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Esther 1:1-10:31

ESTHER. Queen Vashti defies King Ahasuerus. (Est.1.1)

1¹It was in the days of Ahasuerus, the Ahasuerus whose empire stretched from India to Ethiopia and comprised one hundred and twenty-seven provinces. (a) In the second year of the reign of the Great King, Ahasuerus, on the first day of Nisan, a dream came to Mordecai son of Jair, son of Shimei, son of Kish, of the tribe of Benjamin, (b) a Jew living at Susa and holding high office at the royal court. (c) He was one of the captives whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had deported from Jerusalem with Jeconiah king of Judah.
(d) This was his dream. There were cries and noise, thunder and earthquakes, and disorder over the whole earth. (e) Then two great dragons came forward, each ready for the fray, and set up a great roar. (f) At the sound of them every nation made ready to wage war against the nation of the just. (g) A day of darkness and gloom, of affliction and distress, oppression and great disturbance on earth! (h) The entire upright nation was thrown into consternation at the fear of the evils awaiting it and prepared for death, crying out to God. (i) Then from its cry, as from a little spring, there grew a great river, a flood of water. (j) Light came as the sun rose, and the humble were raised up and devoured the mighty.
(k) On awakening from this dream and vision of God's designs, Mordecai thought deeply about the matter, trying his best all day to discover what its meaning might be.
(l) Mordecai was lodging at court with Bigthan and Teresh, two of the king's eunuchs who guarded the palace. (m) Having got wind of their plotting and gained knowledge of their designs, he discovered that they were preparing to assassinate King Ahasuerus, and he warned the king against them. (n) The king gave orders for the two officers to be tortured; they confessed and were executed. (o) He then had these events entered in his Record Book, while Mordecai himself also wrote an account of them. (p) The king then appointed Mordecai to an office at court and rewarded him with presents. (q) But Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, who enjoyed high favour with the king, determined to injure Mordecai in revenge for the affair of the king's two officers. ²In those days, when King Ahasuerus was sitting on his royal throne in the citadel of Susa, ³in the third year of his reign, he gave a banquet at his court for all his officers-of-state and ministers, Persian and Median army-commanders, nobles and provincial governors. ⁴Thus he displayed the riches and splendour of his empire and the pomp and glory of his majesty; the festivities went on for a long time, a hundred and eighty days. ⁵When this period was over, for seven days the king gave a banquet for all the people living in the citadel of Susa, to high and low alike, on the esplanade in the gardens of the royal palace. ⁶There were white and violet hangings fastened with cords of fine linen and purple thread to silver rings on marble columns, couches of gold and silver on a pavement of porphyry, marble, mother-of-pearl and precious stones. ⁷For drinking there were golden cups of various design and plenty of wine provided by the king with royal liberality. ⁸The royal edict did not, however, make drinking obligatory, the king having instructed the officials of his household to treat each guest according to the guest's own wishes. ⁹Queen Vashti, for her part, gave a banquet for the women in the royal palace of King Ahasuerus. ¹⁰On the seventh day, when the king was merry with wine, he commanded Mehuman, Biztha, Harbona, Bigtha, Abagtha, Zethar and Carkas, the seven officers in attendance on the person of King Ahasuerus, ¹¹to bring Queen Vashti before the king, crowned with her royal diadem, in order to display her beauty to the people and the officers-of-state, since she was very beautiful. ¹²But Queen Vashti refused to come at the king's command delivered by the officers. The king was very angry at this and his rage grew hot. ¹³Addressing himself to the wise men who were versed in the law—it being the practice to refer matters affecting the king to expert lawyers and jurists- ¹⁴he summoned Carshena, Shethar, Admatha, Tarshish, Meres, Marsena and Memucan, seven Persian and Median officers-of-state who had privileged access to the royal presence and occupied the leading positions in the kingdom. ¹⁵'According to law,' he said, 'what is to be done to Queen Vashti for not obeying the command of King Ahasuerus delivered by the officers?' ¹⁶In the presence of the king and the officers-of-state, Memucan replied, 'Queen Vashti has wronged not only the king but also all the officers-of-state and all the peoples inhabiting the provinces of King Ahasuerus. ¹⁷The queen's conduct will soon become known to all the women, who will adopt a contemptuous attitude towards their own husbands. They will say, 'King Ahasuerus himself commanded Queen Vashti to appear before him and she did not come.' ¹⁸Before the day is out, the wives of the Persian and Median officers-of-state will be telling every one of the king's officers-of-state what they have heard about the queen's behaviour; and that will mean contempt and anger all round. ¹⁹If it is the king's pleasure, let him issue a royal edict, to be irrevocably incorporated into the laws of the Persians and Medes, to the effect that Vashti is never to appear again before King Ahasuerus, and let the king confer her royal dignity on a worthier woman. ²⁰Let this edict issued by the king be proclaimed throughout his empire—which is great—and all the women will henceforth bow to the authority of their husbands, both high and low alike.' ²¹This speech pleased the king and the officers-of-state, and the king did as Memucan advised. ²²He sent letters to all the provinces of the kingdom, to each province in its own script and to each nation in its own language, ensuring that every husband should be master in his own house.

