11
That day, when it was all over, the number of those killed in the palace complex was given to the king.
12
The king told Queen Esther, "In the palace complex alone here in Susa the Jews have killed five hundred men, plus Haman's ten sons. Think of the killing that must have been done in the rest of the provinces! What else do you want? Name it and it's yours. Your wish is my command."
13
"If it please the king," Queen Esther responded, "give the Jews of Susa permission to extend the terms of the order another day. And have the bodies of Haman's ten sons hanged in public display on the gallows."
14
The king commanded it: The order was extended; the bodies of Haman's ten sons were publicly hanged.
15
The Jews in Susa went at it again. On the fourteenth day of Adar they killed another three hundred men in Susa. But again they took no plunder.
16
Meanwhile in the rest of the king's provinces, the Jews had organized and defended themselves, freeing themselves from oppression. On the thirteenth day of the month of Adar, they killed 75,000 of those who hated them but did not take any plunder.
17
The next day, the fourteenth, they took it easy and celebrated with much food and laughter.
18
But in Susa, since the Jews had banded together on both the thirteenth and fourteenth days, they made the fifteenth their holiday for laughing and feasting.
19
(This accounts for why Jews living out in the country in the rural villages remember the fourteenth day of Adar for celebration, their day for parties and the exchange of gifts.)
20
Mordecai wrote all this down and sent copies to all the Jews in all King Xerxes' provinces, regardless of distance,
21
calling for an annual celebration on the fourteenth and fifteenth days of Adar