The Jews Obtain Victory

1Now in the twelfth month, that is, the month Adar, on the thirteenth day of the same, when the king's command and his decree drew near to be executed, 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;)

2The Jews gathered themselves together in their cities throughout all the provinces of king Ahasuerus, to lay hand on such as sought their harm: and no man could withstand them; for the fear of them fell upon all people.

3And all the princes of the provinces, and the satraps, and the governors, and officials of the king, helped the Jews; because the fear of Mordecai fell upon them.

4For Mordecai was great in the king's house, and his fame went out throughout all the provinces: for this man Mordecai grew greater and greater.

5Thus the Jews defeated all their enemies with the stroke of the sword, and slaughter, and destruction, and did what they would unto those that hated them.

6And in Shushan the citadel the Jews slew and destroyed five hundred men.

7And Parshandatha, and Dalphon, and Aspatha,

8And Poratha, and Adalia, and Aridatha,

9And Parmashta, and Arisai, and Aridai, and Vaizatha,

10The ten sons of Haman the son of Hammedatha, the enemy of the Jews, they killed; but on the spoil they laid not their hand.

11On that day the number of those that were slain in Shushan the citadel was brought before the king.

12And the king said unto Esther the queen, The Jews have slain and destroyed five hundred men in Shushan the citadel, and the ten sons of Haman; what have they done in the rest of the king's provinces? now what is your petition? and it shall be granted you: or what is your request further? and it shall be done.

13Then said Esther, If it please the king, let it be granted to the Jews who are in Shushan to do tomorrow also according unto this day's decree, and let Haman's ten sons be hanged upon the gallows.

14And the king commanded it so to be done: and the decree was given at Shushan; and they hanged Haman's ten sons.

15For the Jews that were in Shushan gathered themselves together on the fourteenth day also of the month Adar, and killed three hundred men at Shushan; but on the spoil they laid not their hand.

16But the other Jews that were in the king's provinces gathered themselves together, and defended their lives, and had rest from their enemies, and killed of their foes seventy and five thousand, but they laid not their hands on the spoil,

17On 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.

The Feast of Purin Established

18But 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.

19Therefore 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 presents one to another.

20And Mordecai wrote these things, and sent letters unto all the Jews that were in all the provinces of king Ahasuerus, both near and far,

21To establish this among them, that they should keep the fourteenth day of the month Adar, and the fifteenth day of the same, yearly,

22As the days on which 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 feast

23And the Jews undertook to do as they had begun, and as Mordecai had written unto them;

24Because 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;

25But when Esther came before the king, he commanded by letters that his wicked plot, which he devised against the Jews, should return upon his own head, and that he and his sons should be hanged on the gallows.

26Therefore 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,

27The Jews ordained, and took upon themselves, and upon their descendants, and upon all such as joined themselves unto them, so that it should not fail, that they would keep these two days according to what was written, and according to their appointed time every year;

28And 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 fall into disuse among the Jews, nor the memory of them perish from their descendants.

29Then Esther the queen, the daughter of Abihail, and Mordecai the Jew, wrote with all authority, to confirm this second letter about Purim.

30And 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,

31To 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 descendants, concerning the matters of the fastings and their lamentations.

32And the decree of Esther confirmed these matters of Purim; and it was written in the book.