Esther becomes Queen. (Est.2.1-18)

2¹Some time after this, when the king's wrath had subsided, Ahasuerus remembered Vashti, how she had behaved, and the measures taken against her. ²The king's gentlemen-in-waiting said, 'A search should be made on the king's behalf for beautiful young virgins, ³and the king appoint commissioners throughout the provinces of his realm to bring all these beautiful young virgins to the citadel of Susa, to the harem under the authority of Hegai the king's eunuch, custodian of the women. Here he will give them whatever they need for enhancing their beauty, ⁴and the girl who pleases the king can take Vashti's place as queen.' This advice pleased the king and he acted on it. ⁵Now in the citadel of Susa there lived a Jew called Mordecai son of Jair, son of Shimei, son of Kish, of the tribe of Benjamin, ⁶who had been deported from Jerusalem among the captives taken away with Jeconiah king of Judah by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, ⁷and was now bringing up a certain Hadassah, otherwise called Esther, his uncle's daughter, who had lost both father and mother; the girl had a good figure and a beautiful face, and on the death of her parents Mordecai had adopted her as his daughter. ⁸On the promulgation of the royal command and edict a great number of girls were brought to the citadel of Susa where they were entrusted to Hegai. Esther, too, was taken to the king's palace and entrusted to Hegai, the custodian of the women. ⁹The girl pleased him and won his favour. Not only did he quickly provide her with all she needed for her dressing room and her meals, but he gave her seven special maids from the king's household and transferred her and her maids to the best part of the harem. ¹⁰Esther had not divulged her race or parentage, since Mordecai had forbidden her to do so. ¹¹Mordecai walked up and down in front of the courtyard of the harem all day and every day, to learn how Esther was and how she was being treated. ¹²Each girl had to appear in turn before King Ahasuerus after a delay of twelve months fixed by the regulations for the women; this preparatory period was occupied as follows: six months with oil of myrrh, and six months with spices and lotions commonly used for feminine beauty treatment. ¹³When each girl went to the king, she was given whatever she wanted to take with her, since she then moved from the harem into the royal household. ¹⁴She went there in the evening, and the following morning returned to another harem entrusted to the care of Shaashgaz, the king's officer, custodian of the concubines. She did not go to the king any more, unless he was particularly pleased with her and had her summoned by name. ¹⁵But when it was the turn of Esther the daughter of Abihail, whose nephew Mordecai had adopted her as his own daughter, to go into the king's presence, she did not ask for anything beyond what had been assigned her by Hegai, the king's officer, custodian of the women. Esther won the approval of all who saw her. ¹⁶She was brought to King Ahasuerus in his royal apartments in the tenth month, which is called Tebeth, in the seventh year of his reign; ¹⁷and the king liked Esther better than any of the other women; none of the other girls found so much favour and approval with him. So he set the royal diadem on her head and proclaimed her queen instead of Vashti. ¹⁸The king then gave a great banquet, Esther's banquet, for all his officers-of-state and ministers, decreed a holiday for all the provinces and distributed largesse with royal prodigality.

Mordecai saves the queen's life. (Est.2.19-23)

¹⁹When Esther, like the other girls, had been transferred to the second harem, ²⁰she did not divulge her parentage or race, in obedience to the orders of Mordecai, whose instructions she continued to follow as when she had been under his care. ²¹At this time Mordecai was attached to the Chancellery and two malcontents, Bigthan and Teresh, officers in the king's service as Guards of the Threshold, plotted to assassinate King Ahasuerus. ²²Mordecai came to hear of this and informed Queen Esther, who in turn, on Mordecai's authority, told the king. ²³The matter was investigated and proved to be true. The two conspirators were sent to the gallows, and the incident was recorded in the Annals, in the royal presence.

Haman plots to destroy the Jews. (Est.3.1-15)

