
Esther

   

   {1:1} Now it happened in the days of Ahasuerus (this is Ahasuerus
who reigned from India even to Ethiopia, over one hundred twenty-seven
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 to 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 shown the riches of his
glorious kingdom and the honor of his excellent majesty many days, even
one hundred eighty days. {1:5} When these days were fulfilled, the king
made a feast to all the people who 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, on a pavement of red, and white, and yellow, and black marble.
{1:7} 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} 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 Carcass, the seven
chamberlains who 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 beautiful
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 angry, 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 who knew law
and judgment; {1:14} and the next to 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 to the queen Vashti according to law,
because she has not done the bidding of the king Ahasuerus by the
chamberlains? {1:16} Memucan answered before the king and the princes,
Vashti the queen has not done wrong to the king only, but also to all
the princes, and to all the peoples who are in all the provinces of the
king Ahasuerus. {1:17} For this deed of the queen will come abroad to
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 didn't come. {1:18} This day will the
princesses of Persia and Media who have heard of the deed of the queen
say [the like] to 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 not be altered, that Vashti come no
more before king Ahasuerus; and let the king give her royal estate to
another who is better than she. {1:20} 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} 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 of it, 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 who ministered
to him, Let there be beautiful 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 beautiful young virgins to
Shushan the palace, to the house of the women, to 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 who pleases the
king be queen instead of Vashti. 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 who had been carried away with Jeconiah king of Judah, whom
Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried away. {2:7} He brought
up Hadassah, who 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 happened, when the king's commandment and his decree was
heard, and when many maidens were gathered together to 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} The maiden
pleased him, and she obtained kindness of him; and he speedily gave her
things for her 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 relatives; for Mordecai
had charged her that she should not make it known. {2:11} 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 it had been
done to her as prescribed for the women twelve months (for so were the
days of their purification 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 to
the king: whatever she desired was given her to go with her out of the
house of the women to the king's house. {2:14} In the evening she went,
and on the next day 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 to 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 to the king, she required
nothing but what Hegai the king's chamberlain, the keeper of the women,
appointed. Esther obtained favor in the sight of all those who looked
at her. {2:16} So Esther was taken to king Ahasuerus into his house
royal in the tenth month, which is the month Tebeth, in the seventh
year of his reign. {2:17} 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 on her head, and made her queen
instead of Vashti. {2:18} Then the king made a great feast to 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} 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 relatives 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 who kept the threshold, were angry, and sought to lay hands on
the king Ahasuerus. {2:22} The thing became known to Mordecai, who
shown it to Esther the queen; and Esther told the king [of it] in
Mordecai's name. {2:23} 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 who were with him. {3:2} All the king's servants, who were
in the king's gate, bowed down, and did reverence to Haman; for the
king had so commanded concerning him. But Mordecai didn't bow down, nor
did him reverence. {3:3} Then the king's servants, who were in the
king's gate, said to Mordecai, Why disobey you the king's commandment?
{3:4} Now it came to pass, when they spoke daily to him, and he didn't
listen to them, that they told Haman, to see whether Mordecai's matters
would stand: for he had told those who he was a Jew. {3:5} When Haman
saw that Mordecai didn't bow down, nor did him reverence, then was
Haman full of wrath. {3:6} But he scorned the thought of laying hands
on Mordecai alone; for they had made known to him the people of
Mordecai: therefore Haman sought to destroy all the Jews who 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} Haman said to king Ahasuerus, There is a certain
people scattered abroad and dispersed among the peoples in all the
provinces of your 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 allow 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 who have the charge of the
[king's] business, to bring it into the king's treasuries. {3:10} The
king took his ring from his hand, and gave it to Haman the son of
Hammedatha the Agagite, the Jews' enemy. {3:11} The king said to Haman,
The silver is given to you, the people also, to do with them as it
seems good to you. {3:12} Then were the king's scribes called in the
first month, on the thirteenth day of it; and there was written
according to all that Haman commanded to the king's satraps, and to the
governors who were over every province, and to the princes of every
people, to every province according to the writing of it, 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} Letters were
sent by posts into all the king's provinces, to destroy, to kill, and
to cause to perish, all Jews, both young and old, little children and
women, in one day, even on 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 to 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.
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 tore 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} In every province, wherever 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} Esther's maidens and her chamberlains came
and told it her; and the queen was exceedingly grieved: and she sent
clothing to clothe Mordecai, and to take his sackcloth from off him;
but he didn't receive it. {4:5} Then called Esther for Hathach, one of
the king's chamberlains, whom he had appointed to attend on 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 to the broad place of the city,
which was before the king's gate. {4:7} Mordecai told him of all that
had happened to 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 to Esther, and to
declare it to her, and to charge her that she should go in to the king,
to make supplication to him, and to make request before him, for her
people. {4:9} Hathach came and told Esther the words of Mordecai.
{4:10} Then Esther spoke to Hathach, and gave him a message to Mordecai
[saying]: {4:11} All the king's servants, and the people of the king's
provinces, do know, that whoever, whether man or woman, shall come to
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 scepter, that he may live: but I have not been called to
come in to the king these thirty days. {4:12} They told to Mordecai
Esther's words. {4:13} Then Mordecai bade them return answer to Esther,
Don't think to yourself that you shall escape in the king's house, more
than all the Jews. {4:14} For if you altogether hold your peace at this
time, then will relief and deliverance arise to the Jews from another
place, but you and your father's house will perish: and who knows
whether you haven't come to the kingdom for such a time as this? {4:15}
Then Esther bade them return answer to Mordecai, {4:16} Go, gather
together all the Jews who are present in Shushan, and fast you 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 to 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 happened on the third day, that Esther put on her
royal clothing, and stood in the inner court of the king's house, over
against the king's house: and the king sat on his royal throne in the
royal house, over against the entrance of the house. {5:2} 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
scepter that was in his hand. So Esther drew near, and touched the top
of the scepter. {5:3} Then said the king to her, What will you, queen
Esther? and what is your request? it shall be given you even to the
half of the kingdom. {5:4} Esther said, If it seem good to the king,
let the king and Haman come this day to 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 has said. So the king and Haman came to
the banquet that Esther had prepared. {5:6} The king said to Esther at
the banquet of wine, What is your petition? and it shall be granted
you: and what is your 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 tomorrow as the king has 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 didn't stand up nor move 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} Haman recounted to them the glory of his
riches, and the multitude of his children, and all the things in which
the king had promoted him, and how he had advanced him above the
princes and servants of the king. {5:12} Haman said moreover, Yes,
Esther the queen did let no man come in with the king to the banquet
that she had prepared but myself; and tomorrow also am I invited by her
together with the king. {5:13} Yet all this avails 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 to him, Let a gallows be made fifty
cubits high, and in the morning speak you to the king that Mordecai may
be hanged thereon: then go you in merrily with the king to the banquet.
The thing pleased Haman; and he caused the gallows to be made.

