
The Book of Esther

   {1:1} Now it came to pass in the days of Ahasuerus (this is
Ahasuerus who reigned from India even unto Ethiopia, over a hundred and
seven and twenty provinces), {1:2} that in those days, when the king
Ahasuerus sat on the throne of his kingdom, which was in Shushan the
palace, {1:3} 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; {1:4} when he showed
the riches of his glorious kingdom and the honor of his excellent
majesty many days, even a hundred and fourscore days. {1:5} And when
these days were fulfilled, the king made a feast unto all the people
that were present in Shushan the palace, both great and small, seven
days, in the court of the garden of the king's palace. {1:6} [There
were hangings of] white [cloth], [of] green, and [of] blue, fastened
with cords of fine linen and purple to silver rings and pillars of
marble: the couches were of gold and silver, upon a pavement of red,
and white, and yellow, and black marble. {1:7} And they gave them drink
in vessels of gold (the vessels being diverse one from another), and
royal wine in abundance, according to the bounty of the king. {1:8} And
the drinking was according to the law; none could compel: for so the
king had appointed to all the officers of his house, that they should
do according to every man's pleasure. {1:9} Also Vashti the queen made
a feast for the women in the royal house which belonged to king
Ahasuerus. {1:10} 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 ministered in
the presence of Ahasuerus the king, {1:11} to bring Vashti the queen
before the king with the crown royal, to show the peoples and the
princes her beauty; for she was fair to look on. {1:12} But the queen
Vashti refused to come at the king's commandment by the chamberlains:
therefore was the king very wroth, and his anger burned in him. {1:13}
Then the king said to the wise men, who knew the times, (for so was the
king's manner toward all that knew law and judgment; {1:14} and the
next unto him were Carshena, Shethar, Admatha, Tarshish, Meres,
Marsena, and Memucan, the seven princes of Persia and Media, who saw
the king's face, and sat first in the kingdom), {1:15} What shall we do
unto the queen Vashti according to law, because she hath not done the
bidding of the king Ahasuerus by the chamberlains? {1:16} 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 peoples that are in all the provinces of the king Ahasuerus. {1:17}
For this deed of the queen will come abroad unto all women, to make
their husbands contemptible 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. {1:18} And this day will the princesses of
Persia and Media who have heard of the deed of the queen say [the like]
unto all the king's princes. So [will there arise] much contempt and
wrath. {1:19} If it please the king, let there go forth 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. {1:20} And when the king's decree
which he shall make shall be published throughout all his kingdom (for
it is great), all the wives will give to their husbands honor, both to
great and small. {1:21} And the saying pleased the king and the
princes; and the king did according to the word of Memucan: {1:22} 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 should
speak according to the language of his people.



   {2:1} After these things, when the wrath of king Ahasuerus was
pacified, he remembered Vashti, and what she had done, and what was
decreed against her. {2:2} Then said the king's servants that
ministered unto him, Let there be fair young virgins sought for the
king: {2:3} 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
Hegai the king's chamberlain, keeper of the women; and let their things
for purification be given them; {2:4} and let the maiden that pleaseth
the king be queen instead of Vashti. And the thing pleased the king;
and he did so. {2:5} There was a certain Jew in Shushan the palace,
whose name was Mordecai, the son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of
Kish, a Benjamite, {2:6} who had been carried away from Jerusalem with
the captives that had been carried away with Jeconiah king of Judah,
whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried away. {2:7} And he
brought up Hadassah, that is, Esther, his uncle's daughter: for she had
neither father nor mother, and the maiden was fair and beautiful; and
when her father and mother were dead, Mordecai took her for his own
daughter. {2:8} 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 taken into
the king's house, to the custody of Hegai, keeper of the women. {2:9}
And the maiden pleased him, and she obtained kindness of him; and he
speedily gave her her things for purification, with her portions, and
the seven maidens who were meet to be given her out of the king's
house: and he removed her and her maidens to the best place of the
house of the women. {2:10} Esther had not made known her people nor her
kindred; for Mordecai had charged her that she should not make it
known. {2:11} And Mordecai walked every day before the court of the
women's house, to know how Esther did, and what would become of her.
{2:12} Now when the turn of every maiden was come to go in to king
Ahasuerus, after that it had been done to her according to the law for
the women twelve months (for so were the days of their purifications
accomplished, [to wit], six months with oil of myrrh, and six months
with sweet odors and with the things for the purifying of the women),
{2:13} then in this wise came the 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. {2:14} 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, who kept the concubines: she came in
unto the king no more, except the king delighted in her, and she were
called by name. {2:15} 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 favor in the sight of all them that looked upon her. {2:16} 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.
{2:17} And the king loved Esther above all the women, and she obtained
favor and kindness 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. {2:18} 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 bounty of the king. {2:19}
And when the virgins were gathered together the second time, then
Mordecai was sitting in the king's gate. {2:20} Esther had not yet made
known 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. {2:21} In those days, while Mordecai was sitting in the
king's gate, two of the king's chamberlains, Bigthan and Teresh, of
those that kept the threshold, were wroth, and sought to lay hands on
the king Ahasuerus. {2:22} And the thing became known to Mordecai, who
showed it unto Esther the queen; and Esther told the king [thereof] in
Mordecai's name. {2:23} And when inquisition was made of the matter,
and it was found to be so, they were both hanged on a tree: and it was
written in the book of the chronicles before the king.