3¹Shortly afterwards, King Ahasuerus singled out Haman son of Hammedatha, a native of Agag, for promotion. He raised him in rank, granting him precedence over all his colleagues, the other officers-of-state, ²and all the royal officials employed at the Chancellery used to bow low and prostrate themselves whenever Haman appeared—such was the king's command. Mordecai refused either to bow or to prostrate himself. ³'Why do you flout the royal command?' the officials of the Chancellery asked Mordecai. ⁴Day after day they asked him this, but he took no notice of them. In the end they reported the matter to Haman, to see whether Mordecai would persist in his attitude, since he had told them that he was a Jew. ⁵Haman could see for himself that Mordecai did not bow or prostrate himself in his presence; he became furiously angry. ⁶And, on being told what race Mordecai belonged to, he thought it beneath him merely to get rid of Mordecai, but made up his mind to wipe out all the members of Mordecai's race, the Jews, living in Ahasuerus' entire empire. ⁷In the first month, that is the month of Nisan, of the twelfth year of King Ahasuerus, the pur (that is, the lot) was cast in Haman's presence, to determine the day and the month. The lot falling on the twelfth month, which is Adar, ⁸Haman said to King Ahasuerus, 'There is a certain unassimilated nation scattered among the other nations throughout the provinces of your realm; their laws are different from those of all the other nations, and the royal laws they ignore; hence it is not in the king's interests to tolerate them. ⁹If their destruction be signed, so please the king, I am ready to pay ten thousand talents of silver to the king's receivers, to be credited to the royal treasury.' ¹⁰The king then took his signet ring off his hand and gave it to Haman son of Hammedatha, the persecutor of the Jews. ¹¹'Keep the money,' he said, 'and you can have the people too; do what you like with them.' ¹²The royal scribes were therefore summoned for the thirteenth day of the first month, when they wrote out the orders addressed by Haman to the king's satraps, to the governors ruling each province and to the principal officials of each people, to each province in its own script and to each people in its own language. The edict was signed in the name of King Ahasuerus and sealed with his ring, ¹³and letters were sent by runners to every province of the realm, ordering the destruction, slaughter and annihilation of all Jews, young and old, including women and children, on the same day—the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is Adar—and the seizing of their possessions.
(a) The text of the letter was as follows: 'The Great King, Ahasuerus, to the governors of the hundred and twenty-seven provinces stretching from India to Ethiopia, and to their subordinate district commissioners:
(b) 'Being placed in authority over many nations and ruling the whole world, I have resolved never to be carried away by the insolence of power, but always to rule with moderation and clemency, so as to assure for my subjects a life ever free from storms and, offering my kingdom the benefits of civilisation and free transit from end to end, to restore that peace which all men desire.
(c) In consultation with our advisers as to how this aim is to be effected, we have been informed by one of them, eminent among us for prudence and well proved for his unfailing devotion and unshakeable trustworthiness, and in rank second only to our majesty, Haman by name, (d) that there is, mingled among all the tribes of the earth, a certain ill-disposed people, opposed by its laws to every other nation and continually defying the royal ordinances, in such a way as to obstruct that form of government assured by us to the general good. (e) 'Considering therefore that this people, unique of its kind, is in complete opposition to all humanity from which it differs by its outlandish laws, that it is hostile to our interests and that it commits the most heinous crimes, to the point of endangering the stability of the realm:
(f) 'We command that those persons designated to you in the letters written by Haman, who was appointed to watch over our interests and is a second father to us, be all destroyed, root and branch, including women and children, by the swords of their enemies, without any pity or mercy, on the fourteenth day of the twelfth month, Adar, of the present year, (g) so that, these past and present malcontents being in one day forcibly thrown down to Hades, our government may henceforward enjoy perpetual stability and peace.'
¹⁴Copies of this decree, to be promulgated as law in each province, were published to the various peoples, so that each might be ready for the day aforementioned. ¹⁵At the king's command, the runners set out with all speed; the decree was first promulgated in the citadel of Susa. While the king and Haman gave themselves up to feasting and drinking, consternation reigned in the city of Susa.

Mordecai asks for Esther's help. (Est.4.1-17)

