1 It came to pass in the days of Ahasuerus, the Ahasuerus who reigned from India to Ethiopia over one hundred and twenty-seven provinces,
2 that in those days, when King Ahasuerus was established on the throne of his kingdom, which was in Shushan the capital of the kingdom,
3 In the third year of his reign he made a banquet for all his princes and courtiers, having before him the most powerful of Persia and Media, governors and princes of the provinces,
4 to show him the riches of the glory of his kingdom, the brilliance and magnificence of his power, for many days, one hundred and eighty days.
5 And when these days were completed, the king made another banquet for seven days in the garden court of the royal palace for all the people who were in Susa, the capital of the kingdom, from the greatest to the least.
6 The canopy was white, green, and blue, spread on linen ropes, and purple on silver rings and marble pillars; the kneelers of gold and silver, on tiles of porphyry and marble, and of alabaster and hyacinth.
7 And they gave to drink in golden vessels, and vessels different from one another, and much royal wine, according to the king’s generosity.
8 And the drinking was according to this law: That no one was forced to drink; because this is what the king had ordered to all the stewards of his house, that it be done according to the will of each one.
9 Likewise Queen Vashti made a banquet for the women in the royal house of King Ahasuerus.
10 On the seventh day, when the king’s heart was glad of the wine, he commanded Mehuman, Bizthah, Harbonah, Bigtha, Abagtha, Zethar, and Carcas, seven eunuchs who served before King Ahasuerus,
11 to bring Queen Vashti to the presence of the king. king with the royal crown, to show the people and princes his beauty; because she was beautiful.
12 But Queen Vashti did not want to appear at the king’s command sent through the eunuchs; and the king was very angry, and his anger burned.
13 Then the king asked the wise men who knew the times (for this was the king’s custom with all those who knew the law and the law;
14 and there were with him Carshena, Shethar, Admatha, Tarshish, Meres, Marsena and Memucan, seven princes of Persia and Media who saw the face of the king, and sat first in the kingdom);
15 He asked them what should be done with Queen Vashti according to the law, because she had not carried out the order of King Ahasuerus sent by the eunuchs.
16 And Memuchan said before the king and the princes, Not only has Queen Vashti sinned against the king, but against all the princes, and against all the people that are in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus.
17 For this deed of the queen will reach the ears of all the women, and they will have little esteem for their husbands, saying, King Ahasuerus ordered Queen Vashti to be brought before him, and she did not come.
18 And then the ladies of Persia and Media who hear the queen’s deed will say this to all the king’s princes; and there will be much contempt and anger.
19 If it pleases the king, let a royal decree go out from your majesty and be written among the laws of Persia and Media, so that it will not be broken: Let Vashti no longer come before King Ahasuerus; and the king makes another queen who is better than her.
20 And the decree that the king gives will be heard in all his kingdom, although it is great, and all the women will give honor to their husbands, from the eldest to the youngest.
21 This word pleased the eyes of the king and the princes, and the king did according to the saying of Memucan;
22 for he sent letters to all the king’s provinces, to every province according to his writing, and to every town according to his language, saying that every man should establish his authority in his house; and that this should be published in the language of his people.
1 When these things were over, and the anger of King Ahasuerus had now subsided, he remembered Vashti and what she had done, and the sentence against her.
2 And the king’s servants, his courtiers, said, Let them look for good-looking young virgins for the king;
3 And let the king appoint people in all the provinces of his kingdom, who will bring all the young virgins of good appearance to Susa, the royal residence, to the house of women, under the care of Hegai the king’s eunuch, guardian of the women, and let them give them their attire;
4 and the maiden who pleases the king’s eyes, reign in Vashti’s place. This pleased the king’s eyes, and he did so.
5 There was a Jewish man in Susa, whose name was Mordecai, the son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish, of the lineage of Benjamin;
6 who had been carried away from Jerusalem with the captives who were carried away to Jeconiah king of Judah, whom he had Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon carried away.
