EST 01:01 Now it came to pass in the days of Ahasuerus, (this [is]
Ahasuerus which reigned, from India even unto Ethiopia, [over] an
hundred and seven and twenty provinces:)
EST 01:02 [That] in those days, when the king Ahasuerus sat on the
throne of his kingdom, which [was] in Shushan the palace,
EST 01:03 In the third year of his reign, he made a feast unto all
his princes and his servants; the power of Persia and Media, the
nobles and princes of the provinces, [being] before him:
EST 01:04 When he showed the riches of his glorious kingdom and the
honour of his excellent majesty many days, [even] and hundred and
fourscore days.
EST 01:05 And when these days were expired, the king made a feast
unto all the people that were present in Shushan the palace, both
unto great and small, seven days, in the court of the garden of the
king's palace;
EST 01:06 [Where were] white, green, and blue, [hangings], fastened
with cords of fine linen and purple to silver rings and pillars of
marble: the beds [were of] gold and silver, upon a pavement of red,
and blue, and white, and black, marble.
EST 01:07 And they gave [them] drink in vessels of gold, (the
vessels being diverse one from another,) and royal wine in
abundance, according to the state of the king.
EST 01:08 And the drinking [was] according to the law; none did
compel: for so the king had appointed to all the officers of his
house, that they should do according to every man's pleasure.
EST 01:09 Also Vashti the queen made a feast for the women [in] the
royal house which [belonged] to king Ahasuerus.
EST 01:10 On the seventh day, when the heart of the king was merry
with wine, he commanded Mehuman, Biztha, Harbona, Bigtha, and
Abagtha, Zethar, and Carcas, the seven chamberlains that served in
the presence of Ahasuerus the king,
EST 01:11 To bring Vashti the queen before the king with the crown
royal, to show the people and the princes her beauty: for she [was]
fair to look on.
EST 01:12 But the queen Vashti refused to come at the king's
commandment by [his] chamberlains: therefore was the king very
wroth, and his anger burned in him.
EST 01:13 Then the king said to the wise men, which knew the times,
(for so [was] the king's manner toward all that knew law and
judgment:
EST 01:14 And the next unto him [was] Carshena, Shethar, Admatha,
Tarshish, Meres, Marsena, [and] Memucan, the seven princes of Persia
and Media, which saw the king's face, [and] which sat the first in
the kingdom;)
EST 01:15 What shall we do unto the queen Vashti according to law,
because she hath not performed the commandment of the king Ahasuerus
by the chamberlains?
EST 01:16 And Memucan answered before the king and the princes,
Vashti the queen hath not done wrong to the king only, but also to
all the princes, and to all the people that [are] in all the
provinces of the king Ahasuerus.
EST 01:17 For [this] deed of the queen shall come abroad unto all
women, so that they shall despise their husbands in their eyes, when
it shall be reported, The king Ahasuerus commanded Vashti the queen
to be brought in before him, but she came not.
EST 01:18 [Likewise] shall the ladies of Persia and Media say this
day unto all the king's princes, which have heard of the deed of the
queen. Thus [shall there arise] too much contempt and wrath.
EST 01:19 If it please the king, let there go a royal commandment
from him, and let it be written among the laws of the Persians and
the Medes, that it be not altered, That Vashti come no more before
king Ahasuerus; and let the king give her royal estate unto another
that is better than she.
EST 01:20 And when the king's decree which he shall make shall be
published throughout all his empire, (for it is great,) all the
wives shall give to their husbands honour, both to great and small.
EST 01:21 And the saying pleased the king and the princes; and the
king did according to the word of Memucan:
EST 01:22 For he sent letters into all the king's provinces, into
every province according to the writing thereof, and to every people
after their language, that every man should bear rule in his own
house, and that [it] should be published according to the language
of every people.
EST 02:01 After these things, when the wrath of king Ahasuerus was
appeased, he remembered Vashti, and what she had done, and what was
decreed against her.
EST 02:02 Then said the king's servants that ministered unto him,
Let there be fair young virgins sought for the king:
EST 02:03 And let the king appoint officers in all the provinces of
his kingdom, that they may gather together all the fair young
virgins unto Shushan the palace, to the house of the women, unto the
custody of Hege the king's chamberlain, keeper of the women; and let
their things for purification be given [them]:
EST 02:04 And let the maiden which pleaseth the king be queen
instead of Vashti. And the thing pleased the king; and he did so.
