1 And in the twelfth month, that is, the month Adar, on the thirteenth day thereof, when the king's commandment and his decree drew near to be put in execution, in the day that the enemies of the Jews hoped to have power over them (but it was turned to the contrary, that the Jews had power over them that hated them),
2 the Jews gathered themselves together in their cities throughout the provinces of king Ahasuerus, to lay hand on such as sought their hurt. And no man could withstand them; for the fear of them had fallen upon all the peoples.
3 And all the princes of the provinces, and the satraps, and the governors and officers of the king, helped the Jews; for the fear of Mordecai had fallen upon them.
4 For Mordecai was great in the king's house, and his fame went forth throughout the provinces; for the man Mordecai became continually greater.
5 And the Jews smote all their enemies with the stroke of the sword and slaughter and destruction, and did what they would to those that hated them.
6 And in Shushan the fortress the Jews slew and destroyed five hundred men.
7 And Parshandatha, and Dalphon, and Aspatha,
8 and Poratha, and Adalia, and Aridatha,
9 and Parmashta, and Arisai, and Aridai, and Vajezatha,
10 the ten sons of Haman the son of Hammedatha, the oppressor of the Jews, they slew; but they laid not their hands on the prey.
11 On that day the number of those that were slain in Shushan the fortress was brought before the king.
12 And the king said to Esther the queen, The Jews have slain and destroyed five hundred men in Shushan the fortress, and the ten sons of Haman; what have they done in the rest of the king's provinces? And what is thy petition? and it shall be granted thee; and what is thy request further? and it shall be done.
13 And Esther said, If it please the king, let it be granted to the Jews that are in Shushan to do to-morrow also according to this day's decree, and let Haman's ten sons be hanged upon the gallows.
14 And the king commanded it so to be done: and the decree was given at Shushan; and they hanged Haman's ten sons.
15 And the Jews that were in Shushan gathered themselves together on the fourteenth day also of the month Adar, and slew three hundred men at Shushan; but they laid not their hand on the prey.
16 And the other Jews that were in the king's provinces gathered themselves together, and stood for their life, and had rest from their enemies; and they slew of them that hated them seventy-five thousand (but they laid not their hand on the prey),
17 on the thirteenth day of the month Adar; and on the fourteenth of the same they rested, and made it a day of feasting and joy.
18 But the Jews that were at Shushan gathered themselves together on the thirteenth {day} thereof, and on the fourteenth thereof; and on the fifteenth of the same they rested, and made it a day of feasting and joy.
19 Therefore the Jews of the villages that dwell in the country towns make the fourteenth of the month Adar a day of joy and feasting, and a good day, and on which they send portions one to another.
20 And Mordecai wrote these things, and sent letters to all the Jews near and far that were in all the provinces of king Ahasuerus,
21 to establish {this} among them, that they should keep the fourteenth day of the month Adar, and the fifteenth day of the same, yearly,
22 as the days on which the Jews rested from their enemies, and the month that was turned to them from sorrow to joy, and from mourning into a good day; that they should make them days of feasting and joy, and of sending portions one to another, and gifts to the poor.
23 And the Jews undertook to do as they had begun, and as Mordecai had written to them.
24 For Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the oppressor of all the Jews, had devised against the Jews to destroy them, and had cast Pur, that is, the lot, to consume them and to destroy them;
25 and when {Esther} came before the king, he commanded by letters that his wicked device, which he had devised against the Jews, should return upon his own head; and they hanged him and his sons on the gallows.
26 Therefore they called these days Purim after the name of Pur. Therefore, according to all the words of this letter, and for what they had seen concerning this matter and what had happened to them,
27 the Jews ordained and took upon them, and upon their seed, and upon all such as joined themselves to them, so that it should not fail, that they would observe these two days according to their writing and according to their fixed time, every year;
28 and that these days should be remembered and observed throughout every generation, in every family, every province, and every city, and that these days of Purim should not fail from among the Jews, nor the memorial of them cease from among their seed.
29 And queen Esther the daughter of Abihail, and Mordecai the Jew, wrote with all authority to confirm this second letter of Purim.
30 And he sent letters to all the Jews, to the hundred and twenty-seven provinces of the kingdom of Ahasuerus, words of peace and truth,
31 to confirm these days of Purim in their fixed times, according as Mordecai the Jew and queen Esther had enjoined them, and as they had decreed for themselves and for their seed, as to the matters of the fastings and their cry.
