt.

15Congregatis Judæis quartadecima die mensis Adar, interfecti sunt in Susan trecenti viri: nec eorum ab illis direpta substantia est.

16Sed et per omnes provincias quæ ditioni regis subjacebant, pro animabus suis steterunt Judæi, interfectis hostibus ac persecutoribus suis: in tantum ut septuaginta quinque millia occisorum implerentur, et nullus de substantiis eorum quidquam contingeret.

17Dies autem tertiusdecimus mensis Adar primus apud omnes interfectionis fuit, et quartadecima die cædere desierunt. Quem constituerunt esse solemnem, ut in eo omni tempore deinceps vacarent epulis, gaudio, atque conviviis.

18At hi, qui in urbe Susan cædem exercuerant, tertiodecimo et quartodecimo die ejusdem mensis in cæde versati sunt: quintodecimo autem die percutere desierunt. Et idcirco eumdem diem constituerunt solemnem epularum atque lætitiæ.

19Hi vero Judæi, qui in oppidis non muratis ac villis morabantur, quartumdecimum diem mensis Adar conviviorum et gaudii decreverunt, ita ut exultent in eo, et mittant sibi mutuo partes epularum et ciborum.

20Scripsit itaque Mardochæus omnia hæc, et litteris comprehensa misit ad Judæos qui in omnibus regis provinciis morabantur, tam in vicino positis, quam procul,

21ut quartamdecimam et quintamdecimam diem mensis Adar pro festis susciperent, et revertente semper anno solemni celebrarent honore:

22quia in ipsis diebus se ulti sunt Judæi de inimicis suis, et luctus atque tristitia in hilaritatem gaudiumque conversa sunt, essentque dies isti epularum atque lætitiæ, et mitterent sibi invicem ciborum partes, et pauperibus munuscula largirentur.

23Susceperuntque Judæi in solemnem ritum cuncta quæ eo tempore facere cœperant, et quæ Mardochæus litteris facienda mandaverat.

24Aman enim, filius Amadathi stirpis Agag, hostis et adversarius Judæorum, cogitavit contra eos malum, ut occideret illos atque deleret: et misit phur, quod nostra lingua vertitur in sortem.

25Et postea ingressa est Esther ad regem, obsecrans ut conatus ejus litteris regis irriti fierent, et malum quod contra Judæos cogitaverat, reverteretur in caput ejus. Denique et ipsum et filios ejus affixerunt cruci,

26atque ex illo tempore dies isti appellati sunt phurim, id est sortium: eo quod phur, id est sors, in urnam missa fuerit. Et cuncta quæ gesta sunt, epistolæ, id est, libri hujus volumine, continentur:

27quæque sustinuerunt, et quæ deinceps immutata sunt, susceperunt Judæi super se et semen suum, et super cunctos qui religioni eorum voluerunt copulari, ut nulli liceat duos hos dies absque solemnitate transigere, quos scriptura testatur, et certa expetunt tempora, annis sibi jugiter succedentibus.

28Isti sunt dies, quos nulla umquam delebit oblivio, et per singulas generationes cunctæ in toto orbe provinciæ celebrabunt: nec est ulla civitas, in qua dies phurim, id est sortium, non observentur a Judæis, et ab eorum progenie, quæ his cæremoniis obligata est.

29Scripseruntque Esther regina filia Abihail, et Mardochæus Judæus, etiam secundam epistolam, ut omni studio dies ista solemnis sanciretur in posterum:

30et miserunt ad omnes Judæos qui in centum viginti septem provinciis regis Assueri versabantur, ut haberent pacem, et susciperent veritatem,

31observantes dies sortium, et suo tempore cum gaudio celebrarent: sicut constituerant Mardochæus et Esther, et illi observanda susceperunt a se, et a semine suo, jejunia, et clamores, et sortium dies,

32et omnia quæ libri hujus, qui vocatur Esther, historia continentur.

1Therefore, on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which as we have said before is called Adar, when all the Jews were prepared to be executed and their enemies were greedy for their blood, the situation turned around, and the Jews began to have the upper hand and to vindicate themselves of their adversaries.

2And they gathered together throughout each city, and town, and place, so as to extend their hands against their enemies and their persecutors. And no one dared to resist them, because their great power had pierced all the peoples.

3For even the judges of the provinces, and the rulers, and the procurators, and everyone of dignity, who presided over every place and work, extolled the Jews for fear of Mordecai.