EST 02:05 [Now] in Shushan the palace there was a certain Jew,
whose name [was] Mordecai, the son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the
son of Kish, a Benjamite;
EST 02:06 Who had been carried away from Jerusalem with the
captivity which had been carried away with Jeconiah king of Judah,
whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried away.
EST 02:07 And he brought up Hadassah, that [is], Esther, his
uncle's daughter: for she had neither father nor mother, and the
maid [was] fair and beautiful; whom Mordecai, when her father and
mother were dead, took for his own daughter.
EST 02:08 So it came to pass, when the king's commandment and his
decree was heard, and when many maidens were gathered together unto
Shushan the palace, to the custody of Hegai, that Esther was brought
also unto the king's house, to the custody of Hegai, keeper of the
women.
EST 02:09 And the maiden pleased him, and she obtained kindness of
him; and he speedily gave her her things for purification, with such
things as belonged to her, and seven maidens, [which were] meet to
be given her, out of the king's house: and he preferred her and her
maids unto the best [place] of the house of the women.
EST 02:10 Esther had not showed her people nor her kindred: for
Mordecai had charged her that she should not show [it].
EST 02:11 And Mordecai walked every day before the court of the
women's house, to know how Esther did, and what should become of
her.
EST 02:12 Now when every maid's turn was come to go in to king
Ahasuerus, after that she had been twelve months, according to the
manner of the women, (for so were the days of their purifications
accomplished, [to wit], six months with oil of myrrh, and six months
with sweet odours, and with [other] things for the purifying of the
women;)
EST 02:13 Then thus came [every] maiden unto the king; whatsoever
she desired was given her to go with her out of the house of the
women unto the king's house.
EST 02:14 In the evening she went, and on the morrow she returned
into the second house of the women, to the custody of Shaashgaz, the
king's chamberlain, which kept the concubines: she came in unto the
king no more, except the king delighted in her, and that she were
called by name.
EST 02:15 Now when the turn of Esther, the daughter of Abihail the
uncle of Mordecai, who had taken her for his daughter, was come to
go in unto the king, she required nothing but what Hegai the king's
chamberlain, the keeper of the women, appointed. And Esther obtained
favour in the sight of all them that looked upon her.
EST 02:16 So Esther was taken unto king Ahasuerus into his house
royal in the tenth month, which [is] the month Tebeth, in the
seventh year of his reign.
EST 02:17 And the king loved Esther above all the women, and she
obtained grace and favour in his sight more than all the virgins; so
that he set the royal crown upon her head, and made her queen
instead of Vashti.
EST 02:18 Then the king made a great feast unto all his princes and
his servants, [even] Esther's feast; and he made a release to the
provinces, and gave gifts, according to the state of the king.
EST 02:19 And when the virgins were gathered together the second
time, then Mordecai sat in the king's gate.
EST 02:20 Esther had not [yet] showed her kindred nor her people;
as Mordecai had charged her: for Esther did the commandment of
Mordecai, like as when she was brought up with him.
EST 02:21 In those days, while Mordecai sat in the king's gate, two
of the king's chamberlains, Bigthan and Teresh, of those which kept
the door, were wroth, and sought to lay hand on the king Ahasuerus.
EST 02:22 And the thing was known to Mordecai, who told [it] unto
Esther the queen; and Esther certified the king [thereof] in
Mordecai's name.
EST 02:23 And when inquisition was made of the matter, it was found
out; therefore they were both hanged on a tree: and it was written
in the book of the chronicles before the king.
EST 03:01 After these things did king Ahasuerus promote Haman the
son of Hammedatha the Agagite, and advanced him, and set his seat
above all the princes that [were] with him.
EST 03:02 And all the king's servants, that [were] in the king's
gate, bowed, and reverenced Haman: for the king had so commanded
concerning him. But Mordecai bowed not, nor did [him] reverence.
EST 03:03 Then the king's servants, which [were] in the king's
gate, said unto Mordecai, Why transgressest thou the king's
commandment?
