1 Now in the twelfth month, that is, the month Adar {adar: final month}, on the thirteenth day in it, when the word of the king and his decree {d'var hamelekh: royal command} had come to be carried out, on the day that the enemies of the Jews had hoped to overpower them, it was turned around so that the Jews themselves ruled over those who hated them.
2 The Jews assembled in their towns throughout all the provinces of King Ahasuerus to strike those who sought to harm them {ra’atam: planned evil}; no one could stand against them, because fear {pachdam: awe-inspiring dread} of them had fallen on all the peoples.
3 Then the leaders of the provinces—the satraps {achashdarpanim: royal deputies}, the governors, and those doing the work for the king—gave support to the Jews, because fear {pachad: overwhelming dread} of Mordecai had fallen upon them.
4 For Mordecai was great in the king’s court {beit: royal court}, and his renown {shameo: widespread renown} went out through all the provinces, because the man Mordecai was steadily becoming greater.
5 The Jews struck all their enemies with sword-blows {maqqat-kherev: decisive strikes}, killing and destroying them, and they dealt with those who hated them according to their will {kirtzonam: as they wished}.
6 In the citadel of Shushan {birah: royal fortress}, the Jews put to death and wiped out five hundred men {ish: individual adult male}.
7 And they also killed Parshandata {parshandata: Haman’s son}, Dalphon {dalphon: executed son}, and Aspata.
8 And they also killed Poratha {porata: Haman’s son}, Adalia {adalya: Persian name}, and Aridatha.
9 And they killed Parmashta, and Arisai {arisay: son of Haman}, and Aridai, and Vaizatha {vaizatha: Persian personal name}.
10 They killed the ten sons of Haman, the son of Hammedatha, the enemy {tzorer: hostile adversary} of the Jews, but they did not lay their hand on the plunder {bizzah: spoils of war}.
11 That day the count of those slain {harugim: executed victims} in Shushan the citadel {habirah: fortified palace} was brought to the king.
12 The king said to Esther the queen, “In Shushan the citadel, the Jews have killed and destroyed five hundred men and the ten sons of Haman. What, then, have they done in the rest {bishar: residual portion} of the king’s provinces? What is your petition {she’elah: formal plea}? It will be given to you. What is your further request? It also will be carried out.”
13 Esther said, “If it pleases the king {hamelekh: royal authority}, let it be granted also tomorrow to the Jews who are in Shushan to act according to today’s decree, and let the ten sons of Haman be hanged {yitlu: hung up for public display} on the tree.”
14 And the king said it should be done, and a decree {dat: official edict} was issued in Shushan {Shushan: Persian fortress city}, and the ten sons of Haman were hanged.
15 And the Jews who were in Shushan also assembled {yikkahalu: mustering for defense} on the fourteenth day of the month of Adar and killed three hundred men there, but they did not lay their hand on the plunder {babbizzah: battlefield spoils}.
16 And the rest of the Jews who were in the king’s provinces assembled and stood {amod: defensive stance} for their lives; they gained rest from their enemies and slew seventy-five thousand of their haters, but they did not lay their hands on the plunder {bizzah: spoils of war}.
17 On the thirteenth day of the month of Adar, they rested on the fourteenth and made it a day of feasting {mishteh: celebratory banquet} and gladness {simchah: rejoicing}.
18 In Shushan the Jews, having assembled on the thirteenth and fourteenth days {yom: designated time} of the month, rested on the fifteenth and designated it a day of feasting {mishteh: celebratory banquet} and gladness.
19 Therefore the rural Jews {peruzim: open-country villagers}, dwelling in the unwalled towns, keep the fourteenth day of the month of Adar as a day of gladness and feasting and a festive day, and sending portions {mishloach: gift distribution}, each man to his neighbor.
20 And Mordecai {mordokhai: Jewish leader} wrote down these matters and sent letters to all the Jews in every province {medinot: administrative division} of King Ahasuerus, whether near or far.
21 To establish {lekayyem: binding ordinance} for them that they should observe the fourteenth and fifteenth days of the month of Adar annually {shanah: annual recurrence}.
22 These were the days when the Jews had rest {nachu: cessation of hostility} from their enemies and the month that was turned for them from sorrow to joy and from mourning into a good day; therefore they were to make them days of feasting and gladness, of sending portions to one another, and of gifts to the poor {evyonim: needy recipients}.
23 And the Jews {hayehudim: covenant community} accepted what they had begun to do and what Mordecai {mordokhai: royal advisor} had written to them.
24 For Haman son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the enemy of all the Jews, had plotted against the Jews to destroy them and had cast pur {pur: decision-making lot} to crush them {lehumam: overwhelm them in panic} and to destroy them.
25 But when it came before the king, he ordered in writing {sefer: written decree} that the evil scheme which he had devised against the Jews should return on his own head, and they hanged him and his sons on the tree {etz: wooden gallows}.
26 Therefore, they called these days Purim {Purim: festival of lots} on account of the name of the lot; because of all the words of this letter {igeret: official communication} and what they had seen and what had happened to them.
27 The Jews {hayehudim: covenant community} confirmed and undertook upon themselves, their descendants, and all who joined them, that these two days {shnei hayamim: dual observance} should not lapse but be observed according to their written decree and their appointed time, year after year.
28 These days are to be remembered and observed in every generation and generation, in every family and family, in every province and province, and in every city and city; and these days of Purim {Purim: deliverance festival} will not pass away from among the Jews, nor will their memory cease from their descendants {zera'am: generational lineage}.
29 And Queen Esther, daughter of Abihail, and Mordecai the Jew wrote with all authority {tokef: full power} to confirm this second letter {iggeret: formal mandate} of Purim.
30 Letters were dispatched to every Jew in all one hundred twenty-seven provinces of the kingdom of Ahasuerus, conveying words of peace {shalom: wholeness and prosperity} and truth {emet: steadfast faithfulness}.
31 To establish these days of Purim {Purim: commemorative festival} at their appointed times, just as Mordecai the Jew and Esther the queen had ordained for them, and just as they had confirmed for themselves and for their descendants the fasts {tso-mot: ritual abstention} and their cry.
32 The command {ma'amar: royal decree} of Esther established these words of Purim, and it was written in the book {sefer: official record}.