   {3:1} 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. {3:2} And all the king's servants, that
were in the king's gate, bowed down, and did reverence to Haman; for
the king had so commanded concerning him. But Mordecai bowed not down,
nor did him reverence. {3:3} Then the king's servants, that were in the
king's gate, said unto Mordecai, Why transgressest thou the king's
commandment? {3:4} 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.
{3:5} And when Haman saw that Mordecai bowed not down, nor did him
reverence, then was Haman full of wrath. {3:6} But he thought scorn to
lay hands on Mordecai alone; for they had made known to 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.
{3:7} In the first month, which 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], which is
the month Adar. {3:8} And Haman said unto king Ahasuerus, There is a
certain people scattered abroad and dispersed among the peoples in all
the provinces of thy kingdom; and their laws are diverse from [those
of] every people; neither keep they the king's laws: therefore it is
not for the king's profit to suffer them. {3:9} If it please the king,
let it be written that they be destroyed: and I will pay ten thousand
talents of silver into the hands of those that have the charge of the
[king's] business, to bring it into the king's treasuries. {3:10} And
the king took his ring from his hand, and gave it unto Haman the son of
Hammedatha the Agagite, the Jews' enemy. {3:11} 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. {3:12} Then were the king's scribes called in
the first month, on the thirteenth day thereof; and there was written
according to all that Haman commanded unto the king's satraps, and to
the governors that were over every province, and to the princes of
every people, to every province according to the writing thereof, and
to every people after their language; in the name of king Ahasuerus was
it written, and it was sealed with the king's ring. {3:13} And letters
were sent by posts into all the king's provinces, to destroy, to slay,
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. {3:14} A copy of the writing, that the decree should be given out
in every province, was published unto all the peoples, that they should
be ready against that day. {3:15} The posts went forth in haste by the
king's commandment, and the decree was given out in Shushan the palace.
And the king and Haman sat down to drink; but the city of Shushan was
perplexed.





   {4:1} Now when Mordecai knew 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; {4:2} and he came
even before the king's gate: for none might enter within the king's
gate clothed with sackcloth. {4:3} 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. {4:4} And Esther's maidens and her chamberlains
came and told it her; and the queen was exceedingly grieved: and she
sent raiment to clothe Mordecai, and to take his sackcloth from off
him; but he received it not. {4:5} Then called Esther for Hathach, one
of the king's chamberlains, whom he had appointed to attend upon her,
and charged him to go to Mordecai, to know what this was, and why it
was. {4:6} So Hathach went forth to Mordecai unto the broad place of
the city, which was before the king's gate. {4:7} And Mordecai told him
of all that had happened unto him, and the exact sum of the money that
Haman had promised to pay to the king's treasuries for the Jews, to
destroy them. {4:8} Also he gave him the copy of the writing of the
decree that was given out in 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. {4:9} And Hathach came and told Esther the
words of Mordecai. {4:10} Then Esther spake unto Hathach, and gave him
a message unto Mordecai [saying]: {4:11} 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 for him, that he be put to death, except those
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.
{4:12} And they told to Mordecai Esther's words. {4:13} Then Mordecai
bade them return answer unto Esther, Think not with thyself that thou
shalt escape in the king's house, more than all the Jews. {4:14} For if
thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then will relief and
deliverance arise to the Jews from another place, but thou and thy
father's house will perish: and who knoweth whether thou art not come
to the kingdom for such a time as this? {4:15} Then Esther bade them
return answer unto Mordecai, {4:16} 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 in like
manner; and so will I go in unto the king, which is not according to
the law: and if I perish, I perish. {4:17} So Mordecai went his way,
and did according to all that Esther had commanded him.