EST 03:04 Now it came to pass, when they spake daily unto him, and
he hearkened not unto them, that they told Haman, to see whether
Mordecai's matters would stand: for he had told them that he [was] a
Jew.
EST 03:05 And when Haman saw that Mordecai bowed not, nor did him
reverence, then was Haman full of wrath.
EST 03:06 And he thought scorn to lay hands on Mordecai alone; for
they had showed him the people of Mordecai: wherefore Haman sought
to destroy all the Jews that [were] throughout the whole kingdom of
Ahasuerus, [even] the people of Mordecai.
EST 03:07 In the first month, that [is], the month Nisan, in the
twelfth year of king Ahasuerus, they cast Pur, that [is], the lot,
before Haman from day to day, and from month to month, [to] the
twelfth [month], that [is], the month Adar.
EST 03:08 And Haman said unto king Ahasuerus, There is a certain
people scattered abroad and dispersed among the people in all the
provinces of thy kingdom; and their laws [are] diverse from all
people; neither keep they the king's laws: therefore it [is] not for
the king's profit to suffer them.
EST 03:09 If it please the king, let it be written that they may be
destroyed: and I will pay ten thousand talents of silver to the
hands of those that have the charge of the business, to bring [it]
into the king's treasuries.
EST 03:10 And the king took his ring from his hand, and gave it
unto Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the Jews' enemy.
EST 03:11 And the king said unto Haman, The silver [is] given to
thee, the people also, to do with them as it seemeth good to thee.
EST 03:12 Then were the king's scribes called on the thirteenth day
of the first month, and there was written according to all that
Haman had commanded unto the king's lieutenants, and to the
governors that [were] over every province, and to the rulers of
every people of every province according to the writing thereof, and
[to] every people after their language; in the name of king
Ahasuerus was it written, and sealed with the king's ring.
EST 03:13 And the letters were sent by posts into all the king's
provinces, to destroy, to kill, and to cause to perish, all Jews,
both young and old, little children and women, in one day, [even]
upon the thirteenth [day] of the twelfth month, which is the month
Adar, and [to take] the spoil of them for a prey.
EST 03:14 The copy of the writing for a commandment to be given in
every province was published unto all people, that they should be
ready against that day.
EST 03:15 The posts went out, being hastened by the king's
commandment, and the decree was given in Shushan the palace. And the
king and Haman sat down to drink; but the city Shushan was
perplexed.
EST 04:01 When Mordecai perceived all that was done, Mordecai rent
his clothes, and put on sackcloth with ashes, and went out into the
midst of the city, and cried with a loud and a bitter cry;
EST 04:02 And came even before the king's gate: for none [might]
enter into the king's gate clothed with sackcloth.
EST 04:03 And in every province, whithersoever the king's
commandment and his decree came, [there was] great mourning among
the Jews, and fasting, and weeping, and wailing; and many lay in
sackcloth and ashes.
EST 04:04 So Esther's maids and her chamberlains came and told [it]
her. Then was the queen exceedingly grieved; and she sent raiment to
clothe Mordecai, and to take away his sackcloth from him: but he
received [it] not.
EST 04:05 Then called Esther for Hatach, [one] of the king's
chamberlains, whom he had appointed to attend upon her, and gave him
a commandment to Mordecai, to know what it [was], and why it [was].
EST 04:06 So Hatach went forth to Mordecai unto the street of the
city, which [was] before the king's gate.
EST 04:07 And Mordecai told him of all that had happened unto him,
and of the sum of the money that Haman had promised to pay to the
king's treasuries for the Jews, to destroy them.
EST 04:08 Also he gave him the copy of the writing of the decree
that was given at Shushan to destroy them, to show [it] unto Esther,
and to declare [it] unto her, and to charge her that she should go
in unto the king, to make supplication unto him, and to make request
before him for her people.
EST 04:09 And Hatach came and told Esther the words of Mordecai.
EST 04:10 Again Esther spake unto Hatach, and gave him commandment
unto Mordecai;
EST 04:11 All the king's servants, and the people of the king's
provinces, do know, that whosoever, whether man or woman, shall come
unto the king into the inner court, who is not called, [there is]
one law of his to put [him] to death, except such to whom the king
shall hold out the golden sceptre, that he may live: but I have not
been called to come in unto the king these thirty days.
