1Now in the twelfth month, the month of Adar, on the thirteenth day of the same, when the king's commandment and his edict was about to be executed, the day that the enemies of the Jews had hoped to overpower and destroy them, the tables were turned to the contrary, and the Jews gained control of their assailants that hated them, 2The Jews gathered together in their cities throughout all the provinces of King Xerxes, to arrest any that sought their harm. And no man could withstand them; for the fear of them (and their God) fell upon all people. 3And all the leaders of the provinces, the deputies, the governors, and officers of the king, helped the Jews; because they feared the power of Mordecai. 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 struck all their enemies with the sword, killing, and doing what they pleased to those who hated them. 6And just in Shushan, the palace, alone, the Jews killed five hundred men, 7Arresting Parshandatha, Dalphon, Aspatha, 8Poratha, Adalia, Aridatha, 9Parmashta, Arisai, Aridai, and Vaizatha, 10The ten sons of Haman, son of Hammedatha, the enemy of the Jews, these they also killed; but they did not seize any of their plunder.

11On that day the number of those who were slain in Shushan, the palace, was brought before the king. 12And the king said to Esther, the queen, “The Jews have slain and destroyed five hundred men in Shushan, the palace, and arrested the ten sons of Haman. What then have they done in the rest of the king's provinces! Now what is your petition? It shall be granted you. Or what is your further request? And it shall be done.” 13Then Esther said, “If it pleases the king, let it be granted to the Jews who are in Shushan to do tomorrow also in accordance with today's decree, and let Haman's ten sons be hanged upon the gallows.” 14And the king commanded it to be done; and the decree was given at Shushan; and they hanged Haman's ten sons. 15The Jews who were in Shushan gathered yet again on the fourteenth day of the month Adar, and killed three hundred more men at Shushan; but still did not seize any of their plunder.

16Meanwhile, the other Jews who were in the king's provinces gathered themselves together, and defended their lives, and had rest from their enemies, and they killed seventy-five thousand of their foes, but abstained from plundering their possessions. 17And they rested on the thirteenth and on the fourteenth day of the month Adar; and they made it a day of feasting and gladness. 18But the Jews who were at Shushan gathered on the thirteenth, fourteenth; and then on the fifteenth day of the month Adar, they rested, and made it a day of feasting and gladness. 19Therefore, the Jews of the villages, who dwelt in the unwalled rural towns, made the fourteenth day of the month Adar a day of gladness and feasting, a good day of sending portions of choice food one to another.

20And Mordecai recorded these events, and sent letters to all the Jews in all the provinces of King Xerxes, both near and far, 21To establish among them that they should keep the fourteenth and fifteenth day of the month Adar, yearly, 22As the days in which the Jews rested from their enemies, and the month in which their sorrow was turned to joy, and their mourning into good days of feasting and joy, and sending portions one to another, and gifts to the poor. 23And the Jews undertook to do as they had begun, and as Mordecai had written to them; 24Because Haman, 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 Haman and his sons should be hanged on the gallows; 26Therefore, they called these days Purim after the name of Pur; because of all the words of this letter, and of that which they faced concerning this matter, and what had happened to them, 27The Jews ordained it a custom for themselves, their posterity, and any who joined with them, that they should not fail to keep these two days as recorded, at the 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, nor the memorial of them should not fail or perish from among the Jews.

29Then Queen Esther, the daughter of Abihail, and Mordecai, the Jew, wrote with all authority, to confirm this second letter of Purim. 30And Mordecai sent the letters to all the Jews, to all hundred twenty-seven provinces of the kingdom of Xerxes, with words of peace and truth, 31To confirm the marking of these days of Purim at the appointed time, as Mordecai, and Esther, the queen, had established for them, as decreed for themselves and for their seed, regarding times of fasting and lamentations. 32And the decree of Esther confirmed these matters of Purim; and it was written in the book (of the royal archives).