   {5:1} 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 entrance of the house. {5:2} And it was
so, when the king saw Esther the queen standing in the court, that she
obtained favor 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. {5:3} Then said the king unto her, What wilt thou,
queen Esther? and what is thy request? it shall be given thee even to
the half of the kingdom. {5:4} And Esther said, If it seem good unto
the king, let the king and Haman come this day unto the banquet that I
have prepared for him. {5:5} Then the king said, Cause Haman to make
haste, that it may be done as Esther hath said. So the king and Haman
came to the banquet that Esther had prepared. {5:6} 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. {5:7} Then answered Esther, and said, My
petition and my request is: {5:8} if I have found favor 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.
{5:9} Then went Haman forth that day joyful and glad of heart: but when
Haman saw Mordecai in the king's gate, that he stood not up nor moved
for him, he was filled with wrath against Mordecai. {5:10} Nevertheless
Haman refrained himself, and went home; and he sent and fetched his
friends and Zeresh his wife. {5:11} And Haman recounted unto them 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. {5:12} 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 also am I
invited by her together with the king. {5:13} Yet all this availeth me
nothing, so long as I see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the king's gate.
{5:14} Then said Zeresh his wife and all his friends unto him, Let a
gallows be made fifty cubits high, and in the morning 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.



   {6:1} 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. {6:2} And it was found written, that Mordecai had told of
Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king's chamberlains, of those that kept
the threshold, who had sought to lay hands on the king Ahasuerus. {6:3}
And the king said, What honor and dignity hath been bestowed on
Mordecai for this? Then said the king's servants that ministered unto
him, There is nothing done for him. {6:4} 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. {6:5} And the king's servants said unto him,
Behold, Haman standeth in the court. And the king said, Let him come
in. {6:6} So Haman came in. And the king said unto him, What shall be
done unto the man whom the king delighteth to honor? Now Haman said in
his heart, To whom would the king delight to do honor more than to
myself? {6:7} And Haman said unto the king, For the man whom the king
delighteth to honor, {6:8} let royal apparel be brought which the king
useth to wear, and the horse that the king rideth upon, and on the head
of which a crown royal is set: {6:9} and let the apparel and the horse
be delivered to the hand of one of the king's most noble princes, that
they may array the man therewith whom the king delighteth to honor, and
cause him to ride 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 honor. {6:10} 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. {6:11} Then took Haman the apparel and
the horse, and arrayed Mordecai, and caused him to ride through the
street of the city, and proclaimed before him, Thus shall it be done
unto the man whom the king delighteth to honor. {6:12} And Mordecai
came again to the king's gate. But Haman hasted to his house, mourning
and having his head covered. {6:13} And Haman recounted unto Zeresh his
wife and all his friends everything that had befallen him. Then said
his wise men and Zeresh his wife unto him, If Mordecai, before whom
thou hast begun to fall, be of the seed of the Jews, thou shalt not
prevail against him, but shalt surely fall before him. {6:14} While
they were yet talking with him, came the king's chamberlains, and
hasted to bring Haman unto the banquet that Esther had prepared.



   {7:1} So the king and Haman came to banquet with Esther the queen.
{7:2} 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? even to the half of the kingdom
it shall be performed. {7:3} Then Esther the queen answered and said,
If I have found favor 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:
{7:4} 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 peace, although the adversary could not have compensated for
the king's damage. {7:5} Then spake the king Ahasuerus and said unto
Esther the queen, Who is he, and where is he, that durst presume in his
heart to do so? {7:6} And Esther said, An adversary and an enemy, even
this wicked Haman. Then Haman was afraid before the king and the queen.
{7:7} And the king arose in his wrath from the banquet of wine [and
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. {7:8} Then the king returned out of the palace
garden into the place of the banquet of wine; and Haman was fallen upon
the couch whereon Esther was. Then said the king, Will he even force
the queen before me in the house? As the word went out of the king's
mouth, they covered Haman's face. {7:9} Then said Harbonah, one of the
chamberlains that were before the king, Behold also, the gallows fifty
cubits high, which Haman hath made for Mordecai, who spake good for the
king, standeth in the house of Haman. And the king said, Hang him
thereon. {7:10} So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had
prepared for Mordecai. Then was the king's wrath pacified.



   {8:1} 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. {8:2} 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. {8:3} 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. {8:4} Then the king held out to
Esther the golden sceptre. So Esther arose, and stood before the king.
{8:5} And she said, If it please the king, and if I have found favor 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
that are in all the king's provinces: {8:6} 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? {8:7} 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. {8:8} Write ye also to the Jews, as it
pleaseth 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. {8:9} Then were the king's scribes
called at that time, in the third 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 satraps, and the governors
and princes of the provinces which are from India unto Ethiopia, a
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.
{8:10} And he wrote the name of king Ahasuerus, and sealed it with the
king's ring, and sent letters by post on horseback, riding on swift
steeds that were used in the king's service, bred of the stud: {8:11}
wherein the king granted the Jews that 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, [their] little ones and women, and to take the
spoil of them for a prey, {8:12} upon one day in all the provinces of
king Ahasuerus, [namely], upon the thirteenth [day] of the twelfth
month, which is the month Adar. {8:13} A copy of the writing, that the
decree should be given out in every province, was published unto all
the peoples, and that the Jews should be ready against that day to
avenge themselves on their enemies. {8:14} So the posts that rode upon
swift steeds that were used in the king's service went out, being
hastened and pressed on by the king's commandment; and the decree was
given out in Shushan the palace. {8:15} And Mordecai went forth from
the presence of the king in royal apparel of blue and white, and with a
great crown of gold, and with a robe of fine linen and purple: and the
city of Shushan shouted and was glad. {8:16} The Jews had light and
gladness, and joy and honor. {8:17} And in every province, and in every
city, whithersoever the king's commandment and his decree came, the
Jews had gladness and joy, a feast and a good day. And many from among
the peoples of the land became Jews; for the fear of the Jews was
fallen upon them.