7 And he had raised Hadasa, that is, Esther, her uncle’s daughter, because she was an orphan; and the young woman had a beautiful figure and good appearance. When her father and mother died, Mordecai adopted her as his daughter.
8 So it came to pass, when the king’s commandment and decree was made known, and many maidens had been gathered to Susa royal residence, under the care of Hegai, that Esther also was taken to the king’s house, under the care of Hegai, keeper of the women. .
9 And the maiden pleased her sight, and she found favor in his sight, so she promptly gave him clothing and food, and also gave him seven special maidens from the king’s house; and he took her with her maids to the best part of the women’s house.
10 Esther did not declare what her people were or her kindred, because Mordecai had commanded her not to declare it.
11 And every day Mordecai walked before the court of the women’s house, to know how Esther was doing, and how they treated her.
12 And when the time came for each of the maidens to come to King Ahasuerus, after they had spent twelve months according to the law regarding women, so the time of their attire was fulfilled, that is, six months with oil of myrrh and six months with aromatic perfumes and women’s cosmetics,
13 then the maiden thus came to the king. Everything she asked for was given to her, so she could come dressed in it from the women’s house to the king’s house.
14 She came in the afternoon, and the next morning she returned to the second house of women, under the charge of Shaasgaz, the king’s eunuch, keeper of the concubines; She no longer came to the king, unless the king wanted her and she was called by her name.
15 When the time came for Esther, daughter of Abihail, Mordecai’s uncle, who had taken her as his daughter, to come to the king, she sought nothing except what Hegai, the king’s eunuch, keeper of the women, said; and Esther won the favor of all who saw her.
16 So Esther was brought to King Ahasuerus to his royal house in the tenth month, which is the month of Tebet, in the seventh year of his reign.
17 And the king loved Esther more than all the other women, and she found favor and favor in his sight more than all the other virgins; and he put the royal crown on her head, and made her queen instead of Vashti.
18 Then the king made a great banquet for all his princes and servants, the banquet of Esther; and he reduced taxes to the provinces, and made and gave favors according to the royal generosity.
19 When the virgins were gathered together the second time, Mordecai was sitting at the king’s gate.
20 And Esther, as Mordecai had commanded her, had not declared her nation nor her people; because Esther did what Mordecai said, just like when he educated her.
21 In those days, while Mordecai was sitting at the king’s gate, Bigthan and Teresh, two of the king’s eunuchs, who were guarding the gate, became angry and sought to lay hands on King Ahasuerus.
22 When Mordecai understood this, he reported it to Queen Esther, and Esther told the king in Mordecai’s name.
23 An investigation was made of the matter, and it was found true; Therefore, the two eunuchs were hanged on a gallows. And the case was written in the king’s book of chronicles.
1 After these things King Ahasuerus magnified Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, and honored him, and set his seat above all the princes who were with him.
2 And all the king’s servants who were at the king’s gate knelt and bowed before Haman, because so the king had commanded; but Mordecai neither knelt nor humbled himself.
3 And the king’s servants who were at the door asked Mordecai, “Why do you transgress the king’s commandment?”
4 It came to pass, that as they spoke to him daily in this manner, and he did not listen to them, they reported him to Haman, to see if Mordecai would stand firm in his saying; because he had already declared to them that he was a Jew.
5 And Haman saw that Mordecai neither knelt nor humbled himself before him; and he was filled with anger.
6 But he thought little of laying hands on Mordecai alone, since they had already told him what Mordecai’s people were; And Haman sought to destroy all the Jews who were in the kingdom of Ahasuerus, the people of Mordecai.
7 In the first month, which is the month of Nisan, in the twelfth year of King Ahasuerus, Pur, that is, the lot, was cast before Haman, lots for each day and each month of the year; and the twelfth month came out, which is the month of Adar.
8 And Haman said to King Ahasuerus, There is a people scattered and distributed among the peoples in all the provinces of your kingdom, and their laws are different from those of all people, and they do not keep the king’s laws, and nothing benefits the king. letting them live.
