The Jews Destroy Their Enemies 1 Brenton For in the twelfth month, on the thirteenth day of the month which is Adar, the letters written by the king arrived. BSB BSB: On the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the month of Adar, the king’s command and edict were to be executed. On this day the enemies of the Jews had hoped to overpower them, but their plan was overturned and the Jews overpowered those who hated them.
2 Brenton In that day the adversaries of the Jews perished: for no one resisted, through fear of them. BSB BSB: In each of the provinces of King Xerxes, the Jews assembled in their cities to attack those who sought to harm them. No man could withstand them, because the fear of them had fallen upon all peoples.
3 Brenton For the chiefs of the satraps, and the princes and the royal scribes, honoured the Jews; for the fear of Mardochæus lay upon them. BSB BSB: And all the officials of the provinces, the satraps, the governors, and the king’s administrators helped the Jews, because the fear of Mordecai had fallen upon them.
4 Brenton For the order of the king was in force, that he should be celebrated in all the kingdom. BSB BSB: For Mordecai exercised great power in the palace, and his fame spread throughout the provinces as he became more and more powerful.
6 Brenton And in the city Susa the Jews slew five hundred men: BSB BSB: In the citadel of Susa, the Jews killed and destroyed five hundred men,
7 Brenton both Pharsannes, and Delphon and Phasga, BSB BSB: including Parshandatha, Dalphon, Aspatha,
8 Brenton and Pharadatha, and Barea, and Sarbaca, BSB BSB: Poratha, Adalia, Aridatha,
9 Brenton and Marmasima, and Ruphæus, and Arsæus, and Zabuthæus, BSB BSB: Parmashta, Arisai, Aridai, and Vaizatha.
10 Brenton the ten sons of Aman the son of Amadathes the Bugæan, the enemy of the Jews, and they plundered their property on the same day: BSB BSB: They killed these ten sons of Haman son of Hammedatha, the enemy of the Jews, but they did not lay a hand on the plunder.
Haman’s Sons Hanged 11 Brenton and the number of them that perished in Susa was rendered to the king. BSB BSB: On that day the number of those killed in the citadel of Susa was reported to the king,
12 Brenton And the king said to Esther, The Jews have slain five hundred men in the city Susa; and how, thinkest thou, have they used them in the rest of the country? What then dost thou yet ask, that it may be done for thee? BSB BSB: who said to Queen Esther, “In the citadel of Susa the Jews have killed and destroyed five hundred men, including Haman’s ten sons. What have they done in the rest of the royal provinces? Now what is your petition? It will be given to you. And what further do you request? It will be fulfilled.”
13 Brenton And Esther said to the king, Let it be granted to the Jews so to treat them to-morrow as to hang the ten sons of Aman. BSB BSB: Esther replied, “If it pleases the king, may the Jews in Susa also have tomorrow to carry out today’s edict, and may the bodies of Haman’s ten sons be hanged on the gallows.”
14 Brenton And he permitted it to be so done; and he gave up to the Jews of the city the bodies of the sons of Aman to hang. BSB BSB: So the king commanded that this be done. An edict was issued in Susa, and they hanged the ten sons of Haman.
15 Brenton And the Jews assembled in Susa on the fourteenth day of Adar, and slew three hundred men, but plundered no property. BSB BSB: On the fourteenth day of the month of Adar, the Jews in Susa came together again and put to death three hundred men there, but they did not lay a hand on the plunder.
16 Brenton And the rest of the Jews who were in the kingdom assembled, and helped one another, and obtained rest from their enemies: for they destroyed fifteen thousand of them on the thirteenth day of Adar, but took no spoil. BSB BSB: The rest of the Jews in the royal provinces also assembled to defend themselves and rid themselves of their enemies. They killed 75,000 who hated them, but they did not lay a hand on the plunder.
17 Brenton And they rested on the fourteenth of the same month, and kept it as a day of rest with joy and gladness. BSB BSB: This was done on the thirteenth day of the month of Adar, and on the fourteenth day they rested, making it a day of feasting and joy.
