Esther 9:14-24

14 And the king commanded, that it should be done so; and anon the behest of the king hanged in Susa, and the (bodies of the) ten sons of Haman were hanged (up). (And the king commanded, that it be done so; and at once the king's order was hung up in Susa, and the bodies of Haman's ten sons were hung up as well.)
15 Therefore when the Jews were gathered together, in the fourteenth day of the month [of] Adar, that is, March, three hundred men were slain in Susa, and the Jews took not away the chattel of those men. (And so when the Jews were gathered together, on the fourteenth day of the month of Adar, or of March, three hundred more men were killed in Susa, and again the Jews did not take away any of their chattel, or their possessions.)
16 But also by all the provinces, that were subject to the lordship of the king, Jews stood for their lives, when their enemies and pursuers were slain, in so much, that five and seventy thousand of slain men were filled, and no man touched any thing of the chattels of them. (And in all the provinces, which were subject to the king's rule, when the Jews stood up for their lives, their enemies and pursuers were killed, indeed, over seventy-five thousand people were killed that day, but no Jew ever touched anything of their possessions.)
17 Certainly the thirteenth day of the month of Adar, or March, was the day of slaying with all them, and in the fourteenth day they ceased to slay; and that day they ordained to be solemn, so that therein in each time afterward, they should give attention to meats, to joy, and to feasts. (And so the thirteenth day of the month of Adar was the day that the Jews, outside the city of Susa, slaughtered their enemies, and then on the fourteenth day they ceased their slaughter; and that day they ordained as a time for feasting, so that at that time each year thereafter, they would give attention to food, and to joy, and to feasts.)
18 And those Jews, that used, or haunted, the slaying in the city of Susa, lived in (the) slaying in the thirteenth and fourteenth day(s) of the same month. But in the fifteenth day they ceased to slay; and therefore they ordained the same day to be solemn of feasts and of gladness. (But the Jews, who did the slaughter in the capital city of Susa, continued their slaughter from the thirteenth to the fourteenth day of the month. And then on the fifteenth day they ceased the slaughter of their enemies; and so they ordained that day to be a time for feasts and for gladness.)
19 And these Jews, that dwelled in burg towns not walled, and in villages, deemed the fourteen day of the month [of] Adar to be solemn of feasts, and of joy, so that they be joyful therein, and send, each to (the) other, parts of their feasts, and of their meats. (And this is why those Jews who live in remote towns without walls, and in villages, deem the fourteen day of the month of Adar, or of March, to be a time for feasts, and for joy, and indeed they be joyful on that day, and send portions of the food from their feasts to one another.)
20 And Mordecai wrote all these things, and he sent all these things written by letters to the Jews, that dwelled in all the provinces of the king, as well to Jews dwelling nigh as far, (And Mordecai wrote down all these things, and he sent letters concerning all these things, to the Jews who lived in all the king's provinces, yea, to the Jews living nearby, as well as to those living afar off,)
21 that they should receive and hold for their feast days the fourteenth and the fifteenth day(s) of the month [of] Adar, and ever[more] when the year turneth again, to hallow these days with solemn honour; (so that they would keep the fourteenth and the fifteenth days of the month of Adar, for their feast days, and forevermore when the year turneth again, celebrate these days with feasts of honouring;)
22 for in those days the Jews venged themselves of their enemies, and then their mourning and their sorrow were turned into gladness and joy; and therefore these days should be days of feasts, and of gladness, and that they should send, each to (the) other, parts of (their) meats, and give little gifts to poor men. (for in those days the Jews avenged themselves upon their enemies, and mourning and sorrow were turned into gladness and joy; and so these days should be feast days, filled with gladness, and they should send portions of their food to one another, and give little gifts to the poor.)
23 And the Jews received into a solemn custom all those things, which they began to do in that time, and which things Mordecai had commanded by letters to be done. (And so the Jews undertook as a festive custom all these things, which they began to do at that time, and which Mordecai had commanded in his letters to be done.)
24 For Haman, the son of Hammedatha, of the kindred of Agag, the enemy and adversary of Jews, thought evil against them, to slay them, and to do them away, and he cast pur, that is to say in our language, (a) lot, to do it. (For Haman, the son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, the enemy of the Jews, had plotted evil against them, to kill them, and to do them away, and so he cast pur, that is to say, a lot, to determine when to do it.)
Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.