Chapter 1
1 It was in the days of ArtaXerxes, who ruled from the City of Susa over an area of twenty-seven regions all the way to India 2 – in the third year of his reign – that he held a [wedding] banquet for his friends, those from the rest of the nations, the Persians, the Medes, 3 those who were being honored, and those who were in charge of the governors. 4 And during the banqueting (which lasted one-hundred and eighty days), he showed them all the riches of his kingdom and the glory of the things he had accomplished.
5 Now, when the days for celebrating his wedding were finished, the king held another banquet for foreigners who were living in the city that lasted six days. It was held inside the courtyard of the king’s palace. 6 The area was decorated with fine linen and cotton cloth that was stretched over bolts of fine linen and purple cloth, which was fastened with studs of gold and silver over marble columns that were topped with gold and silver. 7 The stone pavement was set with emeralds, mother of pearl, marble, and beds of transparent stone; and then everything was surrounded with bouquets of roses in vases of gold and silver, and small [onyx] cups sat in front of them that were worth some thirty-thousand gold coins. They also had an abundance of the best wine; the type that was saved for the king.
8 The banquet wasn’t the type that was specified by their laws, but that’s the way the king wanted it, so he gave instructions to those in charge of the workers to handle it that way. 9 Also, Astin (the queen) was holding a banquet for the women of the kingdom in the same place where ArtaXerxes was holding his.
10 Well, it was on the seventh day, while the king was in a particularly happy mood, that he gave orders to Haman, Biztha, Harbona, Bigtha, Abagtha, Zethar, and Carcas (the king’s seven [most trusted] eunuchs) to bring the queen to him, 11 so she could receive her coronation and be given a royal turban, and so he could display her beauty before all the princes and the foreigners (because she was very beautiful). 12 But Queen Astin refused to come with the eunuchs, which made the king very angry. 13 So, he said to his friends, ‘If this is how Astin has chosen to answer, then you deal with this matter according to the law, and judge her!’
14 Then Carshena, Shethar, Admatha, Tarshish, Meres, Marsena, and Memucan (the seven sub-rulers of the Persians and Medes who were closest to the king and who sat by him) stepped up 15 to tell the king what the laws required them to do to Queen Astin for not following the orders that the king had given to his eunuchs. 16 Memucan spoke and said to him and the other rulers, ‘Not only has Queen Astin dishonored the king, but she has dishonored all the king’s rulers and leaders.’
17 Then he described to them all the things that the queen had said and how she disobeyed the king. And he said, ‘She has disobeyed King ArtaXerxes! 18 And today all the wives of the sub-rulers and the rest of the heads of the Persians and Medes heard this pronouncement by the queen, so they may also dare to dishonor their husbands. 19 Now, if it seems good to the king, let him write out and sign a royal decree as law among the Medes and Persians not to treat her as queen, and that she may no longer sleep with the king. Then, may the king find a woman better than her.
20 ‘May this law then be announced throughout the entire kingdom, so all women will learn to respect their husbands, both the rich and the poor!’
21 Well, what he said pleased the king and his rulers, so the king did what Memucan proposed. 22 He sent a proclamation everywhere throughout his entire realm in their languages, to force wives to show respect for their husbands in their households.
Chapter 2
1 All of that ended the king’s rage, and he never again mentioned Astin, the thing that she said, or how he had condemned her. 2 So, the king’s servants [suggested], ‘Have them search for young women for the king who are both pure and beautiful to look at. 3 Send his judges everywhere throughout his kingdom and let them choose young women who are virgins and pretty, then take them to his harem in the City of Susa and hand them over to the king’s eunuch who is in charge of the women, to be cared for and given beauty treatments. 4 Then the woman who pleases the king will rule instead of Astin.’
Well, this pleased the king, so it was done.