9 If it pleases the king, let him decree that they be destroyed; and I will weigh ten thousand talents of silver to those who manage the treasury, so that they may be brought to the king’s treasuries.
10 Then the king took the ring from his hand, and gave it to Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, an enemy of the Jews,
11 and said to him, The silver which you offer be for you, and also for the people, that you may do with it. How good would it seem to you?
12 Then the king’s scribes were called in the first month, on the thirteenth day of the same, and it was written according to all that Haman commanded, to the king’s satraps, to the captains who were over each province, and to the princes of each people. , to each province according to its writing, and to each town according to its language; In the name of King Ahasuerus it was written, and sealed with the king’s ring.
13 And letters were sent by couriers to all the king’s provinces, with the order to destroy, kill and exterminate all the Jews, young and old, children and women, on the same day, on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month. , which is the month of Adar, and to seize their property.
14 The copy of the writing that was given as a commandment in each province was published to all the towns, so that they would be ready for that day.
15 And the couriers went out quickly at the king’s command, and the edict was given in Shushan the capital of the kingdom. And the king and Haman sat down to drink; but the city of Susa was shaken.
1 When Mordecai knew all that had been done, he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and ashes, and went out into the city crying with a great and bitter cry.
2 And he came even before the king’s gate; for it was not lawful to enter the king’s gate in sackcloth.
3 And in every province and place where the king’s commandment and his decree came, the Jews had great mourning, fasting, crying and lamentation; sackcloth and ashes were the bed of many.
4 And Esther’s maids and her eunuchs came and told him. Then the queen was in great pain, and she sent clothes to clothe Mordecai, and to make him take off his sackcloth; but he did not accept them.
5 Then Esther called Hathach, one of the king’s eunuchs, whom he had appointed to serve her, and sent him to Mordecai, with orders to find out what was happening, and why she was like this.
6 So Hatach went out to see Mordecai in the city square, which was before the king’s gate.
7 And Mordecai told him everything that had happened to him, and told him of the silver that Haman had said he would weigh into the king’s treasuries in exchange for the destruction of the Jews.
8 He also gave him the copy of the decree that had been given in Susa that they should be destroyed, so that he could show it to Esther and declare it to her, and order her to go to the king to plead with him and intercede before him for his people. .
9 Hatach came and told Esther the words of Mordecai.
10 Then Esther told Hathach to tell Mordecai,
11 All the king’s servants, and the people of the king’s provinces, know that any man or woman who enters the inner court to see the king, without being called, will be There is only law regarding him: he must die; except he to whom the king extends the golden scepter, and he shall live; and I have not been called to see the king these thirty days.
12 And they told Mordecai the words of Esther.
13 Then Mordecai said to Esther, “Do not think that you will escape into the king’s house any more than any other Jew.”
14 For if you remain absolutely silent at this time, respite and deliverance will come from somewhere else for the Jews; but you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows if you have arrived at the kingdom by this time?
15 And Esther told them to answer Mordecai:
16 Go and gather all the Jews who are in Susa, and fast for me, and do not eat or drink for three days, night and day; I also with my maidens will fast likewise, and then I will go in to see the king, even though he is not according to the law; and if I perish, may he perish.
17 Then Mordecai went and did according to all that Esther commanded him.
1 It came to pass on the third day that Esther put on her royal garment, and went into the inner court of the king’s house, opposite the king’s chamber; And the king was sitting on his throne in the royal chamber, opposite the door of the chamber.
2 And when he saw Queen Esther standing in the court, she obtained favor in her sight; and the king held out to Esther the golden scepter that was in her hand. Then Esther came and she touched the tip of her scepter.
3 The king said, What have you got, Queen Esther, and what is your request? Up to half of the kingdom will be given to you.
4 And Esther said, If it pleases the king, let the king and Haman come today to the banquet that I have prepared for the king.
5 The king answered: Make haste, call Haman, to do what Esther has said. So the king came with Haman to the banquet that Esther had arranged.