EST 04:12 And they told to Mordecai Esther's words.
EST 04:13 Then Mordecai commanded to answer Esther, Think not with
thyself that thou shalt escape in the king's house, more than all
the Jews.
EST 04:14 For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time,
[then] shall there enlargement and deliverance arise to the Jews
from another place; but thou and thy father's house shall be
destroyed: and who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for
[such] a time as this?
EST 04:15 Then Esther bade [them] return Mordecai [this answer],
EST 04:16 Go, gather together all the Jews that are present in
Shushan, and fast ye for me, and neither eat nor drink three days,
night or day: I also and my maidens will fast likewise; and so will
I go in unto the king, which [is] not according to the law: and if I
perish, I perish.
EST 04:17 So Mordecai went his way, and did according to all that
Esther had commanded him.
EST 05:01 Now it came to pass on the third day, that Esther put on
[her] royal [apparel], and stood in the inner court of the king's
house, over against the king's house: and the king sat upon his
royal throne in the royal house, over against the gate of the house.
EST 05:02 And it was so, when the king saw Esther the queen
standing in the court, [that] she obtained favour in his sight: and
the king held out to Esther the golden sceptre that [was] in his
hand. So Esther drew near, and touched the top of the sceptre.
EST 05:03 Then said the king unto her, What wilt thou, queen
Esther? and what [is] thy request? it shall be even given thee to
the half of the kingdom.
EST 05:04 And Esther answered, If [it seem] good unto the king, let
the king and Haman come this day unto the banquet that I have
prepared for him.
EST 05:05 Then the king said, Cause Haman to make haste, that he
may do as Esther hath said. So the king and Haman came to the
banquet that Esther had prepared.
EST 05:06 And the king said unto Esther at the banquet of wine,
What [is] thy petition? and it shall be granted thee: and what [is]
thy request? even to the half of the kingdom it shall be performed.
EST 05:07 Then answered Esther, and said, My petition and my
request [is];
EST 05:08 If I have found favour in the sight of the king, and if
it please the king to grant my petition, and to perform my request,
let the king and Haman come to the banquet that I shall prepare for
them, and I will do to morrow as the king hath said.
EST 05:09 Then went Haman forth that day joyful and with a glad
heart: but when Haman saw Mordecai in the king's gate, that he stood
not up, nor moved for him, he was full of indignation against
Mordecai.
EST 05:10 Nevertheless Haman refrained himself: and when he came
home, he sent and called for his friends, and Zeresh his wife.
EST 05:11 And Haman told them of the glory of his riches, and the
multitude of his children, and all [the things] wherein the king had
promoted him, and how he had advanced him above the princes and
servants of the king.
EST 05:12 Haman said moreover, Yea, Esther the queen did let no man
come in with the king unto the banquet that she had prepared but
myself; and to morrow am I invited unto her also with the king.
EST 05:13 Yet all this availeth me nothing, so long as I see
Mordecai the Jew sitting at the king's gate.
EST 05:14 Then said Zeresh his wife and all his friends unto him,
Let a gallows be made of fifty cubits high, and to morrow speak thou
unto the king that Mordecai may be hanged thereon: then go thou in
merrily with the king unto the banquet. And the thing pleased Haman;
and he caused the gallows to be made.
EST 06:01 On that night could not the king sleep, and he commanded
to bring the book of records of the chronicles; and they were read
before the king.
EST 06:02 And it was found written, that Mordecai had told of
Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king's chamberlains, the keepers of
the door, who sought to lay hand on the king Ahasuerus.
EST 06:03 And the king said, What honour and dignity hath been done
to Mordecai for this? Then said the king's servants that ministered
unto him, There is nothing done for him.
EST 06:04 And the king said, Who [is] in the court? Now Haman was
come into the outward court of the king's house, to speak unto the
king to hang Mordecai on the gallows that he had prepared for him.
EST 06:05 And the king's servants said unto him, Behold, Haman
standeth in the court. And the king said, Let him come in.
EST 06:06 So Haman came in. And the king said unto him, What shall
be done unto the man whom the king delighteth to honour? Now Haman
thought in his heart, To whom would the king delight to do honour
more than to myself?