5 Now, there was a man (a Judean) in the City of Susa whose name was Mordecai. He was the son of JaiRus, the grandson of SemeYas, and the great-grandson of KisaYus, from the tribe of BenJamin. 6 He had been carried off as a captive from Jerusalem by NebuChadnezzar the king of Babylon. 7 And he had a child that he raised, who was the daughter of his uncle (his father’s brother), and her name was Esther. For, after her parents died, he [agreed to] take [care of] the young woman, who was very good looking.
8 Well, after the king’s proclamation [was read], many young women were gathered to the City of Susa [to be seen by] by Gai (the harem keeper), and then Esther was led before him. 9 He found the young woman very pleasing and he liked her, so he hurried to give her the beauty treatments, her share [of good things], and seven young women from the royal palace were brought before her. Then he treated her and her handmaidens very well in the harem chamber. 10 However, Esther didn’t discuss her race or her fatherland with him, because Mordecai had told her not to mention it. 11 Then each day thereafter, Mordecai would walk by the women’s courtyard to see what was happening to Esther.
12 And at the end of twelve months, the time finally came for the young women to go in to the king, for that’s how long the beauty treatments were to last. They also underwent six months of treatments with fragrant oils.
13 Well, after six months of being bathed in myrrh oil, she was taken in to the king, along with anyone else who the king instructed to be brought from the harem chamber to the royal palace. 14 She was brought in to him that evening, and the next morning she ran to the secondary harem where the Eunuch Gai (the king’s harem keeper) was. And thereafter, she couldn’t go before the king unless she was called.
15 Eventually, Esther (the daughter of AbiHail, Mordecai’s uncle) again went in to the king and she carefully followed all the eunuch’s instructions. And thereafter, Esther was liked by everyone who saw her. 16 Then Esther went in to King ArtaXerxes in the tenth month (Tebeth) of the seventh year of his reign, 17 and he fell passionately in love with her, preferring her to all the other virgins. So, then he placed the royal turban of the queen upon her head, 18 and he held a banquet for all his friends and governors for seven days. And he made the wedding feast of Esther greater by [releasing all the prisoners] in his kingdom.
19 Now, Mordecai was in charge of matters in [the king’s] courtyard. 20 And following Mordecai’s instructions, Esther hadn’t spoken of her fatherland, and she was told to fear God and to obey His orders as she did when she lived in his home. So, Esther never changed her ways.
21 Well, Mordecai kept growing more important. 22 And then two of the king’s eunuchs (the chiefs of his bodyguards) became worried about the king and decided to kill ArtaXerxes, and Mordecai heard about the matter and warned Esther, then she told the king about the plot. 23 So, the king interrogated the eunuchs and had them hung. And the king had a record written in the royal library about the goodwill that Mordecai had shown, and that he was to be commended.
Chapter 3
1 After that, King ArtaXerxes honored Haman (the son of Amadathes the Agagite). He promoted him over all his friends and seated him in [the most prominent position]. 2 Then everyone in the courtyard had to bow before him, because the king said so. However, Mordecai refused to bow before him. 3 So, the people in the king’s courtyard asked Mordecai, ‘Why are you disobeying the orders of the king?’
4 Well, they spoke to him about this each day, but Mordecai just didn’t pay any attention to them. So, they pointed out to Haman that he was disobeying the king’s orders; and they also told him that Mordecai was a Judean. 5 And when Haman found out that he wasn’t bowing before him, he was furious. 6 So, that’s when he started making plans to remove all the Judeans from the kingdom of ArtaXerxes.
7 For thereafter, he called for a referendum (during the twelfth year of the reign of ArtaXerxes). Then he threw lots to determine the best month and day to destroy the race of Mordecai, and the lot fell for the fourteenth day of the month of Adar.
8 Then he went and spoke to King ArtaXerxes and said, ‘There’s a nation that is mixed among all the nations of your kingdom whose laws are different from the other nations, and they disregard the laws of the king, so it isn’t to the king’s advantage to keep them. 9 And if it seems good to the king, may he write a decree that they must be destroyed, then I will appropriate ten-thousand gold coins from the king’s treasury to get it done.’