4¹When Mordecai learned what had happened, he tore his garments and put on sackcloth and ashes. Then he walked into the centre of the city, wailing loudly and bitterly, ²until he arrived in front of the Chancellery, which no one clothed in sackcloth was allowed to enter. ³And in every province, no sooner had the royal command and edict arrived, than among the Jews there was great mourning, fasting, weeping and wailing, and many lay on sackcloth and ashes. ⁴When Queen Esther's maids and officers came and told her, she was overcome with grief. She sent clothes for Mordecai to put on instead of his sackcloth, but he refused them. ⁵Esther then summoned Hathach, an officer whom the king had appointed to wait on her, and ordered him to go to Mordecai and enquire what the matter was and why he was acting in this way. ⁶Hathach went out to Mordecai in the city square in front of the Chancellery, ⁷and Mordecai told him what had happened to him personally, and also about the sum of money which Haman had offered to pay into the royal treasury to procure the destruction of the Jews. ⁸He also gave him a copy of the edict of extermination published in Susa for him to show Esther for her information, with the message that she was to go to the king and implore his favour and plead with him for the race to which she belonged. (a) 'Remember your humbler circumstances,' he said, 'when you were fed by my hand. Since Haman, the second person in the realm, has petitioned the king for our deaths, (b) invoke the Lord, speak to the king for us and save us from death!' ⁹Hathach came back and told Esther what Mordecai had said; ¹⁰and she replied with the following message for Mordecai, ¹¹'Royal officials and people living in the provinces alike all know that for anyone, man or woman, who approaches the king in the private apartments without having been summoned there, there is only one law: he must die, unless the king, by pointing his golden sceptre towards him, grants him his life. And I have not been summoned to the king for the last thirty days.' ¹²These words of Esther were reported to Mordecai, ¹³who sent back the following reply, 'Do not suppose that, because you are in the king's palace, you are going to be the one Jew to escape. ¹⁴No; if you persist in remaining silent at such a time, relief and deliverance will come to the Jews from another quarter, but both you and your father's whole family will perish. Who knows? Perhaps you have come to the throne for just such a time as this.' ¹⁵Whereupon Esther sent this reply to Mordecai, ¹⁶'Go and assemble all the Jews now in Susa and fast for me. Do not eat or drink day or night for three days. For my part, I and my waiting-women shall keep the same fast, after which I shall go to the king in spite of the law; and if I perish, I perish.' ¹⁷Mordecai went away and carried out Esther's instructions.
(a) Then calling to mind all the wonderful works of the Lord, he offered this prayer:
(b) Lord, Lord, Almighty King, everything is subject to your power, and there is no one who can withstand you in your determination to save Israel.
(c) You have made heaven and earth, and all the marvels that are under heaven. You are the Master of the universe and no one can resist you, Lord.
(d) You know all things, you, Lord, know that neither pride, self-esteem nor vainglory prompted me to do what I have done: to refuse to prostrate myself before proud Haman. Gladly would I have kissed the soles of his feet, had this assured the safety of Israel.
(e) But what I have done, I have done, rather than place the glory of a man above the glory of God; and I shall not prostrate myself to anyone except, Lord, to you, and, in so doing, I shall not be acting in pride.
(f) And now, Lord God, King, God of Abraham spare your people! For our ruin is being plotted, there are plans to destroy your ancient heritage. (g) Do not overlook your inheritance, which you redeemed from Egypt to be yours. (h) Hear my supplication, have mercy on your heritage, and turn our grief into rejoicing, so that we may live, Lord, to hymn your name. Do not suffer the mouths of those who praise you to perish.
(i) And all Israel cried out with all their might, since death was staring them in the face.
(k) Queen Esther also took refuge with the Lord in the mortal peril which had overtaken her. She took off her sumptuous robes and put on sorrowful mourning. Instead of expensive perfumes, she covered her head with ashes and dung. She mortified her body severely, and the former scenes of her happiness and elegance were now littered with tresses torn from her hair. She besought the Lord God of Israel in these words:
(l) My Lord, our King, the Only One, come to my help, for I am alone and have no helper but you and am about to take my life in my hands.
(m) I have been taught from infancy in the bosom of my family that you, Lord, have chosen Israel out of all the nations and our ancestors out of all before them, to be your heritage for ever; and that you have treated them as you promised.
(n) But we have sinned against you and you have handed us over to our enemies for paying honour to their gods. Lord, you are upright.
(o) But they are not satisfied with the bitterness of our slavery: they have pledged themselves to their idols to abolish the decree that your own lips have uttered, to blot out your heritage, to stop the mouths of those who praise you, to quench your altar and the glory of your House, (p) and instead to open the mouths of the heathen, to sing the praise of worthless idols and for ever to idolise a king of flesh.
(q) Do not yield your sceptre, Lord, to what does not exist. Never let our ruin be matter for laughter. Turn these plots against their authors, and make an example of the man who leads the attack on us. (r) Remember, Lord; reveal yourself in the time of our distress. As for me, give me courage, King of gods and Master of all powers! (s) Put persuasive words into my mouth when I face the lion; change his feeling into hatred for our enemy, so that he may meet his end, and all those like him!
(t) As for ourselves, save us by your hand, and come to my help, for I am alone and have no one but you, Lord. (u) You have knowledge of all things, and you know that I hate honours from the godless, that I loathe the bed of the uncircumcised, of any foreigner whatever. (w) You know I am under constraint, that I loathe the symbol of my high position bound round my brow when I appear at court; I loathe it as if it were a filthy rag and do not wear it on my days of leisure. (x) Your servant has not eaten at Haman's table, nor taken pleasure in the royal banquets, nor drunk the wine of libations. (y) Nor has your servant found pleasure from the day of her promotion until now except in you, Lord, God of Abraham. (z) O God, whose strength prevails over all, listen to the voice of the desperate, save us from the hand of the wicked, and free me from my fear!

