9:1 The ·order [edict; decree] the king had commanded was to be ·done [executed; carried out] on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month [C March 7], the month of Adar. That was the day the enemies of the Jews had hoped to ·defeat [overpower] them, but ·that was changed [the opposite happened]. So the Jews themselves ·defeated [overpowered] ·those who hated them [their enemies].
9:2 The Jews ·met [assembled] in their cities in all the ·empire [L provinces] of King ·Xerxes [L Ahasuerus] in order to ·attack [strike; L lay hands on] those who wanted to ·harm [destroy] them. No one ·was strong enough to fight [L could stand] against them, because ·all the other people living in the empire were afraid of them [L dread of them fell on all the peoples].
9:3 All the ·important men [nobles] of the ·states [provinces], the governors, ·captains of the soldiers [high officials], and the king’s officers helped the Jews, because they were afraid of Mordecai.
9:4 Mordecai was ·very important [L great] in the king’s ·palace [L house]. He was famous in all the ·empire [L provinces], because he was becoming ·a leader of more and more people [more and more powerful/influential].
9:5 And, with their swords, the Jews ·defeated [L struck] all their enemies, ·killing [slaughtering] and destroying them. And they did ·what they wanted [as they pleased] with those people who hated them.
9:6 In the ·palace [citadel; fortress; 1:2] at Susa, they ·killed [slaughtered] and destroyed five hundred men.
9:7 They also killed: Parshandatha, Dalphon, Aspatha,
9:10 the ten sons of Haman, son of Hammedatha, the enemy of the Jews. But the Jews did not ·take [plunder; confiscate] their ·belongings [property; C this shows they attacked out of self-defense, not for material gain; 8:11; Gen. 14:23].
9:11 On that day the number killed in the ·palace [citadel; fortress; 1:2] at Susa was reported to the king.
9:12 The king said to Queen Esther, “The Jews have ·killed [slaughtered] and destroyed five hundred people in the ·palace [citadel; fortress; 1:2] at Susa, as well as Haman’s ten sons. What then have they done in the rest of the king’s ·empire [provinces]! Now what ·else are you asking [L is your petition]? I will do it! What ·else [more] do you want? It will be ·done [granted]!”
9:13 Esther answered, “If it pleases the king, give the Jews who are in Susa permission to do again tomorrow what the king ·ordered [decreed] for today. And let the bodies of Haman’s ten sons be ·hanged [impaled] on the ·platform [gallows; pole].”
9:14 So the king ·ordered [decreed] that it be done. A ·law [edict; decree] was given in Susa, and the bodies of the ten sons of Haman were ·hanged [impaled].
9:15 The Jews in Susa ·came together [assembled] on the fourteenth day of the month of Adar [C March 8]. They ·killed [slaughtered] three hundred people in Susa, but they did not ·take [plunder; confiscate] their ·belongings [property; 9:10].
9:16 At that same time, all the Jews in the king’s ·empire [L provinces] also ·met [assembled] to ·protect themselves [defend their lives] and get rid of their enemies. They ·killed [slaughtered] seventy-five thousand of those who hated them, but they did not ·take [plunder; confiscate] their ·belongings [property; 9:10].
9:17 This happened on the thirteenth day of the month of Adar [C March 7]. On the fourteenth day they rested and made it a day of joyful ·feasting [banqueting].
9:18 But the Jews in Susa ·met [assembled] on the thirteenth and fourteenth days of the month of Adar [C and killed their enemies]. Then they rested on the fifteenth day and made it a day of joyful feasting [banqueting].
9:19 This is why the Jews who live in the country and small villages celebrate on the fourteenth day of the month of Adar [C March 8]. It is a ·day [holiday] of joyful ·feasting [banqueting] and a day for exchanging ·gifts [gifts of food].
9:20 Mordecai ·wrote down [recorded] everything that had happened. Then he sent ·letters [dispatches; scrolls] to all the Jews in all the ·empire [provinces] of King ·Xerxes [L Ahasuerus], far and near.
9:21 He ·told [called on] them to celebrate every year on the fourteenth and fifteenth days of the month of Adar,
9:22 because that was when the Jews got rid of their enemies [C a descendant of Saul (2:5–6) had overcome an Amalekite and descendant of King Agag (3:1), thus completing God’s mandate (Deut. 23:3–6) that Saul failed to accomplish (1 Sam. 15)]. They were also to celebrate it as the month their ·sadness [sorrow] was turned to ·joy [gladness] and their ·crying for the dead [mourning] was turned into ·celebration [a holiday]. He told them to celebrate those days as days of joyful ·feasting [banqueting] and as a time for giving [presents of] food to each other and ·presents [gifts] to the poor [C Purim thus became an annual festival still celebrated by the Jewish people today].
9:23 So the Jews agreed to do what Mordecai had written to them, and ·they agreed to hold the celebration every year [L to continue what they had begun].
9:24 Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, was the enemy of all the Jews. He had ·made [devised] an evil ·plan [plot] against the Jews to destroy them, and he had thrown the Pur (that is, the lot [C dice-like objects]) to choose a day to ·ruin [crush; afflict] and destroy them.
9:25 But when the king learned of the evil ·plan [plot], he sent out written ·orders [edicts; decrees] that the evil ·plans [plot] Haman had made against the Jews would ·be used against him [L fall/return on his own head]. And those ·orders [edicts; decrees] said that Haman and his sons should be ·hanged [impaled] on the ·platform [gallows; pole].
9:26 So these days were called Purim, which comes from the word “Pur” (the lot [C dice-like objects]). Because of everything written in this ·letter [dispatch] and what they had seen and what happened to them,
9:27 the Jews set up this ·custom [tradition]. They and their descendants and all those who join them are ·always [L without fail] to ·celebrate [observe; keep] these two days every year. They should do it ·in the right way [L as it is written] and at the time Mordecai had ·ordered [decreed].
9:28 These two days should be remembered and ·celebrated [observed; kept] ·from now on [L through every generation] in every family, in every ·state [province], and in every city. These days of Purim should ·always [L not fail to] be ·celebrated [observed; kept] ·by [among] the Jews, and their memory never fade among their descendants.
9:29 So Queen Esther daughter of Abihail, along with Mordecai the Jew, wrote with full authority to confirm this second ·letter [dispatch] about Purim.
9:30 And Mordecai sent ·letters [dispatches; scrolls] to all the Jews in the one hundred twenty-seven ·states [provinces] of the kingdom of ·Xerxes [L Ahasuerus], writing them ·a message [L words] of peace and ·truth [or security; assurance].
9:31 He wrote to ·set up [establish] these days of Purim at the ·chosen [proper; appointed] times. Mordecai the Jew and Queen Esther had sent out the ·order [edict; decree] for the Jews, just as they had ·set up [established] for themselves and their descendants instruction concerning fasting and ·loud weeping [lamentations].
9:32 Esther’s ·letter [command] ·set up [established] the rules for Purim, and they were written down in the records.
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