   {9:1} Now in the twelfth month, which 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, on the day that the enemies of the
Jews hoped to have rule over them, (whereas it was turned to the
contrary, that the Jews had rule over them that hated them,) {9:2} 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 was fallen
upon all the peoples. {9:3} And all the princes of the provinces, and
the satraps, and the governors, and they that did the king's business,
helped the Jews; because the fear of Mordecai was fallen upon them.
{9:4} For Mordecai was great in the king's house, and his fame went
forth throughout all the provinces; for the man Mordecai waxed greater
and greater. {9:5} And the Jews smote all their enemies with the stroke
of the sword, and with slaughter and destruction, and did what they
would unto them that hated them. {9:6} And in Shushan the palace the
Jews slew and destroyed five hundred men. {9:7} And Parshandatha, and
Dalphon, and Aspatha, {9:8} and Poratha, and Adalia, and Aridatha,
{9:9} and Parmashta, and Arisai, and Aridai, and Vaizatha, {9:10} the
ten sons of Haman the son of Hammedatha, the Jew's enemy, slew they;
but on the spoil they laid not their hand. {9:11} On that day the
number of those that were slain in Shushan the palace was brought
before the king. {9:12} 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 then 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. {9:13} Then
said Esther, If it please the king, let it be granted to the Jews that
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. {9:14} And the
king commanded it so to be done: and a decree was given out in Shushan;
and they hanged Haman's ten sons. {9:15} And the Jews that were in
Shushan gathered themselves together on the fourteenth day also of the
month Adar, and slew three hundred men in Shushan; but on the spoil
they laid not their hand. {9:16} And 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 them that hated
them seventy and five thousand; but on the spoil they laid not their
hand. {9:17} [This was done] on the thirteenth day of the month Adar;
and on the fourteenth day of the same they rested, and made it a day of
feasting and gladness. {9:18} But the Jews that were in 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. {9:19} Therefore do the
Jews of the villages, that dwell in the unwalled towns, make the
fourteenth day of the month Adar [a day of] gladness and feasting, and
a good day, and of sending portions one to another. {9:20} 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, {9:21} to
enjoin them that they should keep the fourteenth day of the month Adar,
and the fifteenth day of the same, yearly, {9:22} as the days wherein
the Jews had rest from their enemies, and the month which was turned
unto them from sorrow to gladness, and from mourning into a good day;
that they should make them days of feasting and gladness, and of
sending portions one to another, and gifts to the poor. {9:23} And the
Jews undertook to do as they had begun, and as Mordecai had written
unto them; {9:24} because Haman the son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, the
enemy of all the Jews, had plotted against the Jews to destroy them,
and had cast Pur, that is the lot, to consume them, and to destroy
them; {9:25} but when [the matter] came before the king, he commanded
by letters that his wicked device, which he had devised against the
Jews, should return upon his own head, and that he and his sons should
be hanged on the gallows. {9:26} Wherefore they called these days
Purim, after the name of Pur. Therefore because of all the words of
this letter, and of that which they had seen concerning this matter,
and that which had come unto them, {9:27} the Jews ordained, and took
upon them, and upon their seed, and upon all such as joined themselves
unto them, so that it should not fail, that they would keep these two
days according to the writing thereof, and according to the appointed
time thereof, every year; {9:28} 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 remembrance of them perish from their
seed. {9:29} Then Esther the queen, the daughter of Abihail, and
Mordecai the Jew, wrote with all authority to confirm this second
letter of Purim. {9:30} And he sent letters unto all the Jews, to the
hundred twenty and seven provinces of the kingdom of Ahasuerus, [with]
words of peace and truth, {9:31} to confirm these days of Purim in
their appointed times, according as Mordecai the Jew and Esther the
queen had enjoined them, and as they had ordained for themselves and
for their seed, in the matter of the fastings and their cry. {9:32} And
the commandment of Esther confirmed these matters of Purim; and it was
written in the book.



   {10:1} And the king Ahasuerus laid a tribute upon the land, and upon
the isles of the sea. {10:2} And all the acts of his power and of his
might, and the full account 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? {10:3} For Mordecai the Jew was next
unto king Ahasuerus, and great among the Jews, and accepted of the
multitude of his brethren, seeking the good of his people, and speaking
peace to all his seed.