    {6:1} On that night the king couldn't sleep; and he commanded to
bring the book of records of the chronicles, and they were read before
the king. {6:2} It was found written that Mordecai had told of Bigthana
and Teresh, two of the king's chamberlains, of those who kept the
threshold, who had sought to lay hands on the king Ahasuerus. {6:3} The
king said, What honor and dignity has been bestowed on Mordecai for
this? Then the king's servants who ministered to him said, "Nothing has
been done for him."

   {6:4} The king said, "Who is in the court?" Now Haman was come into
the outward court of the king's house, to speak to the king to hang
Mordecai on the gallows that he had prepared for him. {6:5} The king's
servants said to him, Behold, Haman stands in the court. The king said,
Let him come in. {6:6} So Haman came in. The king said to him, What
shall be done to the man whom the king delights to honor? Now Haman
said in his heart, To whom would the king delight to do honor more than
to myself? {6:7} Haman said to the king, For the man whom the king
delights to honor, {6:8} let royal clothing be brought which the king
uses to wear, and the horse that the king rides on, and on the head of
which a crown royal is set: {6:9} and let the clothing 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 delights 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
delights to honor. {6:10} Then the king said to Haman, Make haste, and
take the clothing and the horse, as you have said, and do even so to
Mordecai the Jew, who sits at the king's gate: let nothing fail of all
that you have spoken. {6:11} Then took Haman the clothing 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 to the
man whom the king delights to honor. {6:12} Mordecai came again to the
king's gate. But Haman hurried to his house, mourning and having his
head covered. {6:13} Haman recounted to Zeresh his wife and all his
friends everything that had happened to him. Then his wise men and
Zeresh his wife said to him, If Mordecai, before whom you have begun to
fall, be of the seed of the Jews, you shall not prevail against him,
but shall surely fall before him. {6:14} While they were yet talking
with him, came the king's chamberlains, and hurried to bring Haman to
the banquet that Esther had prepared.