6 And the king said to Esther at the banquet, while they were drinking wine, What is your request, and will it be granted to you? What is your demand? Even if it is half the kingdom, it will be granted to you.
7 Then Esther answered and said, My request and my demand is this:
8 If I have found favor in the sight of the king, and if it pleases the king to grant my request and grant my demand, let the king come with Haman to another banquet that will be given to them. I will prepare; and tomorrow I will do according to what the king has commanded.
9 And Haman went out that day happy and glad of heart; But when he saw Mordecai at the door of the king’s palace, not getting up or moving from his place, he was filled with anger against Mordecai.
10 But Haman restrained himself and came home, and called for his friends and Zeresh his wife,
11 and Haman told them the glory of his riches, and the multitude of his sons, and all the things with which the king had given him magnified, and with which he had honored him above the princes and servants of the king.
12 And Haman added, Queen Esther also made no one come with the king to the banquet which she had prepared, but me; And tomorrow I am also invited by her to the king.
13 But all this is of no use to me whenever I see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the king’s gate.
14 And Zeresh his wife and all his friends said to him, Make a gallows fifty cubits high, and tomorrow tell the king to hang Mordecai on it; and he enters the banquet joyfully with the king. And this pleased Haman, and he had the gallows prepared.
1 That same night the king lost sleep, and he said that the book of memories and chronicles should be brought to him, and that they should be read in his presence.
2 Then they found it written that Mordecai had denounced the plot of Bigthan and Teresh, two of the king’s eunuchs, of the gate guard, who had sought to lay hands on King Ahasuerus.
3 And the king said, What honor or what distinction was done to Mordecai for this? And the king’s servants, his officers, answered: Nothing has been done with him.
4 Then the king said, Who is in the court? And Haman had come to the outer court of the royal house, to speak to the king so that he would have Mordecai hang on the gallows that he had prepared for him.
5 And the king’s servants answered him, Behold, Haman is in the court. And the king said, Let him come in.
6 So Haman entered, and the king said to him, What shall be done to the man whose honor the king desires? And Haman said in his heart, Whom will the king desire to honor more than me?
7 And Haman said to the king, For the man whose honor the king desires,
8 bring the royal garment in which the king dresses, and the horse on which the king rides, and the royal crown that is placed on his head;
9 And give the garment and the horse into the hand of one of the king’s most noble princes, and clothe that man whose honor the king desires, and carry him on the horse through the city square, and proclaim before him: Thus It will be done to the man whose honor the king desires.
10 Then the king said to Haman, Make haste, take the garment and the horse, as you have said, and do so to the Jew Mordecai, who sits at the royal gate; Don’t omit anything from everything you’ve said.
11 And Haman took the garment and the horse, and clothed Mordecai, and led him on horseback through the square of the city, and proclaimed before him, Thus shall it be done to the man whose honor the king desires.
12 After this Mordecai returned to the royal gate, and Haman hurried home, sad and covering his head.
13 Then Haman told his wife Zeresh and all his friends everything that had happened to him. Then his wise men and his wife Zeresh said to him: If this Mordecai is of the descendants of the Jews before whom you have begun to fall, you will not overcome him, but you will surely fall before him.
14 While they were still talking with him, the king’s eunuchs came quickly to take Haman to the banquet that Esther had prepared.
1 So the king went with Haman to Queen Esther’s banquet.
2 And on the second day, while they were drinking wine, the king said to Esther, What is your request, Queen Esther, and will it be granted to you? What is your demand? Even if it is half the kingdom, it will be given to you.
3 Then Queen Esther answered and said, O king, if I have found favor in your sight, and if it pleases the king, let my life be given to me for my request, and my people for my request.
4 For we have been sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, to be killed and exterminated. If we were sold to male and female servants, I would remain silent; but our death would be irreparable damage to the king.
5 King Ahasuerus answered and said to Queen Esther, Who is he, and where is he, that hath lifted up his heart to do this?
6 Esther said: The enemy and adversary is this wicked Haman. Then Haman was troubled before the king and queen.
7 Then the king rose from the banquet, burning with anger, and went to the palace garden; and Haman remained to beg Queen Esther for his life; because he saw that the evil from the king was resolved for him.