The Feast of Purim Instituted 18 Brenton And the Jews in the city Susa assembled also on the fourteenth day and rested; and they kept also the fifteenth with joy and gladness. BSB BSB: The Jews in Susa, however, had assembled on the thirteenth and the fourteenth days of the month. So they rested on the fifteenth day, making it a day of feasting and joy.
19 Brenton On this account then it is that the Jews dispersed in every foreign land keep the fourteenth of Adar as a holy day with joy, sending portions each to his neighbour. BSB BSB: This is why the rural Jews, who live in the villages, observe the fourteenth day of the month of Adar as a day of joy and feasting. It is a holiday for sending gifts to one another.
20 Brenton And Mardochæus wrote these things in a book, and sent them to the Jews, as many as were in the kingdom of Artaxerxes, both them that were near and them that were afar off, BSB BSB: Mordecai recorded these events and sent letters to all the Jews in all the provinces of King Xerxes, both near and far,
21 Brenton to establish these as joyful days, and to keep the fourteenth and fifteenth of Adar; BSB BSB: to establish among them an annual celebration on the fourteenth and fifteenth days of the month of Adar
22 Brenton for on these days the Jews obtained rest from their enemies: and as to the month, which was Adar, in which a change was made for them, from mourning to joy, and from sorrow to a good day, to spend the whole of it in good days of feasting and gladness, sending portions to their friends, and to the poor. BSB BSB: as the days on which the Jews gained rest from their enemies and the month in which their sorrow turned to joy and their mourning into a holiday. He wrote that these were to be days of feasting and joy, of sending gifts to one another and to the poor.
23 Brenton And the Jews consented to this accordingly as Mardochæus wrote to them, BSB BSB: So the Jews agreed to continue the custom they had started, as Mordecai had written to them.
24 Brenton shewing how Aman the son of Amadathes the Macedonian fought against them, how he made a decree and cast lots to destroy them utterly;BSB BSB: For Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, the enemy of all the Jews, had plotted against the Jews to destroy them and had cast the Pur (that is, the lot) to crush and destroy them.
25 Brenton also how he went in to the king, telling him to hang Mardochæus: but all the calamities he tried to bring upon the Jews came upon himself, and he was hanged, and his children. BSB BSB: But when it came before the king, he commanded by letter that the wicked scheme which Haman had devised against the Jews should come back upon his own head, and that he and his sons should be hanged on the gallows.
26 Brenton Therefore these days were called Phruræ, because of the lots; (for in their language they are called Phruræ;) because of the words of this letter, and because of all they suffered on this account, and all that happened to them. BSB BSB: Therefore these days are called Purim, from the word Pur. Because of all the instructions in this letter, and because of all they had seen and experienced,
27 Brenton And Mardochæus established it, and the Jews took upon themselves, and upon their seed, and upon those that were joined to them to observe it , neither would they on any account behave differently: but these days were to be a memorial kept in every generation, and city, and family, and province. BSB BSB: the Jews bound themselves to establish the custom that they and their descendants and all who join them should not fail to celebrate these two days at the appointed time each and every year, according to their regulation.
28 Brenton And these days of the Phruræ, said they , shall be kept for ever, and their memorial shall not fail in any generation. BSB BSB: These days should be remembered and celebrated by every generation, family, province, and city, so that these days of Purim should not fail to be observed among the Jews, nor should the memory of them fade from their descendants.
29 Brenton And queen Esther, the daughter of Aminadab, and Mardochæus the Jew, wrote all that they had done, and the confirmation of the letter of Phruræ. BSB BSB: So Queen Esther daughter of Abihail, along with Mordecai the Jew, wrote with full authority to confirm this second letter concerning Purim.
31 Brenton And Mardochæus and Esther the queen appointed a fast for themselves privately, even at that time also having formed their plan against their own health. BSB BSB: in order to confirm these days of Purim at their appointed time, just as Mordecai the Jew and Queen Esther had established them and had committed themselves and their descendants to the times of fasting and lamentation.
32 Brenton And Esther established it by a command for ever, and it was written for a memorial. BSB BSB: So Esther’s decree confirmed these regulations about Purim, which were written into the record.
Select verses for actions: Enter goes to them and Escape comes back.