Day 218 of 730

¹Now in the twelfth month, which is the month Adar, on the thirteenth day of the month, 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 conquer them, (but it was turned out the opposite happened, that the Jews conquered those who hated them),

²the Jews gathered themselves together in their cities throughout all the provinces of the King Ahasuerus, to lay hands on those who wanted to harm them. No one could withstand them, because the fear of them had fallen on all the people.

³All the princes of the provinces, the satraps, the governors, and those who did the king's business helped the Jews, because the fear of Mordecai had fallen on them.

⁴For Mordecai was great in the king's house, and his fame went out throughout all the provinces; for the man Mordecai grew greater and greater.

⁵The Jews struck all their enemies with the stroke of the sword, and with slaughter and destruction, and did what they wanted to those who hated them.

⁶In the citadel of Susa, the Jews killed and destroyed five hundred men.

⁷They killed Parshandatha, Dalphon, Aspatha,

⁸Poratha, Adalia, Aridatha,

⁹Parmashta, Arisai, Aridai, and Vaizatha,

¹⁰the ten sons of Haman the son of Hammedatha, the Jew's enemy, but they did not lay their hand on the plunder.

¹¹On that day, the number of those who were slain in the citadel of Susa was brought before the king.

¹²The king said to Esther the queen, "The Jews have slain and destroyed five hundred men in the citadel of Susa, including the ten sons of Haman; what then have they done in the rest of the king's provinces! Now what is your petition? It shall be granted you. What is your further request? It shall be done."

¹³Then Esther said, "If it pleases 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."

¹⁴The king commanded this to be done. A decree was given out in Shushan; and they hanged Haman's ten sons.

¹⁵The 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 did not lay their hand on the spoil.

¹⁶The other Jews who were in the king's provinces gathered themselves together, defended their lives, had rest from their enemies, and killed seventy-five thousand of those who hated them; but they did not lay their hand on the plunder.

¹⁷This was done on the thirteenth day of the month Adar; and on the fourteenth day of that month they rested and made it a day of feasting and gladness.

¹⁸But the Jews who were in Shushan assembled together on the thirteenth and on the fourteenth days of the month; and on the fifteenth day of that month, they rested, and made it a day of feasting and gladness.

¹⁹Therefore the Judeans of the villages, who live in the unwalled towns, make the fourteenth day of the month Adar a day of gladness and feasting, a good day, and a day of sending presents of food to one another.

²⁰Mordecai wrote these things, and sent letters to all the Jews who were in all the provinces of the king Ahasuerus, both near and far,

²¹to enjoin them that they should keep the fourteenth and fifteenth days of the month Adar yearly,

²²as 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 presents of food to one another, and gifts to the needy.

²³The Jews accepted the custom that they had begun, as Mordecai had written to them;

²⁴because 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;

²⁵but when this became known to 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.

²⁶Therefore they called these days "Purim," from the word "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,

²⁷the Jews established, and imposed on themselves, and on their descendants, and on all those who joined themselves to them, so that it should not fail, that they would keep these two days according to what was written, and according to its appointed time, every year;

²⁸and 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.

²⁹Then Esther the queen, the daughter of Abihail, and Mordecai the Jew, wrote with all authority to confirm this second letter of Purim.

³⁰He sent letters to all the Jews, to the hundred twenty-seven provinces of the kingdom of Ahasuerus, with words of peace and truth,

³¹to confirm these days of Purim in their appointed times, as Mordecai the Jew and Esther the queen had decreed, and as they had imposed upon themselves and their descendants, in the matter of the fastings and their cry.

³²The commandment of Esther confirmed these matters of Purim; and it was written in the book.

¹King Ahasuerus laid a tribute on the land, and on the islands of the sea.

²All the acts of his power and of his might, and the full account of the greatness of Mordecai, to which the king advanced him, aren't they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Media and Persia?

³For Mordecai the Jew was next to King Ahasuerus, and great among the Jews, and accepted by the multitude of his brothers, seeking the good of his people, and speaking peace to all his descendants.

¹Let God arise! Let his enemies be scattered! Let them who hate him also flee before him.

²As smoke is driven away, so drive them away. As wax melts before the fire, so let the wicked perish at the presence of God.

³But let the righteous be glad. Let them rejoice before God. Yes, let them rejoice with gladness.

⁴Sing to God! Sing praises to his name! Extol him who rides on the clouds: to Yah, his name! Rejoice before him!

⁵A father of the fatherless, and a defender of the widows, is God in his holy habitation.

⁶God sets the lonely in families. He brings out the prisoners with singing, but the rebellious dwell in a sun-scorched land.

⁷God, when you went forth before your people, when you marched through the wilderness... Selah.

⁸The earth trembled. The sky also poured down rain at the presence of the God of Sinai- at the presence of God, the God of Israel.

⁹You, God, sent a plentiful rain. You confirmed your inheritance, when it was weary.

¹⁰Your congregation lived therein. You, God, prepared your goodness for the poor.