8 Then the king returned from the palace garden to the banquet room, and Haman had fallen on the bed where Esther was. Then the king said: Will you also rape the queen in my own house? When the king spoke this word, they covered Haman’s face.
9 And Harbonah, one of the king’s eunuchs, said, Behold, in Haman’s house, the gallows fifty cubits high that Haman made for Mordecai, who had spoken well for the king. Then the king said: Hang him on it.
10 So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai; and the king’s anger was appeased.
1 On the same day, King Ahasuerus gave to Queen Esther the house of Haman, the enemy of the Jews; and Mordecai came before the king, because Esther declared to him what he was toward her.
2 And the king took off the ring which he had taken from Haman, and gave it to Mordecai. And Esther put Mordecai over the house of Haman.
3 Then Esther spoke again before the king, and she fell at her feet, weeping and begging him to make void the evil of Haman the Agagite and his plan that he had plotted against the Jews.
4 Then the king held out the golden scepter to Esther, and Esther arose and stood before the king,
5 and said, “If it pleases the king, and if I have found favor with him, and if it seems right to the king, king, and I am pleasing in his sight, that a written order be given to revoke the letters authorizing the plot of Haman son of Hamedata the Agagite, which he wrote to destroy the Jews who are in all the king’s provinces.
6 For how can I see the evil that will overtake my people? How can I see the destruction of my nation?
7 King Ahasuerus answered Queen Esther and Mordecai the Jew, Behold, I have given Esther the house of Haman, and they have hanged him on the gallows, because he stretched out his hand against the Jews.
8 Therefore write to the Jews as you see fit, in the name of the king, and seal it with the king’s ring; for an edict that is written in the king’s name, and sealed with the king’s ring, cannot be revoked.
9 Then the king’s scribes were called in the third month, which is Sivan, on the twenty-third day of that month; and it was written according to all that Mordecai commanded, to the Jews, and to the satraps, the captains, and the princes of the provinces that were from India to Ethiopia, one hundred and twenty-seven provinces; to each province according to its writing, and to each people according to its language, to the Jews also according to their writing and language.
10 And he wrote in the name of King Ahasuerus, and sealed it with the king’s ring, and sent letters by couriers mounted on swift horses from the royal pastures;
11 that the king gave authority to the Jews who were in all the cities, to assemble and be in defense of their lives, ready to destroy, kill, and put an end to any armed force of the town or province that came against them , and even their children and women, and seize their property,
12 on the same day in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar.
13 The copy of the edict that was to be issued by decree in each province, so that it would be known to all peoples, said that the Jews should be prepared for that day, to take revenge on their enemies.
14 So the couriers, mounted on swift horses, set out in haste at the king’s command; and the edict was given in Susa, the capital of the kingdom.
15 And Mordecai came out from before the king in a royal robe of blue and white, and a great crown of gold, and a robe of linen and purple. The city of Susa then rejoiced and rejoiced;
16 and the Jews had light and gladness, and joy and honor.
17 And in every province and in every city where the king’s commandment came, the Jews had joy and joy, a banquet and a day of pleasure. And many of the people of the land became Jews, because the fear of the Jews had fallen on them.
1 In the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar, on the thirteenth day of the same month, when the king’s commandment and his decree were to be carried out, on the same day on which the enemies of the Jews hoped to rule over them, the thing happened. contrary; for the Jews ruled over those who hated them.
2 The Jews gathered in their cities, in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, to lay down their hand on those who had sought evil, and no one could resist them, because the fear of them had fallen on all people.
3 And all the princes of the provinces, the satraps, captains and officers of the king, supported the Jews; for the fear of Mordecai had fallen upon them.
4 For Mordecai was great in the king’s house, and his fame spread throughout all the provinces; Mordecai became greater and greater.
5 And the Jews devastated all their enemies with the edge of the sword, and with death and destruction, and did with their enemies as they pleased.
