Esther 9

uvishnem asar khodesh hu-khodesh adar bishloshah asar yom bo asher higgia devar-hammelekh vedato lehe'asot bayyom asher sibberu oyeve hayyehudim lishlot bahem venahafokh hu asher yishletu hayyehudim hemmah besone'ehem

And so, on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month—that is, the month of Adar—when the king’s command and decree were to be executed, the very day on which the enemies of the Jews had expected to get them in their power, the opposite happened, and the Jews got their enemies in their power.

niqhalu hayyehudim be'arehem bekhol-medinot hammelekh akhashverosh lishloakh yad bimvaqshe ra'atam ve'ish lo-amad lifnehem ki-nafal pakhdam al-kol-ha'ammim

Throughout the provinces of King Ahasuerus, the Jews mustered in their cities to attack those who sought their hurt; and no one could withstand them, for the fear of them had fallen upon all the peoples.

vekhol-sare hammedinot veha'akhashdarpenim vehappakhot ve'ose hammelakhah asher lammelekh menasse'im et-hayyehudim ki-nafal pakhad-mordokhay alehem

Indeed, all the officials of the provinces—the satraps, the governors, and the king’s stewards—showed deference to the Jews, because the fear of Mordecai had fallen upon them.

ki-gadol mordokhay bevet hammelekh veshomo holekh bekhol-hammedinot ki-ha'ish mordokhay holekh vegadol

For Mordecai was now powerful in the royal palace, and his fame was spreading through all the provinces; this man Mordecai was growing ever more powerful.

vayyakku hayyehudim bekhol-oyevehem makkat-kherev vehereg ve'avdan vayya'asu vesone'ehem kirtsonam

So the Jews struck at their enemies with the sword, slaying and destroying; they wreaked their will upon their enemies.

uveshushan habbirah haregu hayyehudim ve'abbed khamesh me'ot ish

In the fortress Shushan the Jews killed a total of five hundred of them.

ve'et parshandata ve'et dalfon ve'et aspata

They also killed Parshandatha, Dalphon, Aspatha,

ve'et porata ve'et adalya ve'et aridata

Poratha, Adalia, Aridatha,

ve'et parmashta ve'et arisay ve'et ariday ve'et vayezata

Parmashta, Arisai, Aridai, and Vaizatha,

aseret bene haman ben-hammedata tsorer hayyehudim haragu uvabbizzah lo shalekhu et-yadam

the ten sons of Haman son of Hammedatha, the foe of the Jews. But they did not lay hands on the spoil.

bayyom hahu ba mispar haharugim beshushan habbirah lifne hammelekh

When the number of those slain in the fortress Shushan was reported on that same day to the king,

vayyomer hammelekh le'ester hammalkah beshushan habbirah haregu hayyehudim ve'abbed khamesh me'ot ish ve'et aseret bene-haman bishar medinot hammelekh meh asu umah-she'elatekh veyinnaten lakh umah-bbaqqashatekh od vete'as

the king said to Queen Esther, “In the fortress Shushan alone the Jews have killed a total of five hundred, as well as the ten sons of Haman. What then must they have done in the provinces of the realm! What is your wish now? It shall be granted you. And what else is your request? It shall be fulfilled.”

vattomer ester im-al-hammelekh tov yinnaten gam-makhar layyehudim asher beshushan la'asot kedat hayyom ve'et aseret bene-haman yitlu al-ha'ets

“If it please Your Majesty,” Esther replied, “let the Jews in Shushan be permitted to act tomorrow also as they did today; and let Haman’s ten sons be impaled on the stake.”

vayyomer hammelekh lehe'asot ken vattinnaten dat beshushan ve'et aseret bene-haman talu

The king ordered that this should be done, and the decree was proclaimed in Shushan. Haman’s ten sons were impaled:

vayyiqqahalu (hyhvdyym) [hayyehudim] asher-beshushan gam beyom arba'ah asar lekhodesh adar vayyahargu veshushan shelosh me'ot ish uvabbizzah lo shalekhu et-yadam

and the Jews in Shushan mustered again on the fourteenth day of Adar and slew three hundred men in Shushan. But they did not lay hands on the spoil.

ushe'ar hayyehudim asher bimdinot hammelekh niqhalu ve'amod al-nafsham venoakh me'oyevehem veharog besone'ehem khamisha veshivim alef uvabbizzah lo shalekhu et-yadam

The rest of the Jews, those in the king’s provinces, likewise mustered and fought for their lives. They disposed of their enemies, killing seventy-five thousand of their foes; but they did not lay hands on the spoil.

beyom-sheloshah asar lekhodesh adar venoakh be'arba'ah asar bo ve'asoh oto yom mishteh vesimkhah

That was on the thirteenth day of the month of Adar; and they rested on the fourteenth day and made it a day of feasting and merrymaking.