4For they knew him to be the leader of the palace and to have much power. Likewise, the fame of his name increased daily and flew everywhere through word of mouth.

5And so the Jews struck their enemies like a great plague and killed them, repaying according to what they had prepared to do to them,

6so much so that even in Susa they executed five hundred men, besides the ten sons of Haman the Agagite, the enemy of the Jews, and their names are these:

7Parshandatha, and Dalphon, and Aspatha

8and Poratha, and Adalia, and Aridatha,

9and Parmashta, and Arisai, and Aridai, and Vaizatha.

10When they had slain them, they were unwilling to touch the spoils of their belongings.

11And immediately the number of those who had been killed in Susa was reported to the king.

12He said to the queen, “In the city of Susa, the Jews have executed five hundred men, and also the ten sons of Haman. How many executions do you think that they have carried out in all the provinces? What more do you ask, and what do you wish, so that I may order it to be done?”

13And she answered, “If it pleases the king, may power be granted to the Jews, so as to do tomorrow in Susa just as they have done today, and that the ten sons of Haman may be hung up the gallows.”

14And the king instructed that it should be so done. And immediately the edict was hung up in Susa, and the ten sons of Haman were hung up.

15On the fourteenth day of the month Adar, the Jews gathered themselves together, and they executed in Susa three hundred men, but they did not seize their belongings from them.

16Moreover, throughout all the provinces which were subject to the king’s dominion, the Jews made a stand for their lives, and they executed their enemies and their persecutors, so much so that the number of those who were killed amounted to seventy-five thousand, and yet no one touched any of their belongings.

17Now the thirteenth day of the month Adar was the first day with all of the executions, and on the fourteenth day they ceased the killing. This day they established to be sacred, so that in all times hereafter they would be free for feasting, joyfulness, and celebration.

18But, as for those who were carrying out the killings in the city of Susa, they turned to killing on the thirteenth and fourteenth day of the same month. But on the fifteenth day they ceased to attack. And for that reason they established that day as sacred, with feasting and with gladness.

19But in truth, those Jews who were staying in unwalled towns and villages, appointed the fourteenth day of the month Adar for celebration and gladness, so as to rejoice on that day and send one another portions of their feasts and their meals.

20And so Mordecai wrote down all these things and sent them, composed in letters, to the Jews who were staying in all the king’s provinces, as much to those in nearby places as to those far away,

21so that they would accept the fourteenth and fifteenth day of the month Adar for holy days, and always, at the return of the year, would celebrate them with sacred esteem.

22For on those days, the Jews vindicated themselves of their enemies, and their mourning and sorrow were turned into mirth and joy, so that these would be days of feasting and gladness, in which they would send one another portions of their feasts, and would grant gifts to the poor.

23And the Jews accepted as a solemn ritual all the things which they had begun to do at that time, which Mordecai had commanded with letters to be done.

24For Haman, the son of Hammedatha of Agag lineage, the enemy and adversary of the Jews, had devised evil against them, to kill them and to destroy them. And he had cast Pur, which in our language means the lot.

25And after this, Esther had entered before the king, begging him that his efforts might be made ineffective by the king’s letters, and that the evil he intended against the Jews might return upon his own head. Finally, both he and his sons were fastened to a cross.

26And so, from that time, these days are called Purim, that is, of the lots, because Pur, that is, the lot, was cast into the urn. And all things that had been carried out are contained in the volume of this epistle, that is, of this book.

27And whatever they suffered, and whatever was altered afterwards, the Jews received for themselves and their offspring and for all who were willing to be joined to their religion, so that none would be permitted to transgress the solemnity of these two days, to which the writing testifies, and which certain times require, as the years continually succeed one another.

28These are the days which no one ever will erase into oblivion, and which every province in the whole world, throughout each generation, shall celebrate. Neither is there any city wherein the days of Purim, that is, of lots, may not be observed by the Jews, and by their posterity, which has been obligated to these ceremonies.

29And Esther the queen, the daughter of Abihail, and Mordecai the Jew, also wrote a second letter, so that with all zealousness this day would be confirmed as customary for future generations.

30And they sent to all the Jews, who had been stirred up in the one hundred twenty-seven provinces of king Artaxerxes, that they should have peace and receive truth,

31and observe the days of lots, and celebrate them with joy at their proper time, just as Mordecai and Esther had established. And they accepted these to be observed by themselves and by their offspring: fasting, and crying out, and the days of lots,

32and all things which are contained in the history of this book, which is called Esther.