Esther invites the king & Haman to a banquet. (Est.5.1-8)

5¹(a) On the third day, when she had finished praying, she took off her suppliant's mourning attire and dressed herself in her full splendour. Radiant as she then appeared, she invoked God who watches over all people and saves them. With her, she took two ladies-in-waiting. With a delicate air she leaned on one, while the other accompanied her carrying her train. (b) Rosy with the full flush of her beauty, her face radiated joy and love: but her heart shrank with fear. (c) Having passed through door after door, she found herself in the presence of the king. He was sitting on his royal throne, dressed in all his robes of state, glittering with gold and precious stones—a formidable sight. (d) He looked up, afire with majesty and, blazing with anger, saw her. The queen sank to the floor. As she fainted, the colour drained from her face and her head fell against the lady-in-waiting beside her. (e) But God changed the king's heart, inducing a milder spirit. He sprang from his throne in alarm and took her in his arms until she recovered, comforting her with soothing words. (f) 'What is the matter, Esther?' he said. 'I am your brother. Take heart, you are not going to die; our order applies only to ordinary people. Come to me.' (g) And raising his golden sceptre he laid it on Esther's neck, embraced her and said, 'Speak to me.' ²(a) 'Sire,' she said, 'to me you looked like one of God's angels, and my heart was moved with fear of your majesty. For you are a figure of wonder, my lord, and your face is full of graciousness.' (b) But as she spoke she fell down in a faint. The king grew more agitated, and his courtiers all set about reviving her.
³'What is the matter, Queen Esther?' the king said. 'Tell me what you want; even if it is half my kingdom, I grant it you.' ⁴'Would it please the king,' Esther replied, 'to come with Haman today to the banquet I have prepared for him?' ⁵The king said, 'Tell Haman to come at once, so that Esther may have her wish.' ⁶So the king and Haman came to the banquet that Esther had prepared and, during the banquet, the king again said to Esther, 'Tell me your request; I grant it to you. Tell me what you want; even if it is half my kingdom, it is yours for the asking.' ⁷'What do I want, what is my request?' Esther replied. ⁸'If I have found favour in the king's eyes, and if it is his pleasure to grant what I ask and to agree to my request, let the king and Haman come to the banquet I intend to give them tomorrow, and then I shall do as the king says.'

Haman plots to kill Mordecai. (Est.5.9-14)

⁹Haman left full of joy and high spirits that day; but when he saw Mordecai at the Chancellery, neither standing up nor stirring at his approach, he felt a gust of anger. ¹⁰He restrained himself, however. Returning home, he sent for his friends and Zeresh his wife ¹¹and held forth to them about his dazzling wealth, his many children, how the king had raised him to a position of honour and promoted him over the heads of the king's officers-of-state and ministers. ¹²'What is more,' he added, 'Queen Esther has just invited me and the king—no one else except me—to a banquet she was giving, and better still she has invited me and the king again tomorrow. ¹³But what do I care about all this when all the while I see Mordecai the Jew sitting there at the Chancellery?' ¹⁴'Have a fifty-cubit gallows run up,' said Zeresh his wife and all his friends, 'and in the morning ask the king to have Mordecai hanged on it. Then you can go with the king to the banquet, without a care in the world!' Delighted with this advice, Haman had the gallows erected.

The king honours Mordecai. (Est.6.1-13)

6¹That night the king could not sleep; he called for the Record Book, or Annals, to be brought and read to him. ²They contained an account of how Mordecai had denounced Bigthan and Teresh, two of the king's eunuchs serving as Guards of the Threshold, who had plotted to assassinate King Ahasuerus. ³'And what honour and dignity', the king asked, 'was conferred on Mordecai for this?' 'Nothing has been done for him,' the gentlemen-in-waiting replied. ⁴The king then said, 'Who is outside in the antechamber?' Haman had, that very moment, entered the outer antechamber of the private apartments, to ask the king to have Mordecai hanged on the gallows which he had just put up for the purpose. ⁵So the king's gentlemen-in-waiting replied, 'It is Haman out in the antechamber.' 'Bring him in,' the king said, ⁶and, as soon as Haman came in, went on to ask, 'What is the right way to treat a man whom the king wishes to honour?' 'Whom', thought Haman, 'would the king wish to honour, if not me?' ⁷So he replied, 'If the king wishes to honour someone, ⁸royal robes should be brought from the king's wardrobe, and a horse from the king's stable, sporting a royal diadem on its head. ⁹The robes and horse should be entrusted to one of the noblest of the king's officers-of-state, who should then array the man whom the king wishes to honour and lead him on horseback through the city square, Proclaiming before him: 'This is the way a man shall be treated whom the king wishes to honour.' ' ¹⁰'Hurry,' the king said to Haman, 'take the robes and the horse, and do everything you have just said to Mordecai the Jew, who works at the Chancellery. On no account leave out anything that you have mentioned.' ¹¹So taking the robes and the horse, Haman arrayed Mordecai and led him on horseback through the city square, proclaiming before him: 'This is the way a man shall be treated whom the king wishes to honour.' ¹²After this Mordecai returned to the Chancellery, while Haman went hurrying home in dejection and covering his face. ¹³He told his wife Zeresh and all his friends what had just happened. His wife Zeresh and his friends said, 'You are beginning to fall, and Mordecai to rise; if he is Jewish, you will never get the better of him. With him against you, your fall is certain.'

