1
King Xerxes imposed taxes on the people of the coastal regions of his empire as well as on those of the interior.
2
His power and virtue, as well as the wealth and splendor of his empire, are recorded in the official records of the kings of Persia and Media.
3
Mordecai was second in rank only to King Xerxes himself. He was a great man in the empire and was honored by his fellow Jews. He was greatly loved, for he sought the welfare of his people.
4
Then Mordecai said, "God has caused all these things to happen!
5
And I am reminded of the dream I had about all of this. Every detail of the dream has come true:
6
the small spring that became a river, the dawn that turned into sunlight, and the abundance of water. The river is Esther, whom the king married and made his queen.
7
The two dragons represent Haman and me.
8
The nations are all those who have gathered together to destroy the Jews.
9
My nation is Israel, which cried out to God for help and was saved. The Lord saved his people! He rescued us from all these evils and performed great miracles and wonders that have never happened among other nations.
10
That is because God prepared one destiny for his own people and another for all other nations.
11
Then came the day and the hour when these two destinies were to be decided; the time had come for God to make a decision about the nations.
12
God remembered his chosen people and gave the verdict in their favor.
13
So each year for all time to come God's people will gather together in his presence on the fourteenth and fifteenth of the month of Adar, and celebrate with joy and happiness."
14
During the fourth year of the reign of Ptolemy and Cleopatra, a man named Dositheus, who claimed to be a levitical priest, brought the preceding letter about the Purim festival. He was accompanied by his son Ptolemy, and they declared that the letter was genuine and that it had been translated by Lysimachus, son of Ptolemy, a member of a Jerusalem family.