Esther 9:1-19 - The Jews Destroy Their Enemies

¹ On the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month Adar, when the king's order and edict was about to be carried out, on the day when the enemies of the Jewish people expected to prevail over them, things were turned around so that the Jewish people themselves prevailed over those who hated them. ² The Jewish people assembled in their towns throughout the provinces of King Ahasuerus to strike out against those who intended to harm them, and no one could oppose them because all the people had come to fear the Jews.

³ All the provincial officials, the regional authorities, the governors, and those doing the king's work supported the Jewish people because the fear of Mordecai had come over them. ⁴ Indeed, Mordecai was a powerful official in the palace and his fame spread throughout the provinces. Indeed, the man Mordecai grew more and more powerful.

⁵ The Jewish people struck down all their enemies with the sword, killing and destroying them, and they did with their enemies as they pleased. ⁶ In Susa the capital the Jewish people killed and destroyed 500 people. ⁷ They killed Parshandatha, Dalphon, Aspatha, ⁸ Poratha, Adalia, Aridatha, ⁹ Parmashta, Arisai, Aridai, and Vaizatha, ¹⁰ the ten sons of Hammedatha's son Haman, the enemy of the Jewish people, but they did not lay their hands on the spoils.

¹¹ On that day the number of those slain in Susa the capital was reported to the king. ¹² The king told Queen Esther, "In Susa the capital the Jewish people have killed and destroyed 500 people, including Haman's ten sons. What have they done in the rest of the king's provinces? Now what's your petition? It will be given to you. What's your further request? It will be done."

¹³ Then Esther said, "If it pleases the king, let it also be granted to the Jewish people in Susa to do tomorrow what the edict allowed them to do today, and let Haman's ten sons be hanged on poles." ¹⁴ The king said, "Let this be done." So an edict was issued in Susa, and Haman's ten sons were hanged on poles. ¹⁵ The Jewish people in Susa assembled again on that day, the fourteenth of Adar, and they killed 300 people in Susa, but they did not lay their hands on the spoils.

¹⁶ The rest of the Jewish people in the king's provinces assembled to defend themselves, and they gained relief from their enemies, killing 75,000 of those who hated them. But they did not lay their hands on the spoils. ¹⁷ They did this on the thirteenth day of Adar and rested on the fourteenth day, making it a day of feasting and joy.

¹⁸ The Jewish people in Susa assembled on the thirteenth day and again on the fourteenth, and then rested on the fifteenth day and made it a day of feasting and joy. ¹⁹ Therefore the Jewish people in the rural areas who live in unwalled towns make the fourteenth day of the month Adar a holiday for joy and feasting, and people send presents to one another.