Haman is put to death. (Est.6.14-10)

¹⁴While they were still talking, the king's officers arrived in a hurry to escort Haman to the banquet that Esther was giving. 7¹The king and Haman went to Queen Esther's banquet, ²and this second day, during the banquet, the king again said to Esther, 'Tell me your request, Queen Esther. I grant it to you. Whatever you want; even if it is half my kingdom, it is yours for the asking.' ³'If I have found favour in your eyes, O king,' Queen Esther replied, 'and if it please your majesty, grant me my life—that is my request; and the lives of my people—that is what I want. ⁴For we have been handed over, my people and I, to destruction, slaughter and annihilation; had we merely been sold as slaves and servant-girls, I should not have said anything; but in the present case, it will be beyond the persecutor's means to make good the loss that the king is about to sustain.' ⁵King Ahasuerus interrupted Queen Esther, 'Who is this man?' he exclaimed. 'Where is the man who has thought of doing such a thing?' ⁶Esther replied, 'The persecutor, the enemy? Why, this wretch Haman!' Haman quaked with terror in the presence of the king and queen. ⁷In a rage the king got up from the banquet and went into the palace garden; while Haman, realising that the king was determined on his ruin, stayed behind to beg Queen Esther for his life. ⁸When the king came back from the palace garden into the banqueting hall, he found Haman sprawled across the couch where Esther was reclining. 'What!' the king exclaimed. 'Is he going to rape the queen in my own palace?' The words were scarcely out of his mouth than a veil was thrown over Haman's face. ⁹In the royal presence, Harbona, one of the officers, said, 'There is that fifty-cubit gallows, too, which Haman ran up for Mordecai, who spoke up to the king's great advantage. It is all ready at his house.' 'Hang him on it,' said the king. ¹⁰So Haman was hanged on the gallows which he had erected for Mordecai, and the king's wrath subsided.

The Jews are permitted to defend themselves. (Est.8.1-17)