(vhyhvdyym) [vehayyehudim] asher-beshushan niqhalu bishloshah asar bo uve'arba'ah asar bo venoakh bakhamisha asar bo ve'asoh oto yom mishteh vesimkhah

(But the Jews in Shushan mustered on both the thirteenth and fourteenth days, and so rested on the fifteenth, and made it a day of feasting and merrymaking.)

al-ken hayyehudim (hfrvzym) [happerazim] hayyoshevim be'are happerazot osim et yom arba'ah asar lekhodesh adar simkhah umishteh veyom tov umishloakh manot ish lere'ehu

That is why village Jews, who live in unwalled towns, observe the fourteenth day of the month of Adar and make it a day of merrymaking and feasting, and as a holiday and an occasion for sending gifts to one another.

vayyikhtov mordokhay et-haddevarim ha'elleh vayyishlakh sefarim el-kol-hayyehudim asher bekhol-medinot hammelekh akhashverosh haqqerovim veharekhoqim

Mordecai recorded these events. And he sent dispatches to all the Jews throughout the provinces of King Ahasuerus, near and far,

leqayyem alehem lihyot osim et yom arba'ah asar lekhodesh adar ve'et yom-khamisha asar bo bekhol-shanah veshanah

charging them to observe the fourteenth and fifteenth days of Adar, every year—

kayyamim asher-nakhu vahem hayyehudim me'oyevehem vehakhodesh asher nehpakh lahem miyyagon lesimkhah ume'evel leyom tov la'asot otam yeme mishteh vesimkhah umishloakh manot ish lere'ehu umattanot la'evyonim

the same days on which the Jews enjoyed relief from their foes and the same month that had been transformed for them from one of grief and mourning to one of festive joy. They were to observe them as days of feasting and merrymaking, and as an occasion for sending gifts to one another and presents to the poor.

veqibbel hayyehudim et asher-hekhellu la'asot ve'et asher-katav mordokhay alehem

The Jews accordingly assumed as an obligation that which they had begun to practice and that Mordecai prescribed for them.

ki haman ben-hammedata ha'agagi tsorer kol-hayyehudim khashav al-hayyehudim le'abbedam vehippil pur hu haggoral lehummam ule'abbedam

For Haman son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the foe of all the Jews, had plotted to destroy the Jews, and had cast pur—that is, the lot—with intent to crush and exterminate them.

uvevo'ah lifne hammelekh amar im-hassefer yashuv makhashavto hara'ah asher-khashav al-hayyehudim al-rosho vetalu oto ve'et-banayw al-ha'ets

But when [Esther] came before the king, he commanded: “With the promulgation of this decree, let the evil plot that he devised against the Jews recoil on his own head!” So they impaled him and his sons on the stake.

al-ken qare'u layyamim ha'elleh furim al-shem happur al-ken al-kol-divre ha'iggeret hazzot umah-ra'u al-kakhah umah higgia alehem

For that reason these days were named Purim, after pur. In view, then, of all the instructions in the said letter and of what they had experienced in that matter and what had befallen them,

qiyyemu (vqvl) [veqibbelu] hayyehudim alehem ve'al-zaram ve'al kol-hannilvim alehem velo ya'avor lihyot osim et shene hayyamim ha'elleh kikhtavam vekhizmannam bekhol-shanah veshanah

the Jews undertook and irrevocably obligated themselves and their descendants, and all who might join them, to observe these two days in the manner prescribed and at the proper time each year.

vehayyamim ha'elleh nizkarim vena'asim bekhol-dor vador mishpakhah umishpakhah medinah umedinah ve'ir va'ir vime happurim ha'elleh lo ya'avru mittokh hayyehudim vezikhram lo-yasuf mizzaram

Consequently, these days are recalled and observed in every generation: by every family, every province, and every city. And these days of Purim shall never cease among the Jews, and the memory of them shall never perish among their descendants.

vattikhtov ester hammalkah vat-avikhayil umordokhay hayyehudi et-kol-toqef leqayyem et iggeret happurim hazzot hashenit

Then Queen Esther daughter of Abihail wrote a second letter of Purim for the purpose of confirming with full authority the aforementioned one of Mordecai the Jew.

vayyishlakh sefarim el-kol-hayyehudim el-sheva ve'esrim ume'ah medinah malkhut akhashverosh divre shalom ve'emet

Dispatches were sent to all the Jews in the hundred and twenty-seven provinces of the realm of Ahasuerus with an ordinance of “equity and honesty”:

leqayyem et-yeme happurim ha'elleh bizmannehem ka'asher qiyyam alehem mordokhay hayyehudi ve'ester hammalkah vekha'asher qiyyemu al-nafsham ve'al-zaram divre hatsomot veza'aqatam

These days of Purim shall be observed at their proper time, as Mordecai the Jew—and now Queen Esther—has obligated them to do, and just as they have assumed for themselves and their descendants the obligation of the fasts with their lamentations.

uma'amar ester qiyyam divre happurim ha'elleh venikhtav bassefer

And Esther’s ordinance validating these observances of Purim was recorded in a scroll.