    {7:1} So the king and Haman came to banquet with Esther the queen.
{7:2} The king said again to Esther on the second day at the banquet of
wine, What is your petition, queen Esther? and it shall be granted you:
and what is your request? even to the half of the kingdom it shall be
performed. {7:3} Then Esther the queen answered, If I have found favor
in your 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 bondservants and bondmaids, I had held my peace,
although the adversary could not have compensated for the king's
damage. {7:5} Then spoke the king Ahasuerus and said to Esther the
queen, Who is he, and where is he, that dared presume in his heart to
do so? {7:6} Esther said, An adversary and an enemy, even this wicked
Haman. Then Haman was afraid before the king and the queen. {7:7} 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 on 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
who were before the king, Behold also, the gallows fifty cubits high,
which Haman has made for Mordecai, who spoke good for the king, stands
in the house of Haman. 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 to Esther the queen. Mordecai came before the king; for
Esther had told what he was to her. {8:2} The king took off his ring,
which he had taken from Haman, and gave it to Mordecai. Esther set
Mordecai over the house of Haman. {8:3} Esther spoke yet again before
the king, and fell down at his feet, and begged 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 scepter. So Esther arose, and stood before the king. {8:5} 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 who
are in all the king's provinces: {8:6} for how can I endure to see the
evil that shall come to my people? or how can I endure to see the
destruction of my relatives? {8:7} Then the king Ahasuerus said to
Esther the queen and to Mordecai the Jew, See, I have given Esther the
house of Haman, and him they have hanged on the gallows, because he
laid his hand on the Jews. {8:8} Write you also to the Jews, as it
pleases 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] of it; and it was written according to all that
Mordecai commanded to the Jews, and to the satraps, and the governors
and princes of the provinces which are from India to Ethiopia, one
hundred twenty-seven provinces, to every province according to the
writing of it, and to every people after their language, and to the
Jews according to their writing, and according to their language.
{8:10} 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}
in which the king granted the Jews who were in every city to gather
themselves together, and to stand for their life, to destroy, to kill,
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} on one day in all the provinces of
king Ahasuerus, [namely], on 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 to all the
peoples, and that the Jews should be ready against that day to avenge
themselves on their enemies. {8:14} So the posts who rode on swift
steeds that were used in the king's service went out, being hurried and
pressed on by the king's commandment; and the decree was given out in
Shushan the palace. {8:15} Mordecai went forth from the presence of the
king in royal clothing 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} In every province, and in every city, wherever the
king's commandment and his decree came, the Jews had gladness and joy,
a feast and a good day. Many from among the peoples of the land became
Jews; for the fear of the Jews was fallen on 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 those who 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
on all the peoples. {9:3} All the princes of the provinces, and the
satraps, and the governors, and those who did the king's business,
helped the Jews; because the fear of Mordecai was fallen on 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 grew greater and
greater. {9:5} The Jews struck all their enemies with the stroke of the
sword, and with slaughter and destruction, and did what they would to
those who hated them. {9:6} In Shushan the palace the Jews killed and
destroyed five hundred men. {9:7} 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, killed they; but they
didn't lay their hand on the spoil. {9:11} On that day the number of
those who were slain in Shushan the palace was brought before the king.
{9:12} The king said to 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 your petition? and it shall be granted you: or what is your
request further? and it shall be done. {9:13} Then said Esther, If it
please the king, let it be granted to the Jews who are in Shushan to do
tomorrow also according to this day's decree, and let Haman's ten sons
be hanged on the gallows. {9:14} 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} The Jews who were in Shushan gathered themselves together
on the fourteenth day also of the month Adar, and killed three hundred
men in Shushan; but they didn't lay their hand on the spoil. {9:16} The
other Jews who were in the king's provinces gathered themselves
together, and stood for their lives, and had rest from their enemies,
and killed of those who hated them seventy-five thousand; but they
didn't lay their hand on the spoil. {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 who were in Shushan assembled together on the thirteenth [day] of
it, and on the fourteenth of it; 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, who 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} Mordecai wrote these things, and sent letters to all the Jews
who were in all the provinces of the king Ahasuerus, both near and far,
{9:21} to enjoin those who they should keep the fourteenth day of the
month Adar, and the fifteenth day of the same, yearly, {9:22} as the
days in which the Jews had rest from their enemies, and the month which
was turned to 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 needy. {9:23} The
Jews undertook to do as they had begun, and as Mordecai had written to
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 on his own head, and that he and his sons should be
hanged on the gallows. {9:26} Therefore 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 to them, {9:27} the Jews ordained, and took on
them, and on their seed, and on all such as joined themselves to them,
so that it should not fail, that they would keep these two days
according to the writing of it, and according to the appointed time of
it, 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 memory 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} He sent
letters to all the Jews, to the hundred twenty-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} The commandment of Esther confirmed
these matters of Purim; and it was written in the book.

    {10:1} The king Ahasuerus laid a tribute on the land, and on the
islands of the sea. {10:2} All the acts of his power and of his might,
and the full account of the greatness of Mordecai, whereunto the king
advanced him, aren't they written in the book of the chronicles of the
kings of Media and Persia? {10:3} For Mordecai the Jew was next to king
Ahasuerus, and great among the Jews, and accepted of the multitude of
his brothers, seeking the good of his people, and speaking peace to all
his seed.

   

   

________________________________________________________________________

The World English Bible (WEB) is in the Public Domain. Comments and
typo reports to editors@eBible.org are welcome. Please see
http://eBible.org/bible/web for updates, revision status, and free
downloads. You may now purchase a printed and bound New Testament plus
Psalms and Proverbs of the World English Bible at
https://www12.secure-website.net/~ebible/buy.htm, or order ISBN
0-9703344-0-0 from your bookstore.