32 And the decree of Esther confirmed these matters of Purim; and it was written in the book.
1 十二月, 就是亚达月, 十三日, 王的命令和谕旨快要执行的时候, 就是犹大人的仇敌盼望辖制犹大人的日子, 反成了犹大人辖制恨他们的人的日子。
2 犹大人在亚哈随鲁王各省的城里聚集起来, 要下手攻击那些想谋害他们的人; 没有人能抵挡他们, 因为各族的人都惧怕他们。
3 各省的官长、总督、省长和办理王事务的人, 因为惧怕末底改, 就都支持犹大人。
4 末底改在朝中的确非常尊大, 他的声誉传遍各省; 末底改这人的权力越来越大。
5 这样, 犹大人击杀他们所有的仇敌, 他们用刀尽量击杀, 随意对待他们的仇人。
6 在书珊城里, 犹大人就杀灭了五百人。
7 他们又杀了巴珊大他、达分、亚斯帕他、
8 破拉他、亚大利雅、亚利大他、
9 帕玛斯他、亚利赛、亚利代和瓦耶撒他,
10 这十个人就是哈米大他的孙子、哈曼的儿子, 犹大人的敌人; 至于财物, 犹大人却没有下手掠夺。
11 当日在书珊城被杀的人的数目, 呈到王面前。
12 王问王后以斯帖: "犹大人在书珊城杀灭了五百人, 又杀了哈曼的十个儿子; 在王其他省内, 他们怎样行呢! 现在你要什么, 我必赐给你, 你还求什么, 也必给你成全。"
13 以斯帖回答: "王若是同意, 求你恩准书珊的犹大人, 明日也照着今日的谕旨行事, 把哈曼的十个儿子挂在木架上。"
14 王就下令这样行; 谕旨传遍书珊, 人就把哈曼的十个儿子挂在木架上。
15 亚达月十四日, 在书珊的犹大人又聚集起来, 在书珊杀了三百人, 却没有下手掠夺他们的财物。
16 在王各省其余的犹大人, 也都聚集起来, 保护自己的性命, 向他们的仇敌报复, 杀了恨他们的人共七万五千; 至于财物, 他们却没有下手掠夺。
17 这是在亚达月十三日的事, 十四日他们得享安宁, 以这日为设宴欢乐的日子。
18 但在书珊的犹大人在十三、十四日聚集起来杀敌, 他们就在十五日休息, 以这日为设宴欢乐的日子。
19 因此乡村的犹大人, 就是住在没有城墙的村镇的, 都以亚达月十四日为欢乐饮宴的吉日, 互送礼物。
20 末底改把这些事记录下来, 并且送文书给亚哈随鲁各省远近所有的犹大人,
21 嘱咐他们每年都要守亚达月十四、十五两日。
22 以这月的两日, 为犹大人脱离仇敌, 得享安宁的日子, 是转忧为喜, 转哀为乐的吉日, 叫他们在这两日饮宴欢乐, 大家互赠礼物, 也赒济穷人。
23 于是, 犹大人承诺要守他们起初所守的, 也承诺要遵守末底改写给他们的。
24 原本犹大人的敌人, 亚甲族哈米大他的儿子哈曼曾经设谋陷害犹大人, 要消灭他们; 他弄卜"普珥", 就是抽签, 为要打击和消灭犹大人。
25 但这事呈到王面前以后, 王使用文书降旨吩咐, 使哈曼计谋的恶事, 就是他设谋陷害犹大人的事归到他自己的头上, 又使人把他和他的众子挂在木架上。
26 因此, 犹大人照着"普珥"的名字, 称这两日为普珥节; 所以他们因这信上的话, 又因他们所看见和所遭遇的事,
27 犹大人就立了定例, 承诺他们自己和他们的后裔, 以及所有与他们联合的人, 每年都要按着所写的和指定的两日守这节日, 永不可废止。
28 使人在各省各城, 家家户户, 世世代代, 都记念、遵守这两日, 使这普珥节的日子在犹大人中, 永不废止。
29 亚比孩的女儿王后以斯帖和犹大人末底改以全权写了这第二封信, 嘱咐犹大人守这普珥节。
30 他用和平和诚实的话, 把文书送给亚哈随鲁国中一百二十七省所有的犹大人,
31 劝他们按着规定的时期, 照着犹大人末底改和王后以斯帖所嘱咐的, 也照着他们在禁食和哀求的时候为自己与后裔所承诺的, 守这普珥节。
32 以斯帖的命令确定了普珥节; 这命令也记录在史记上。