EST 06:07 And Haman answered the king, For the man whom the king
delighteth to honour,
EST 06:08 Let the royal apparel be brought which the king [useth]
to wear, and the horse that the king rideth upon, and the crown
royal which is set upon his head:
EST 06:09 And let this apparel and horse be delivered to the hand
of one of the king's most noble princes, that they may array the man
[withal] whom the king delighteth to honour, and bring him on
horseback through the street of the city, and proclaim before him,
Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delighteth to honour.
EST 06:10 Then the king said to Haman, Make haste, [and] take the
apparel and the horse, as thou hast said, and do even so to Mordecai
the Jew, that sitteth at the king's gate: let nothing fail of all
that thou hast spoken.
EST 06:11 Then took Haman the apparel and the horse, and arrayed
Mordecai, and brought him on horseback through the street of the
city, and proclaimed before him, Thus shall it be done unto the man
whom the king delighteth to honour.
EST 06:12 And Mordecai came again to the king's gate. But Haman
hasted to his house mourning, and having his head covered.
EST 06:13 And Haman told Zeresh his wife and all his friends every
[thing] that had befallen him. Then said his wise men and Zeresh his
wife unto him, If Mordecai [be] of the seed of the Jews, before whom
thou hast begun to fall, thou shalt not prevail against him, but
shalt surely fall before him.
EST 06:14 And while they [were] yet talking with him, came the
king's chamberlains, and hasted to bring Haman unto the banquet that
Esther had prepared.
EST 07:01 So the king and Haman came to banquet with Esther the
queen.
EST 07:02 And the king said again unto Esther on the second day at
the banquet of wine, What [is] thy petition, queen Esther? and it
shall be granted thee: and what [is] thy request? and it shall be
performed, [even] to the half of the kingdom.
EST 07:03 Then Esther the queen answered and said, If I have found
favour in thy sight, O king, and if it please the king, let my life
be given me at my petition, and my people at my request:
EST 07:04 For we are sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, to be
slain, and to perish. But if we had been sold for bondmen and
bondwomen, I had held my tongue, although the enemy could not
countervail the king's damage.
EST 07:05 Then the king Ahasuerus answered and said unto Esther the
queen, Who is he, and where is he, that durst presume in his heart
to do so?
EST 07:06 And Esther said, The adversary and enemy [is] this wicked
Haman. Then Haman was afraid before the king and the queen.
EST 07:07 And the king arising from the banquet of wine in his
wrath [went] into the palace garden: and Haman stood up to make
request for his life to Esther the queen; for he saw that there was
evil determined against him by the king.
EST 07:08 Then the king returned out of the palace garden into the
place of the banquet of wine; and Haman was fallen upon the bed
whereon Esther [was]. Then said the king, Will he force the queen
also before me in the house? As the word went out of the king's
mouth, they covered Haman's face.
EST 07:09 And Harbonah, one of the chamberlains, said before the
king, Behold also, the gallows fifty cubits high, which Haman had
made for Mordecai, who had spoken good for the king, standeth in the
house of Haman. Then the king said, Hang him thereon.
EST 07:10 So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared
for Mordecai. Then was the king's wrath pacified.
EST 08:01 On that day did the king Ahasuerus give the house of
Haman the Jews' enemy unto Esther the queen. And Mordecai came
before the king; for Esther had told what he [was] unto her.
EST 08:02 And the king took off his ring, which he had taken from
Haman, and gave it unto Mordecai. And Esther set Mordecai over the
house of Haman.
EST 08:03 And Esther spake yet again before the king, and fell down
at his feet, and besought him with tears to put away the mischief of
Haman the Agagite, and his device that he had devised against the
Jews.
EST 08:04 Then the king held out the golden sceptre toward Esther.
So Esther arose, and stood before the king,
EST 08:05 And said, If it please the king, and if I have found
favour in his sight, and the thing [seem] right before the king, and
I [be] pleasing in his eyes, let it be written to reverse the
letters devised by Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, which he
wrote to destroy the Jews which [are] in all the king's provinces:
EST 08:06 For how can I endure to see the evil that shall come unto
my people? or how can I endure to see the destruction of my kindred?
EST 08:07 Then the king Ahasuerus said unto Esther the queen and to
Mordecai the Jew, Behold, I have given Esther the house of Haman,
and him they have hanged upon the gallows, because he laid his hand
upon the Jews.