8¹That same day King Ahasuerus gave Queen Esther the house of Haman, the persecutor of the Jews. Mordecai was presented to the king, Esther having revealed their mutual relationship. ²The king, who had recovered his signet ring from Haman, took it off and gave it to Mordecai, while Esther gave Mordecai charge of Haman's house. ³Esther again went to speak to the king. She fell at his feet, weeping and imploring his favour, to frustrate the malice that Haman the Agagite had been plotting against the Jews. ⁴The king held out the golden sceptre to her, whereupon Esther stood up and faced him. ⁵'If such is the king's good pleasure,' she said, 'and if I have found favour before him, if my petition seems proper to him and if I myself am pleasing to his eyes, may he be pleased to issue a written revocation of the letters which Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, has had written, ordering the destruction of the Jews throughout the royal provinces. ⁶For how can I look on, while my people suffer what is proposed for them? How can I bear to witness the extermination of my relatives?' ⁷King Ahasuerus said to Queen Esther and to Mordecai the Jew, 'I for my part have given Esther Haman's house, and have had him hanged on the gallows for planning to destroy the Jews. ⁸You, for your part, write what you please as regards the Jews, in the king's name, and seal it with the king's signet; for any edict written in the king's name and sealed with his signet is irrevocable.' ⁹The royal scribes were summoned at once—it was the third month, the month of Sivan, on the twenty-third day—and at Mordecai's dictation an order was written to the Jews, the satraps, governors and principal officials of the provinces stretching from India to Ethiopia, a hundred and twenty-seven provinces, to each 'province in its own script, and to each people in its own language, and to the Jews in their own script and language. ¹⁰These letters, written in the name of King Ahasuerus and sealed with the king's signet, were carried by couriers mounted on horses from the king's own stud-farms. ¹¹In them the king granted the Jews, in whatever city they lived, the right to assemble in self-defence, with permission to destroy, slaughter and annihilate any armed force of any people or province that might attack them, together with their women and children, and to plunder their possessions, ¹²with effect from the same day throughout the provinces of King Ahasuerus—the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is Adar.
(a) The text of the letter was as follows:
(b) 'The Great King, Ahasuerus, to the satraps of the hundred and twenty-seven provinces which stretch from India to Ethiopia, to the provincial governors and to all our loyal subjects, greeting:
(c) 'Many people, repeatedly honoured by the extreme bounty of their benefactors, only grow the more arrogant. It is not enough for them to seek our subjects' injury, but unable as they are to support the weight of their own surfeit they turn to scheming against their benefactors themselves. (d) Not content with banishing gratitude from the human heart, but elated by the plaudits of people unacquainted with goodness, notwithstanding that all is for ever under the eye of God, they expect to escape his justice, so hostile to the wicked. (e) Thus it has often happened to those placed in authority that, having entrusted friends with the conduct of affairs and allowed themselves to be influenced by them, they find themselves sharing with these the guilt of innocent blood and involved in irremediable misfortunes, (f) the upright intentions of rulers having been misled by false arguments of the evilly disposed. (g) This may be seen without recourse to the history of earlier times to which we have referred; you have only to look at what is before you, at the crimes perpetrated by a plague of unworthy officials. (h) For the future, we shall exert our efforts to assure the tranquillity and peace of the realm for all, (i) by adopting new policies and by always judging matters that are brought to our notice in the most equitable spirit.
(k) 'Thus Haman son of Hammedatha, a Macedonian, without a drop of Persian blood and far removed from our goodness, enjoyed our hospitality (l) and was treated by us with the benevolence which we show to every nation, even to the extent of being proclaimed our 'father' and being accorded universally the prostration of respect as second in dignity to the royal throne. (m) But he, unable to keep within his own high rank, schemed to deprive us of our realm and of our life. (n) Furthermore, by tortuous wiles and arguments, he would have had us destroy Mordecai, our saviour and constant benefactor, with Esther the blameless partner of our majesty, and their whole nation besides. (o) He thought by these means to leave us without support and so to transfer the Persian empire to the Macedonians.
(p) 'But we find that the Jews, marked out for annihilation by this arch-scoundrel, are not criminals: they are in fact governed by the most just of laws. (q) They are children of the Most High, the great and living God to whom we and our ancestors owe the continuing prosperity of our realm. (r) You will therefore do well not to act on the letters sent by Haman son of Hammedatha, since their author has been hanged at the gates of Susa with his whole household: a fitting punishment, which God, Master of the Universe, has speedily inflicted on him. (s) Put up copies of this letter everywhere, allow the Jews to observe their own customs without fear, and come to their help against anyone who attacks them on the day originally chosen for their maltreatment, that is, the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is Adar. (t) For the all-powerful God has made this day a day of joy and not of ruin for the chosen people. (u) You, for your part, among your solemn festivals celebrate this as a special day with every kind of feasting, so that now and in the future, for you and for Persians of good will, it may commemorate your rescue, and for your enemies may stand as a reminder of their ruin.
(v) 'Every city and, more generally, every country, which does not follow these instructions, will be mercilessly devastated with fire and sword, and made not only inaccessible to human beings but hateful to wild animals and even birds for ever.'
¹³Copies of this edict, to be promulgated as law in each province, were published to the various peoples, so that the Jews could be ready on the day stated to avenge themselves on their enemies. ¹⁴The couriers, mounted on the king's horses, set out in great haste and urgency at the king's command. The edict was also published in the citadel of Susa. ¹⁵Mordecai left the royal presence in a princely gown of violet and white, with a great golden crown and a cloak of fine linen and purple. The city of Susa shouted for joy. ¹⁶For the Jews there was light and gladness, joy and honour. ¹⁷In every province and in every city, wherever the king's command and decree arrived, there was joy and gladness among the Jews, with feasting and holiday-making. Of the country's population many became Jews, since now the Jews were feared.

The Jews destroy their enemies. (Est.9.1-19)

9¹The king's command and decree came into force on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, Adar, and the day on which the enemies of the Jews had hoped to crush them produced the very opposite effect: the Jews it was who crushed their enemies. ²In their towns throughout the provinces of King Ahasuerus, the Jews assembled to strike at those who had planned to injure them. No one resisted them, since the various peoples were now all afraid of them. ³Provincial officers-of-state, satraps, governors and royal officials, all supported the Jews for fear of Mordecai. ⁴And indeed Mordecai was a power in the palace and his fame was spreading through all the provinces; Mordecai was steadily growing more powerful. ⁵So the Jews struck down all their enemies with the sword, with resulting slaughter and destruction, and worked their will on their opponents. ⁶In the citadel of Susa alone, the Jews put to death and slaughtered five hundred men, ⁷notably Parshandatha, Dalphon, Aspatha, ⁸Poratha, Adalia, Aridatha, ⁹Parmashtha, Arisai, Aridai and Jezatha, ¹⁰the ten sons of Haman son of Hammedatha, the persecutor of the Jews. But they took no plunder. ¹¹The number of those killed in the citadel of Susa was reported to the king that same day. ¹²The king said to Queen Esther, 'In the citadel of Susa the Jews have killed five hundred men and also the ten sons of Haman. What must they have done in the other provinces of the realm? Tell me your request; I grant it to you. Tell me what else you would like; it is yours for the asking.' ¹³'If such is the king's pleasure,' Esther replied, 'let the Jews of Susa be allowed to enforce today's decree tomorrow as well. And as for the ten sons of Haman, let their bodies be hanged on the gallows.' ¹⁴Whereupon, the king having given the order, the edict was promulgated in Susa and the ten sons of Haman were hanged. ¹⁵Thus the Jews of Susa reassembled on the fourteenth day of the month of Adar and killed three hundred men in the city. But they took no plunder. ¹⁶The other Jews who lived in the king's provinces also assembled to defend their lives and rid themselves of their enemies. They slaughtered seventy-five thousand of their opponents. But they took no plunder. ¹⁷This was on the thirteenth day of the month of Adar. On the fourteenth day they rested and made it a day of feasting and gladness. ¹⁸But for the Jews of Susa, who had assembled on the thirteenth and fourteenth days, the fifteenth was the day they rested, making that a day of feasting and gladness. ¹⁹This is why Jewish country people, those who live in undefended villages, keep the fourteenth day of the month of Adar as a day of gladness, feasting and holiday-making, and the exchanging of presents with one another, (a) whereas for those who live in cities the day of rejoicing and exchanging presents with their neighbours is the fifteenth day of Adar.

