| New Living Translation | Berean Study Bible |
| 1So on March 7 the two decrees of the king were put into effect. On that day, the enemies of the Jews had hoped to overpower them, but quite the opposite happened. It was the Jews who overpowered their enemies. | 1On the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the month of Adar, the king’s command and edict were to be executed. On this day the enemies of the Jews had hoped to overpower them, but their plan was overturned and the Jews overpowered those who hated them. |
| 2The Jews gathered in their cities throughout all the king’s provinces to attack anyone who tried to harm them. But no one could make a stand against them, for everyone was afraid of them. | 2In each of the provinces of King Xerxes, the Jews assembled in their cities to attack those who sought to harm them. No man could withstand them, because the fear of them had fallen upon all peoples. |
| 3And all the nobles of the provinces, the highest officers, the governors, and the royal officials helped the Jews for fear of Mordecai. | 3And all the officials of the provinces, the satraps, the governors, and the king’s administrators helped the Jews, because the fear of Mordecai had fallen upon them. |
| 4For Mordecai had been promoted in the king’s palace, and his fame spread throughout all the provinces as he became more and more powerful. | 4For Mordecai exercised great power in the palace, and his fame spread throughout the provinces as he became more and more powerful. |
| 5So the Jews went ahead on the appointed day and struck down their enemies with the sword. They killed and annihilated their enemies and did as they pleased with those who hated them. | 5The Jews put all their enemies to the sword, killing and destroying them, and they did as they pleased to those who hated them. |
| 6In the fortress of Susa itself, the Jews killed 500 men. | 6In the citadel of Susa, the Jews killed and destroyed five hundred men, |
| 7They also killed Parshandatha, Dalphon, Aspatha, | 7including Parshandatha, Dalphon, Aspatha, |
| 8Poratha, Adalia, Aridatha, | 8Poratha, Adalia, Aridatha, |
| 9Parmashta, Arisai, Aridai, and Vaizatha— | 9Parmashta, Arisai, Aridai, and Vaizatha. |
| 10the ten sons of Haman son of Hammedatha, the enemy of the Jews. But they did not take any plunder. | 10They killed these ten sons of Haman son of Hammedatha, the enemy of the Jews, but they did not lay a hand on the plunder. |
| 11That very day, when the king was informed of the number of people killed in the fortress of Susa, | 11On that day the number of those killed in the citadel of Susa was reported to the king, |
| 12he called for Queen Esther. He said, “The Jews have killed 500 men in the fortress of Susa alone, as well as Haman’s ten sons. If they have done that here, what has happened in the rest of the provinces? But now, what more do you want? It will be granted to you; tell me and I will do it.” | 12who said to Queen Esther, “In the citadel of Susa the Jews have killed and destroyed five hundred men, including Haman’s ten sons. What have they done in the rest of the royal provinces? Now what is your petition? It will be given to you. And what further do you request? It will be fulfilled.” |
| 13Esther responded, “If it please the king, give the Jews in Susa permission to do again tomorrow as they have done today, and let the bodies of Haman’s ten sons be impaled on a pole.” | 13Esther replied, “If it pleases the king, may the Jews in Susa also have tomorrow to carry out today’s edict, and may the bodies of Haman’s ten sons be hanged on the gallows.” |
| 14So the king agreed, and the decree was announced in Susa. And they impaled the bodies of Haman’s ten sons. | 14So the king commanded that this be done. An edict was issued in Susa, and they hanged the ten sons of Haman. |
| 15Then the Jews at Susa gathered together on March 8 and killed 300 more men, and again they took no plunder. | 15On the fourteenth day of the month of Adar, the Jews in Susa came together again and put to death three hundred men there, but they did not lay a hand on the plunder. |
| 16Meanwhile, the other Jews throughout the king’s provinces had gathered together to defend their lives. They gained relief from all their enemies, killing 75,000 of those who hated them. But they did not take any plunder. | 16The rest of the Jews in the royal provinces also assembled to defend themselves and rid themselves of their enemies. They killed 75,000 who hated them, but they did not lay a hand on the plunder. |
| 17This was done throughout the provinces on March 7, and on March 8 they rested, celebrating their victory with a day of feasting and gladness. | 17This was done on the thirteenth day of the month of Adar, and on the fourteenth day they rested, making it a day of feasting and joy. |
| 18(The Jews at Susa killed their enemies on March 7 and again on March 8, then rested on March 9, making that their day of feasting and gladness.) | 18The Jews in Susa, however, had assembled on the thirteenth and the fourteenth days of the month. So they rested on the fifteenth day, making it a day of feasting and joy. |