10 Well, the king removed his ring and handed it to Haman, to seal the judgment that he wrote against the Judeans. 11 And the king said to Haman, ‘As for the silver, you have it. And as for that nation, treat them any way you wish!’
12 Then, the king called in his scribes on the thirteenth day of the first month, and they wrote Haman’s orders [and sent them to] all the military commanders and governors from India to Ethiopia… to a hundred and twenty-seven districts. He sent letters to all the rulers of the nations in their own languages in the name of King ArtaXerxes. 13 And then he sent couriers throughout the kingdom of ArtaXerxes [telling the people] to wipe out the race of the Judeans on the first day of the twelfth month (Adar), and to plunder all their possessions. 14 Then copies of the letters were put on display everywhere.
Well, the day was set and everything was being prepared and made ready… 15 even in Susa. Then the king and Haman toasted each other, as the whole city was in an uproar.
Chapter 4
1 Well, when Mordecai recognized that this was the end, he ripped his clothes and put on sackcloth, then threw ashes [on his head]. And thereafter, he rushed to the city square, where he yelled as loud as he could, ‘A nation is being taken away that has wronged no one!’
2 Then he went and stood outside the palace gate, because he wasn’t allowed to enter the courtyard in sackcloth and ashes. 3 And everywhere that the letters were on display, there was crying, beating on chests, and great mourning among the Judeans, as they put on sackcloth and made beds for themselves in ashes.
4 Then the queen’s handmaidens and eunuchs came to her and told her about this, and she was very upset when she heard what had happened. So she sent a robe to Mordecai and told him to stop wearing his sackcloth, but he refused to do it. 5 Then Esther called Hatach (her personal eunuch) and sent him to Mordecai 6 so she could learn the details of the situation.
7 Well, Mordecai told him what had happened, and how Haman got the king’s promise to receive ten-thousand gold coins from his treasury so he could destroy the Judeans. 8 And then he gave him a copy of the decree that was on public display in Susa that told how they were to be destroyed, and Hatach took it to Esther. He also told the eunuch to ask her to beg the king’s pardon and for her to be found worthy to remind him of her people. He said, ‘Tell him of how lowly you were once considered and of how I took you and raised you, because Haman (the king’s second in command) has spoken about murdering us. Call upon Jehovah, and then speak to the king about us and rescue us from death!’
9 Then Hatach returned and told Esther everything [Modrecai] said. 10 And Esther told Hatach to go to Mordecai and tell him, ‘Everyone in the kingdom knows that there’s no hope for any man or woman who goes into the king’s inner courtyard without being called. 11 Just the one to whom the king stretches out his scepter is safe, and I haven’t been called to see the king for some thirty days now.’
12 So, Hatach went and told Mordecai everything that Esther said, and Mordecai told him: 13 ‘Go and tell Esther not to be thinking that she’s the only Judean who will be saved. 14 If she wants to ignore us this time, the Judeans will get help from somewhere else. However, she and the house of her father will be destroyed. For, how does she know that the reason why she was made queen wasn’t for this very purpose?’
15 Then Esther sent a reply to Mordecai, saying, 16 ‘Well, gather all the Judeans in the City of Susa, and I want everyone to fast for me… don’t eat or drink for three nights and days! Also, my handmaidens and I will go without food before I go before the king, because I’ll be breaking the law. But if it’s necessary for me to die, I’ll do it!’
17 And thereafter, Mordecai did everything that Esther told him to do.
Chapter 5
1 Well, on the third day, Esther dressed in her royal clothes, and then she went and stood in the palace courtyard, inside the inner courtyard, which is right outside the king’s residence. And when the king went and sat on his royal throne (which was inside his palace but faced the front entryway) 2 and saw Esther the queen standing in his courtyard, he was pleased; so he stretched out the golden scepter that he held in his hand toward her, and Esther approached and touched the tip of the scepter. 3 Then the king asked, ‘What do you want, Esther… what is your request? Ask for half of my kingdom and it’s yours.’