Purim. (Est.9.20-32)

²⁰Mordecai committed these events to writing. Then he sent letters to all the Jews living in the provinces of King Ahasuerus, both near and far, ²¹enjoining them to celebrate the fourteenth and fifteenth days of the month of Adar every year, ²²as the days on which the Jews had rid themselves of their enemies, and the month in which their sorrow had been turned into gladness, and mourning into a holiday. He therefore told them to keep these as days of festivity and gladness when they were to exchange presents and make gifts to the poor. ²³Once having begun, the Jews continued observing these practices, Mordecai having written them an account ²⁴of how Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, the persecutor of all the Jews, had plotted their destruction and had cast the pur, that is, the lot, for their overthrow and ruin; ²⁵but how, when he went back to the king to ask him to order the hanging of Mordecai, the wicked scheme which he had devised against the Jews recoiled on his own head, and both he and his sons were hanged on the gallows; ²⁶and that, hence, these days were called Purim, from the word pur. And so, because of what was written in this letter, and because of what they had seen for themselves and of what had happened to them, ²⁷the Jews willingly bound themselves, their descendants and all who should join them, to celebrate these two days without fail, in the manner prescribed and at the time appointed, year after year. ²⁸Thus commemorated and celebrated from generation to generation, in every family, in every province, in every city, these days of Purim will never be abrogated among the Jews, nor will their memory perish from their race. ²⁹Queen Esther, the daughter of Abihail, wrote with full authority to ratify this second letter, ³⁰and sent letters to all the Jews of the hundred and twenty-seven provinces of the realm of Ahasuerus, in terms of peace and loyalty ³¹enjoining them to observe these days of Purim at the appointed time, as Mordecai the Jew had recommended, and in the manner prescribed for themselves and their descendants, with additional ordinances for fasts and lamentations. ³²The ordinance of Esther fixed the law of Purim, which was then recorded in a book.

The greatness of Ahasuerus & Mordecai. (Est.10.1-3)

10¹King Ahasuerus put not only the mainland under tribute but the Mediterranean islands as well. ²All his feats of power and valour, and the account of the high honour to which he raised Mordecai: all this is recorded in the Book of the Annals of the Kings of Media and Persia. ³And Mordecai the Jew was next in rank to King Ahasuerus. He was a man held in respect among the Jews, esteemed by thousands of his brothers, a man who sought the good of his people and cared for the welfare of his entire race.
(a) And Mordecai said, 'All this is God's doing. (b) I remember the dream I had about these matters, nothing of which has failed to come true: (c) the little spring that became a river, the light that shone, the sun, the flood of water. Esther is the river—she whom the king married and made queen. (d) The two dragons are Haman and myself. (e) The nations are those that banded together to blot out the name of Jew. (f) The single nation, mine, is Israel, those who cried out to God and were saved. Yes, the Lord has saved his people, the Lord has delivered us from all these evils, God has worked such signs and great wonders as have never occurred among the nations.
(g) 'Two destinies he appointed, one for his own people, one for the nations at large. (h) And these two destinies were worked out at the hour and time and day laid down by God, involving all the nations. (i) In this way God has remembered his people and vindicated his heritage; (k) and for them these days, the fourteenth and fifteenth of the month of Adar, are to be days of assembly, of joy and of gladness before God, through all generations and for ever among his people Israel.'
(l) In the fourth year of the reign of Ptolemy and Cleopatra, Dositheus, who affirmed that he was a priest and Levite, and Ptolemy his son brought the foregoing letter concerning Purim. They vouched for its authenticity, the translation having been made by Lysimachus son of Ptolemy, a member of the Jerusalem community.