| 19So to this day, rural Jews living in remote villages celebrate an annual festival and holiday on the appointed day in late winter, when they rejoice and send gifts of food to each other. The Festival of Purim | 19This is why the rural Jews, who live in the villages, observe the fourteenth day of the month of Adar as a day of joy and feasting. It is a holiday for sending gifts to one another. |
| 20Mordecai recorded these events and sent letters to the Jews near and far, throughout all the provinces of King Xerxes, | 20Mordecai recorded these events and sent letters to all the Jews in all the provinces of King Xerxes, both near and far, |
| 21calling on them to celebrate an annual festival on these two days. | 21to establish among them an annual celebration on the fourteenth and fifteenth days of the month of Adar |
| 22He told them to celebrate these days with feasting and gladness and by giving gifts of food to each other and presents to the poor. This would commemorate a time when the Jews gained relief from their enemies, when their sorrow was turned into gladness and their mourning into joy. | 22as the days on which the Jews gained rest from their enemies and the month in which their sorrow turned to joy and their mourning into a holiday. He wrote that these were to be days of feasting and joy, of sending gifts to one another and to the poor. |
| 23So the Jews accepted Mordecai’s proposal and adopted this annual custom. | 23So the Jews agreed to continue the custom they had started, as Mordecai had written to them. |
| 24Haman son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the enemy of the Jews, had plotted to crush and destroy them on the date determined by casting lots (the lots were called purim ). | 24For Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, the enemy of all the Jews, had plotted against the Jews to destroy them and had cast the Pur (that is, the lot) to crush and destroy them. |
| 25But when Esther came before the king, he issued a decree causing Haman’s evil plot to backfire, and Haman and his sons were impaled on a sharpened pole. | 25But when it came before the king, he commanded by letter that the wicked scheme which Haman had devised against the Jews should come back upon his own head, and that he and his sons should be hanged on the gallows. |
| 26That is why this celebration is called Purim, because it is the ancient word for casting lots. So because of Mordecai’s letter and because of what they had experienced, | 26Therefore these days are called Purim, from the word Pur. Because of all the instructions in this letter, and because of all they had seen and experienced, |
| 27the Jews throughout the realm agreed to inaugurate this tradition and to pass it on to their descendants and to all who became Jews. They declared they would never fail to celebrate these two prescribed days at the appointed time each year. | 27the Jews bound themselves to establish the custom that they and their descendants and all who join them should not fail to celebrate these two days at the appointed time each and every year, according to their regulation. |
| 28These days would be remembered and kept from generation to generation and celebrated by every family throughout the provinces and cities of the empire. This Festival of Purim would never cease to be celebrated among the Jews, nor would the memory of what happened ever die out among their descendants. | 28These days should be remembered and celebrated by every generation, family, province, and city, so that these days of Purim should not fail to be observed among the Jews, nor should the memory of them fade from their descendants. |
| 29Then Queen Esther, the daughter of Abihail, along with Mordecai the Jew, wrote another letter putting the queen’s full authority behind Mordecai’s letter to establish the Festival of Purim. | 29So Queen Esther daughter of Abihail, along with Mordecai the Jew, wrote with full authority to confirm this second letter concerning Purim. |
| 30Letters wishing peace and security were sent to the Jews throughout the 127 provinces of the empire of Xerxes. | 30And Mordecai sent letters with words of peace and truth to all the Jews in the 127 provinces of the kingdom of Xerxes, |
| 31These letters established the Festival of Purim—an annual celebration of these days at the appointed time, decreed by both Mordecai the Jew and Queen Esther. (The people decided to observe this festival, just as they had decided for themselves and their descendants to establish the times of fasting and mourning.) | 31in order to confirm these days of Purim at their appointed time, just as Mordecai the Jew and Queen Esther had established them and had committed themselves and their descendants to the times of fasting and lamentation. |
| 32So the command of Esther confirmed the practices of Purim, and it was all written down in the records. | 32So Esther’s decree confirmed these regulations about Purim, which were written into the record. |
|
