Ester 8

1 On that day, King Ahasuerus gave 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. 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.

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 plan that he had planned against the Jews. 4 Then the king held out to Esther the golden scepter. So Esther arose, and stood before the king. 5 She said, "If it pleases the king, and if I have found favor in his sight, and the thing seems right to the king, and I am 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. 6 For how can I endure to see the evil that would come to my people? How can I endure to see the destruction of my relatives?"

7 Then King Ahasuerus said to Esther the queen and to Mordecai the Jew, "See, I have given Esther the house of Haman, and they have hanged him on the gallows because he laid his hand on the Jews. 8 Write 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 not be reversed by any man."

9 Then the king’s scribes were called at that time, in the third month, which is the month Sivan, on the twenty-third day of the month; and it was written according to all that Mordecai commanded to the Jews, and to the local governors, and the governors and princes of the provinces which are from India to Ethiopia, one hundred twenty-seven provinces, to every province according to its writing, and to every people in their language, and to the Jews in their writing, and in their language. 10 He wrote in the name of King Ahasuerus, and sealed it with the king’s ring, and sent letters by courier on horseback, riding on royal horses that were bred from swift steeds. 11 In those letters, the king granted the Jews who were in every city to gather themselves together and to defend their lives—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 plunder their possessions, 12 on one day in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month Adar. 13 A copy of the letter, that the decree should be given out in every province, was published to all the peoples, that the Jews should be ready for that day to avenge themselves on their enemies. 14 So the couriers who rode on royal horses went out, hastened and pressed on by the king’s commandment. The decree was given out in the citadel of Susa.

15 Mordecai went out of 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 Susa shouted and was glad. 16 The Jews had light, gladness, joy, and honor. 17 In every province and in every city, wherever the king’s commandment and his decree came, the Jews had gladness, joy, a feast and a holiday. Many from among the peoples of the land became Jews, for the fear of the Jews had fallen on them.

Ka Whakaorangia a Ehetere ngā Hūrai

1 Nō taua rā ka hōmai e Kīngi Ahahueruha ki a Kuīni Ehetere te whare o Hāmana, hoariri o ngā Hūrai. Ā, ka haere a Mororekai ki te aroaro o te kīngi, nā Ehetere hoki i whakaatu he whanaunga ia nōna. 2 Ā, unuhia ana e te kīngi tōna mōwhiti i tangohia mai nei e ia i a Hāmana, ā, hoatu ana ki a Mororekai. Ā, i whakanohoia a Mororekai e Ehetere ki te whare o Hāmana.

3 Ā, i kōrero anō a Ehetere ki te aroaro o te kīngi, me te takoto anō ki ōna waewae, me te tangi anō, i īnoi ki a ia kia karohia te kino a Hāmana Akaki, me te whakaaro i whakaaro ai ia mō ngā Hūrai. 4 Kātahi ka torona atu e te kīngi te hēpeta kōura ki a Ehetere. Heoi, ka whakatika a Ehetere, ka tū ki te aroaro o te kīngi.

5 Ā, ka mea, "Ki te pai te kīngi, ki te manakohia hoki ahau e ia, ki te mea he tika tēnei mea ki tō te kīngi whakaaro, ki te mea he pai ahau ki tāna titiro, me tuhituhi kia whakatakā ngā pukapuka i whakaaroa e Hāmana tama a Hamerata Akaki, āna i tuhituhi ai kia hunā ngā Hūrai i ngā kāwanatanga katoa a te kīngi. 6 Me pēhea hoki e āhei ai ahau te titiro ki te hē e pā ki tōku iwi? Me pēhea hoki e āhei ai ahau te titiro ki te hunanga o ōku whanaunga?"

7 Anō rā ko Kīngi Ahahueruha ki a Kuīni Ehetere rāua ko Mororekai Hūrai, "Nanā, kua oti te hoatu e ahau ki a Ehetere te whare o Hāmana; kua oti anō tērā te tārona ki runga ki te rākau mō tōna ringa i totoro ki ngā Hūrai. 8 Mā kōrua anō e tuhituhi tā kōrua e pai ai mō ngā Hūrai, i runga i te ingoa o te kīngi, hīri rawa ki te mōwhiti o te kīngi; he tuhituhi hoki i tuhituhia i runga i te ingoa o te kīngi, ā, i hīritia ki te mōwhiti o te kīngi, e kore e whakatakā."

9 Kātahi ka karangatia ngā karaipi a te kīngi i taua wā, i te toru o ngā marama, arā i te marama Hiwana, i te rua tekau mā toru o ngā rā o taua marama; ā, ka tuhituhia ngā mea katoa i whakahau ai a Mororekai ki ngā Hūrai, ki ngā kāwana, rātou ko ngā kāwana iti, ko ngā rangatira anō o ngā kāwanatanga, o Inia mai anō ā tae noa ki Etiopia, kotahi rau e rua tekau mā whitu ngā kāwanatanga; ki tēnei kāwanatanga, ki tēnei kāwanatanga, he mea whakarite ki tā rātou tuhituhi; ki tēnei iwi, ki tēnei iwi, he mea whakarite anō ki tō rātou reo, ki ngā Hūrai anō, he mea whakarite ki tā rātou tuhituhi, ki tō rātou reo. 10 Tuhituhia ana e ia i runga i te ingoa o Kīngi Ahahueruha, hīri rawa ki te mōwhiti o te kīngi, ā, tukua ana ngā pukapuka kia maua e ngā kaikawe pukapuka i runga hōiho, i eke i runga i ngā kararehe tere o ngā mahi a te kīngi, he momo.

11 E mea ana i roto te tukunga a te kīngi i ngā Hūrai o ngā pā katoa kia huihui, kia tū ki runga, kia ora ai rātou, kia whakangaro, kia whakamate, kia huna i ngā ope katoa o te iwi o te kāwanatanga e tauria ai rātou ko ā rātou kōhungahunga, ko ā rātou wāhine kia pāhua hoki i ō rātou taonga hei mea parakete. 12 I taua rā kotahi i ngā kāwanatanga katoa a Kīngi Ahahueruha, arā i te tekau mā toru o ngā rā o te tekau mā rua o ngā marama, koia nei te marama Arara. 13 I whakapuakina ki ngā iwi katoa ngā kupu i tuhituhia mō te ture kia whakatakotoria i ngā kāwanatanga katoa kia mataara ai ngā Hūrai i taua rā ki te rapu utu i ō rātou hoariri.

14 Heoi, haere ana ngā kaikawe pukapuka, he mea waha e ngā kararehe tere o ngā mahi a te kīngi, he mea whakahohoro, he mea akiaki e te kupu a te kīngi. I hōmai anō te ture i Huhana, i te whare kīngi.

15 Nā, haere ana a Mororekai i te aroaro o te kīngi, ko tōna kākahu he kākahu kīngi, he purū, he mā, me te karauna kōura nui, me tētahi kākahu hoki he rīnena pai, he pāpura. Nā, hāmama ana, hari ana te pā, a Huhana. 16 Nā, ko ngā Hūrai i māha, i koa, me te hari me te hōnore. 17 I ngā kāwanatanga katoa anō, i ngā pā katoa i ngā wāhi i tae ai te kupu a te kīngi me tāna ture, he hari, he koa tō ngā Hūrai, he kai hākari, he rā pai. Ā, he tokomaha o ngā iwi o te whenua i mea i a rātou hei Hūrai; i tau hoki te wehi o ngā Hūrai ki a rātou.