4 And Esther said, ‘Today is a special day for me, so if it seems good to the king, may both the king and Haman attend a banquet that I will hold today!’
5 So, the king said to Haman, ‘Hurry, let’s go and do what Esther asked!’
Then they both went to the banquet that Esther had prepared. 6 And when they arrived, the king said to Esther, ‘Tell me what it is that’s so important to you, Queen Esther, and I’ll do whatever is worthwhile.
7 And she said, ‘My only request and petition 8 is that; if I’ve found the favor of the king, you and Haman come again tomorrow for [another] banquet that I’ll hold for you, the same as today.’
9 Well, when Haman left the king that day, he was very cheerful and happy. However, when he saw the Judean Mordecai standing in the courtyard, he was furious. 10 And when he got home, he called his wife Zosara and his friends 11 and showed them all the wealth he had gained, of the glory that the king had had vested upon him, and of how the king had appointed him as the most important and given him the lead position in his kingdom. 12 Then Haman said, ‘Why, the queen didn’t invite anyone to her banquet other than just the king and me, and she has invited me again tomorrow! 13 However, the thing that really bothered me was seeing that Judean Mordecai standing in the courtyard.’
14 Then his wife Zosara said to him and his friends, ‘Cut down an eighty-five-foot-tall tree, then at dawn tomorrow morning, speak to the king about hanging Mordecai on it. So, when you attend the banquet with the king, you can do it joyfully!’
Well, this seemed to be a good idea, so Haman prepared the tree.
Chapter 6
1 However, Jehovah removed sleep from the king that night, so he gave orders to his servant to bring in the memorandum letters and read them to him. 2 And that’s when he found the letter concerning Mordecai, which told of how he had reported that two of the king’s eunuchs were looking to get their hands on ArtaXerxes. 3 So the king asked: ‘What glory or favor was shown to Mordecai for doing this?’
And the king’s servants replied, ‘Why, nothing has been done for him.’
4 Well, it was at the same time that the king was asking about doing good things for Mordecai that {Look!} Haman arrived in the courtyard, for he had come to speak to the king about hanging Mordecai on the pole that he had prepared.
So the king asked, ‘Who is in the courtyard?’
5 And the king’s servants replied, ‘Look, its Haman standing in the courtyard.’
And the king said, ‘Call him in!’
6 Then the king asked Haman, ‘Tell me, what [do you suggest] I do for a man that I wish to honor?’
And Haman thought to himself, ‘Who does the king wish to honor other than me?’ 7 So he said to the king: ‘As for the man who the king wishes to honor; 8 the king’s servants should bring him the same fine linen that the king wears and the king’s horse. 9 Then have the king’s most honored friends put the royal robes upon the man who is loved by the king, mount him on the horse, and lead him around the city square proclaiming, This is how any man who is honored by the king is treated!’
10 And the king said to Haman, ‘Well spoken! That’s what I want you to do for the Judean Mordecai, my courtyard attendant. Make sure that you do everything you said!’
11 Well, Haman got the robe and the horse, then put the robe on Mordecai and mounted him on the horse, and led him around the city square proclaiming, ‘This is how any man who is honored by the king is treated!’
12 And after he brought Mordecai back to the courtyard, he went home very upset and with a worried mind; 13 and he described the things that had happened to him to his wife Zosara and to his friends. Then his wife and friends said, ‘Since Mordecai is of the Judean race and you have started being humbled before him, you’re going to fall; and there’s no way to defend yourself against him, because the living God is with him!’
14 Well, it was while they were still speaking that the eunuchs arrived to hurry Haman along to the banquet that had been prepared by Esther.