¹¹The Lord announced the word. The ones who proclaim it are a great company.

¹²"Kings of armies flee! They flee!" She who waits at home divides the spoil,

¹³while you sleep among the campfires, the wings of a dove sheathed with silver, her feathers with shining gold.

¹⁴When the Almighty scattered kings in her, it snowed on Zalmon.

¹⁵The mountains of Bashan are majestic mountains. The mountains of Bashan are rugged.

¹⁶Why do you look in envy, you rugged mountains, at the mountain where God chooses to reign? Yes, the Lord will dwell there forever.

¹⁷The chariots of God are tens of thousands and thousands of thousands. The Lord is among them, from Sinai, into the sanctuary.

¹⁸You have ascended on high. You have led away captives. You have received gifts among men, yes, among the rebellious also, that Yah, God, might dwell there.

¹⁹Blessed be the Lord, who daily bears our burdens, even the God who is our salvation. Selah.

²⁰God is to us a God of deliverance. To the Lord, the Lord, belongs escape from death.

²¹But God will strike through the head of his enemies, the hairy scalp of such a one as still continues in his guiltiness.

²²The Lord said, "I will bring you again from Bashan, I will bring you again from the depths of the sea;

²³That you may crush them, dipping your foot in blood, that the tongues of your dogs may have their portion from your enemies."

²⁴They have seen your processions, God, even the processions of my God, my King, into the sanctuary.

²⁵The singers went before, the minstrels followed after, in the midst of the ladies playing with tambourines,

²⁶"Bless God in the congregations, even the Lord in the assembly of Israel!"

²⁷There is little Benjamin, their ruler, the princes of Judah, their council, the princes of Zebulun, and the princes of Naphtali.

²⁸Your God has commanded your strength. Strengthen, God, that which you have done for us.

²⁹Because of your temple at Jerusalem, kings shall bring presents to you.

³⁰Rebuke the wild animal of the reeds, the multitude of the bulls, with the calves of the peoples. Being humbled, may it bring bars of silver. Scatter the nations that delight in war.

³¹Princes shall come out of Egypt. Ethiopia shall hurry to stretch out her hands to God.

³²Sing to God, you kingdoms of the earth! Sing praises to the Lord! Selah.

³³To him who rides on the heaven of heavens, which are of old; behold, he utters his voice, a mighty voice.

³⁴Ascribe strength to God! His excellency is over Israel, his strength is in the skies.

³⁵You are awesome, God, in your sanctuaries. The God of Israel gives strength and power to his people. Praise be to God!

¹The proverbs of Solomon, the son of David, king of Israel:

²to know wisdom and instruction; to discern the words of understanding;

³to receive instruction in wise dealing, in righteousness, justice, and equity;

⁴to give prudence to the simple, knowledge and discretion to the young man:

⁵that the wise man may hear, and increase in learning; that the man of understanding may attain to sound counsel:

⁶to understand a proverb, and parables, the words and riddles of the wise.

⁷The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; but the foolish despise wisdom and instruction.

⁸My son, listen to your father's instruction, and do not forsake your mother's teaching:

⁹for they will be a garland to grace your head, and chains around your neck.

¹⁰My son, if sinners entice you, do not consent.

¹¹If they say, "Come with us, Let's lie in wait for blood; let's lurk secretly for the innocent without cause;

¹²let's swallow them up alive like Sheol, and whole, like those who go down into the pit.

¹³We'll find all valuable wealth. We'll fill our houses with spoil.

¹⁴You shall cast your lot among us. We'll all have one purse."

¹⁵My son, do not walk in the way with them. Keep your foot from their path,

¹⁶for their feet run to evil. They hurry to shed blood.

¹⁷For in vain is the net spread in the sight of any bird:

¹⁸but these lie in wait for their own blood. They lurk secretly for their own lives.

¹⁹So are the ways of everyone who is greedy for gain. It takes away the life of its owners.

²⁰Wisdom calls aloud in the street. She utters her voice in the public squares.

²¹She calls at the head of noisy places. At the entrance of the city gates, she utters her words:

²²"How long, you simple ones, will you love simplicity? How long will mockers delight themselves in mockery, and fools hate knowledge?

²³Turn at my reproof. Behold, I will pour out my spirit on you. I will make known my words to you.

²⁴Because I have called, and you have refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no one has paid attention;

²⁵but you have ignored all my counsel, and wanted none of my reproof;

²⁶I also will laugh at your disaster. I will mock when calamity overtakes you;

²⁷when calamity overtakes you like a storm, when your disaster comes on like a whirlwind; when distress and anguish come on you.

²⁸Then will they call on me, but I will not answer. They will seek me diligently, but they will not find me;

²⁹because they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the Lord.

³⁰They wanted none of my counsel. They despised all my reproof.

³¹Therefore they will eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own schemes.

³²For the backsliding of the simple will kill them. The careless ease of fools will destroy them.

³³But whoever listens to me will dwell securely, and will be at ease, without fear of harm."