6 In Susa, the capital of the kingdom, the Jews killed and destroyed five hundred men.
7 Then they killed Parsandata, Dalphon, Aspathah,
8 Poratah, Adaliah, Aridatha,
9 Parmasta, Arisai, Aridai and Vaizata,
10 ten sons of Haman the son of Hammedatha, an enemy of the Jews; but they did not touch his property.
11 On the same day the king was informed about the number of those killed in Susa, the royal residence.
12 And the king said to Queen Esther, In Shushan the capital of the kingdom the Jews have killed five hundred men, and ten sons of Haman. What have they done in the king’s other provinces? What, then, is your request? and it will be granted to you; or what else is your demand? and it will be done.
13 And Esther said, If it pleases the king, let it be granted tomorrow also to the Jews in Shushan, that they may do according to today’s law; and let Haman’s ten sons be hanged on the gallows.
14 And the king commanded that it be done thus. The order was given in Shushan, and Haman’s ten sons were hanged.
15 And the Jews who were in Susa also gathered together on the fourteenth of the month Adar, and killed three hundred men in Susa; but they did not touch his property.
16 As for the other Jews who were in the king’s provinces, they also gathered together and put themselves in defense of their lives, and they rested from their enemies, and they killed seventy-five thousand of their opponents; but they did not touch his property.
17 This was on the thirteenth day of the month Adar, and they rested on the fourteenth day of the same, and made it a day of feasting and joy.
18 But the Jews who were in Susa gathered together on the thirteenth and fourteenth of the same month, and on the fifteenth of the same they rested and made it a day of feasting and rejoicing.
19 Therefore, the Jewish villagers who live in the towns without a wall make the fourteenth of the month of Adar a day of joy and feasting, a day of rejoicing, and to send portions each to his neighbor.
20 And Mordecai wrote these things, and sent letters to all the Jews who were in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, near and far,
21 Commanding them to celebrate the fourteenth day of the month of Adar, and the fifteenth of the same, every year,
22 as days in which the Jews had peace from their enemies, and as the month in which sadness was changed for them into joy, and mourning. on a good day; that they should make them days of feasting and joy, and to send portions each to his neighbor, and gifts to the poor.
23 And the Jews agreed to do, as they had begun, what Mordecai wrote to them.
24 For Haman son of Hammedatha the Agagite, an enemy of all the Jews, had devised a plan against the Jews to destroy them, and had cast Pur, which means lot, to consume them and destroy them.
25 But when Esther came to the king’s presence, he ordered by letter that the evil plan that Esther plotted against the Jews would fall on his head; and that they would hang him and his children on the gallows.
26 Therefore they called these days Purim, by the name Pur. And because of the words of this letter, and because of what they saw about it, and what led to their knowledge,
27 the Jews established and took it upon themselves, upon their descendants, and upon all those close to them, that they would not cease from celebrate these two days as it is written concerning them, according to their season each year;
28 and that these days would be remembered and celebrated by all generations, families, provinces and cities; that these days of Purim would not cease to be kept by the Jews, and that his descendants would never cease to remember them.
29 And Queen Esther daughter of Abihail, and Mordecai the Jew, subscribed with full authority this second letter concerning Purim.
30 And letters were sent to all the Jews, to the one hundred and twenty-seven provinces of King Ahasuerus, with words of peace and truth,
31 to confirm these days of Purim in their appointed times, as Mordecai the Jew and Queen Esther had commanded them. , and according to what they had taken upon themselves and their descendants, to commemorate the end of the fasts and their cry.
32 And the commandment of Esther confirmed these celebrations about Purim, and this was recorded in a book.
1 King Ahasuerus imposed tribute on the land and even to the shores of the sea.
2 And all the acts of his power and authority, and the report of the greatness of Mordecai, with which the king magnified him, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Media and Persia?
3 For Mordecai the Jew was second after King Ahasuerus, and great among the Jews, and esteemed by the multitude of his brethren, because he sought the welfare of his people and spoke peace to all his people.