EST 08:08 Write ye also for the Jews, as it liketh you, in the
king's name, and seal [it] with the king's ring: for the writing
which is written in the king's name, and sealed with the king's
ring, may no man reverse.
EST 08:09 Then were the king's scribes called at that time in the
third month, that [is], the month Sivan, on the three and twentieth
[day] thereof; and it was written according to all that Mordecai
commanded unto the Jews, and to the lieutenants, and the deputies
and rulers of the provinces which [are] from India unto Ethiopia, an
hundred twenty and seven provinces, unto every province according to
the writing thereof, and unto every people after their language, and
to the Jews according to their writing, and according to their
language.
EST 08:10 And he wrote in the king Ahasuerus' name, and sealed [it]
with the king's ring, and sent letters by posts on horseback, [and]
riders on mules, camels, [and] young dromedaries:
EST 08:11 Wherein the king granted the Jews which [were] in every
city to gather themselves together, and to stand for their life, to
destroy, to slay, and to cause to perish, all the power of the
people and province that would assault them, [both] little ones and
women, and [to take] the spoil of them for a prey,
EST 08:12 Upon one day in all the provinces of king Ahasuerus,
[namely], upon the thirteenth [day] of the twelfth month, which [is]
the month Adar.
EST 08:13 The copy of the writing for a commandment to be given in
every province [was] published unto all people, and that the Jews
should be ready against that day to avenge themselves on their
enemies.
EST 08:14 [So] the posts that rode upon mules [and] camels went
out, being hastened and pressed on by the king's commandment. And
the decree was given at Shushan the palace.
EST 08:15 And Mordecai went out from the presence of the king in
royal apparel of blue and white, and with a great crown of gold, and
with a garment of fine linen and purple: and the city of Shushan
rejoiced and was glad.
EST 08:16 The Jews had light, and gladness, and joy, and honour.
EST 08:17 And in every province, and in every city, whithersoever
the king's commandment and his decree came, the Jews had joy and
gladness, a feast and a good day. And many of the people of the land
became Jews; for the fear of the Jews fell upon them.
EST 09:01 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;)
EST 09:02 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.
EST 09:03 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.
EST 09:04 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.
EST 09:05 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.
EST 09:06 And in Shushan the palace the Jews slew and destroyed
five hundred men.
EST 09:07 And Parshandatha, and Dalphon, and Aspatha,
EST 09:08 And Poratha, and Adalia, and Aridatha,
EST 09:09 And Parmashta, and Arisai, and Aridai, and Vajezatha,
EST 09:10 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.
EST 09:11 On that day the number of those that were slain in
Shushan the palace was brought before the king.
EST 09:12 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.
EST 09:13 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.
EST 09:14 And the king commanded it so to be done: and the decree
was given at Shushan; and they hanged Haman's ten sons.
EST 09:15 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.
EST 09:16 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,
EST 09:17 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.
EST 09:18 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.
EST 09:19 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.
EST 09:20 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,
EST 09:21 To stablish [this] among them, that they should keep the
fourteenth day of the month Adar, and the fifteenth day of the same,
yearly,
EST 09:22 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.
EST 09:23 And the Jews undertook to do as they had begun, and as
Mordecai had written unto them;
EST 09:24 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;
EST 09:25 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.
EST 09:26 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,
EST 09:27 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;
EST 09:28 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.
EST 09:29 Then Esther the queen, the daughter of Abihail, and
Mordecai the Jew, wrote with all authority, to confirm this second
letter of Purim.
EST 09:30 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,
EST 09:31 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.
EST 09:32 And the decree of Esther confirmed these matters of
Purim; and it was written in the book.
EST 10:01 And the king Ahasuerus laid a tribute upon the land, and
[upon] the isles of the sea.
EST 10:02 And all the acts of his power and of his might, and the
declaration of the greatness of Mordecai, whereunto the king
advanced him, [are] they not written in the book of the chronicles
of the kings of Media and Persia?
EST 10:03 For Mordecai the Jew [was] next unto king Ahasuerus, and
great among the Jews, and accepted of the multitude of his brethren,
seeking the wealth of his people, and speaking peace to all his
seed.