Chapter 7
1 Then the king and Haman went in to drink together with the queen on the second day of the banquet, 2 and the king asked Esther: ‘What would you like, Queen Esther? What is your request or petition? For, whatever you ask is yours… up to half of my kingdom!’
3 And she replied, ‘If I’ve found favor before the king, my request and petition is for him to grant life to my people; 4 for both my people and I have been sold for destruction, ravaging, and as male and female slaves (both our children and us); yet I failed to tell you this. However, the one who slandered us isn’t worthy to sit in the courtyard of the king.’
5 And the king asked, ‘Who has dared to do such a thing?’
6 Then Esther said, ‘A man; an enemy; Haman… this wicked man!’
Well, Haman became very upset before the king and queen. 7 Then the king got up and left the party, and walked out into the garden. So, Haman appealed to the queen, because he saw that he was in a bad situation. 8 And when the king returned from the garden, he found Haman fallen on the queen’s bed as he was begging her. And the king asked, ‘Are you attacking my wife here in my own house?’
Well, when Haman heard that, he didn’t know what to say. 9 And then Harbonah (one of the king’s eunuchs) said to the king, ‘Look, there’s an eighty-five-foot-tall pole that Haman prepared for Mordecai, the man who protected the king, and it has been place upright over at Haman’s place!’
And the king said, ‘Then let him be impaled upon it!’
10 So, Haman was hung on the pole that he had prepared for Mordecai, and then the king was no longer as angry.
Chapter 8
1 And that day, King ArtaXerxes presented everything that had belonged to the slanderer Haman, to Esther. Then the king called Mordecai, because Esther explained how he was related to her, 2 and he gave Mordecai the ring that he had removed from Haman. And then Esther placed Mordecai in charge of all the possessions of Haman.
3 Thereafter, she went and spoke to the king, fell upon his feet, and begged him to undo the evils of Haman and all that he had done against the Judeans.
4 Well, the king held out his gold scepter to Esther, so she rose to her feet, stood next to the king, 5 and said, ‘If it seems good to you, and if I’ve found your favor; have the letters that were sent out by Haman, in which he wrote about destroying all the Judeans in your kingdom, recalled. 6 For, how could I watch my people being so mistreated? And how could I be saved when my fatherland is being destroyed?’
7 Then the king said to Esther, ‘Why, I’ve granted you everything that Haman owned and I hung him on a pole for raising his hands against the Judeans; so what more are you asking? 8 You may write whatever seems good to you in my name, and then seal it with my ring. However, whenever the king gives an order and seals it with his ring, it may never be changed!’
9 Well, it was the twenty-third day of the first month (Nisan) of that same year, when the scribes were called, and [an edict] was written concerning the Judeans, which was sent to all those in authority, to those in charge of the governors from India to Ethiopia, and to a hundred-and-twenty-seven governors by districts in their own languages. 10 It was written in the name of the king, sealed with his ring, and sent out by couriers, 11 and it gave instructions on how his laws were to be executed in each city. They were instructed to assist [the Judeans] and to help them to deal with their opponents and enemies in any way that they requested.
12 Then on the first day, the proclamation [was read] throughout the entire kingdom of ArtaXerxes, and copies were put on public display for everyone throughout the kingdom to see,13 saying that the Judeans were to be allowed to prepare themselves for war against all their enemies on the thirteenth day of Adar (the twelfth month).
14 The king’s edict was then carried on horseback to be quickly delivered throughout the realm, and it was put on display in Susa.
15 Well, Mordecai was thereafter dressed in royal robes, and a gold crown was placed on his head over a purple turban. And when the people of Susa saw this, they rejoiced; 16 and the Judeans were very relieved and happy. 17 Then, in every place and city where the edict was displayed, there was rejoicing and toasting among the Judeans; and because of their fear of the Judeans, many people of the nations were circumcised and became converts to Judaism.
Chapter 9
1 Well, by the thirteenth day of the twelfth month (Adar), all the letters from the king had been distributed. 2 So on that day, all the enemies of the Judeans were destroyed, because everyone was afraid and no one opposed them. 3 Everyone, including the heads over the governors, the vassal kings, and the royal scribes, treated the Judeans with respect, because they were afraid of Mordecai, 4 since the king had ordered his name 5 to be proclaimed throughout the kingdom.
6 In the city of Susa alone, the Judeans killed about five hundred, 7 including PharShandatha, Daiphon, Aspatha, 8 Pharadatha, Barea, Sarbaka, 9 MarMasima, Ruphaeus, Arseus, ZabuThaeus, 10 the ten sons of Haman, and the son of AmaDathes the Bougean (who were all enemies of the Judeans). However, they didn’t do any plundering that day.
11 Well, when the king heard how many had been destroyed in Susa, 12 he said to Esther, ‘The Judeans have destroyed five-hundred men in the city; so, how do you suppose they were treated in other areas? Ask whatever you wish and it will be yours!’
13 And Esther said to the king, ‘Allow the Judeans to do the same thing tomorrow, and to hang [up] the ten sons of Haman.’ 14 And he agreed to allow it to happen.
So, the Judeans in the city hung up the bodies of the sons of Haman, 15 then they all gathered in Susa on the fourteenth day of Adar and killed three-hundred more men; but again, they didn’t plunder them.
16 Also, the rest of the Judeans throughout the kingdom had gathered to protect themselves, and they finally got some rest from those warlike men, because they destroyed seventy-thousand of them on the thirteenth of Adar… but they didn’t do any plundering either. 17 And thereafter, they rested on the fourteenth day of the month, proclaiming it a day of rest, joy, and gladness.
18 Now, the Judeans in the city of Susa also gathered for rest on the fourteenth day, then they celebrated on the fifteenth day with joy and gladness. 19 And because of this, all the Judeans who were scattered outside [of Judea] still celebrate the fourteenth day of Adar as a happy day, during which they each send food to their neighbors. 20 For Mordecai wrote [to suggest] this in a scroll that he sent to the all Judeans throughout the kingdom of ArtaXerxes, both near and far, 21 establishing the fourteenth and fifteenth days of Adar as good days of celebration, 22 beause those were the days when the Judeans gained rest from their enemies. That was the month when their mourning was turned to joy and their grief was turned into good days. As the result, they were to celebrate those days happily with wedding feasts and by sending food to their friends and to the poor.
23 Well, the Judeans were happy when Mordecai wrote of 24 how Haman (the son of Amadathes the Macedonian) had waged war against them by authoring a referendum to wipe them out, 25 and of how he had gone before the king to hang Mordecai [on a pole]. Then he told of how his attempt to do bad things to the Judeans resulted in his own hanging along with his children.
26 So, they call those days Purim, because those were the days [that Haman] had chosen by throwing lots (which in their dialect are called Purim).
Well, because of the words in that letter, all the things that they had suffered and had happened to them, were stopped. 27 And the Judeans adopted [Purim as a holiday] for them and their seed, and they agreed to observe it exactly as [Mordecai] suggested. It was to be a memorial from generation to generation in every city, family, and place. 28 These days were to be celebrated for all time, and were never to be forgotten through the generations.
29 Then Queen Esther (the daughter of AbiHail) and Mordecai the Judean wrote about all that they had done, in confirmation of the letter about Purim. 30 Mordecai and Esther attested to what they had done, of how they had fasted, and of the things that they said. 31 Then Esther established the matter through the ages by [having it written] as a memorial.
Chapter 10
1 Then the king wrote about this to everyone in his kingdom, both on land and at sea. 2 He also wrote about his strength, valor, riches, and the glory of his kingdom. Look! It’s all written as a memorial in the scrolls of the Persians and Medes.
3 Mordecai was a relief to King ArtaXerxes, and he became great in the kingdom. He was also highly praised by the Judeans, because he fondly [watched out for] the welfare of their nation.