Chapter 1
1:1Now it came to pass in the days of Ahasuerus—this is the Ahasuerus who reigned from India to Cush, over one hundred twenty-seven provinces—1:2in those days, when King Ahasuerus sat upon the throne of his kingdom in the citadel of Susa,1:3in the third year of his reign, he made a banquet for all his officials and servants. The army of Persia and Media, the nobles, and the governors of the provinces were before him,1:4while he showed the riches of his glorious kingdom and the splendor of his great majesty for many days—one hundred eighty days.1:5When these days were complete, the king made a banquet lasting seven days for all the people who were found in the citadel of Susa, from great to small, in the court of the garden of the king’s house.1:6There were white linen, white cotton, and blue hangings, fastened with cords of fine linen and purple to silver rings and pillars of marble; couches of gold and silver stood upon a pavement of emerald, white marble, mother-of-pearl, and black marble.1:7Drinks were served in vessels of gold, each vessel differing from another; and the royal wine was abundant, in keeping with the king’s bounty.1:8The drinking was according to the decree: no one was compelled, for the king had instructed every official of his house to do according to each man’s pleasure.1:9Queen Vashti also made a banquet for the women in the royal house of King Ahasuerus.1:10On the seventh day, when the king’s heart was glad with wine, he commanded Mehuman, Biztha, Harbona, Bigtha, Abagtha, Zethar, and Carcas, the seven eunuchs who ministered in the presence of King Ahasuerus,1:11to bring Queen Vashti before the king wearing the royal crown, to show the peoples and the princes her beauty, for she was beautiful to look upon.1:12But Queen Vashti refused to come at the king’s command conveyed by the eunuchs. Then the king became very angry, and his fury burned within him.1:13Then the king spoke to the wise men who understood the times—for this was the king’s custom toward all who knew law and judgment,1:14and those nearest him were Carshena, Shethar, Admatha, Tarshish, Meres, Marsena, and Memucan, the seven princes of Persia and Media who saw the king’s face and held the first place in the kingdom—1:15“According to the law, what is to be done with Queen Vashti, because she has not obeyed the command of King Ahasuerus conveyed by the eunuchs?”1:16Then Memucan said before the king and the princes, “Queen Vashti has done wrong not only against the king, but also against all the princes and all the peoples in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus.1:17For the queen’s deed will become known to all women, causing them to look upon their husbands with contempt when they say, ‘King Ahasuerus commanded Queen Vashti to be brought before him, but she did not come.’1:18This very day the noble women of Persia and Media who have heard of the queen’s deed will speak in the same way to all the king’s princes, and there will be contempt and wrath in abundance.1:19If it pleases the king, let a royal decree go out from him, and let it be written among the laws of Persia and Media so that it cannot be revoked: Vashti shall never again come before King Ahasuerus; and let the king give her royal position to another who is better than she.1:20When the king’s decree is proclaimed throughout all his kingdom, vast as it is, all wives will give honor to their husbands, from great to small.”1:21The proposal pleased the king and the princes, and the king did according to the word of Memucan.1:22He sent letters to all the king’s provinces, to each province according to its script and to each people according to its language, proclaiming that every man should rule in his own house and speak according to the language of his people.Chapter 2
2:1After these things, when the wrath of King Ahasuerus had subsided, he remembered Vashti—what she had done and what had been decreed concerning her.2:2Then the king’s young men who attended him said, “Let beautiful young virgins be sought for the king.2:3Let the king appoint commissioners in all the provinces of his kingdom, and let them gather every beautiful young virgin to the citadel of Susa, to the house of the women, into the custody of Hegai, the king’s eunuch who keeps the women; and let their beauty treatments be given to them.2:4Then let the young woman who is pleasing in the king’s eyes become queen in place of Vashti.” The proposal pleased the king, and he did so.2:5Now there was a Jewish man in the citadel of Susa whose name was Mordecai son of Jair, son of Shimei, son of Kish, a Benjamite.2:6He had been carried away from Jerusalem among the captives who were exiled with Jehoiachin king of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had carried away.2:7He was bringing up Hadassah—that is, Esther—the daughter of his uncle, for she had neither father nor mother. The young woman was beautiful in form and appearance; and when her father and mother died, Mordecai took her as his own daughter.2:8So when the king’s word and decree were proclaimed, and many young women were gathered to the citadel of Susa into the custody of Hegai, Esther also was taken into the king’s house, into the custody of Hegai, keeper of the women.2:9The young woman pleased him and gained his favor. He quickly provided her beauty treatments and her portions, and gave her seven chosen young women from the king’s house; and he transferred her and her young women to the best place in the house of the women.2:10Esther had not made known her people or her kindred, for Mordecai had commanded her not to make them known.2:11Every day Mordecai walked back and forth before the court of the house of the women, to learn how Esther was and what was happening to her.2:12When the turn of each young woman came to go in to King Ahasuerus, after she had completed twelve months under the regulations for the women—for thus the days of their beauty treatments were fulfilled: six months with oil of myrrh and six months with perfumes and other treatments for women—2:13then the young woman went in to the king in this way: whatever she asked for was given to her to take with her from the house of the women to the king’s house.2:14In the evening she went in, and in the morning she returned to the second house of the women, into the custody of Shaashgaz, the king’s eunuch who kept the concubines. She did not go in to the king again unless the king delighted in her and she was called by name.2:15When the turn came for Esther—the daughter of Abihail, the uncle of Mordecai, who had taken her as his daughter—to go in to the king, she asked for nothing except what Hegai, the king’s eunuch who kept the women, advised. And Esther gained favor in the sight of all who saw her.2:16And Esther was taken to King Ahasuerus, to his royal house, in the tenth month—it is the month of Tebeth—in the seventh year of his reign.2:17The king loved Esther more than all the other women, and she gained favor and steadfast love before him more than all the virgins. So he placed the royal crown upon her head and made her queen in place of Vashti.2:18Then the king made a great banquet for all his officials and servants—Esther’s banquet. He granted a holiday to the provinces and gave gifts according to the king’s bounty.2:19When the virgins were gathered a second time, Mordecai was sitting in the king’s gate.2:20Esther had still not made known her kindred or her people, as Mordecai had commanded her; for Esther obeyed Mordecai just as she had when she was under his care.2:21In those days, while Mordecai was sitting in the king’s gate, Bigthan and Teresh, two of the king’s officials who kept the threshold, became angry and sought to lay hands on King Ahasuerus.2:22The matter became known to Mordecai, and he told Queen Esther; and Esther told the king in Mordecai’s name.2:23The matter was investigated and found to be true, and both men were hanged on the gallows. And it was written in the Book of the Chronicles before the king.Chapter 3
3:1After these things King Ahasuerus promoted Haman son of Hammedatha the Agagite. He advanced him and set his seat above all the officials who were with him.3:2All the king’s servants who were in the king’s gate bowed and paid homage to Haman, for so the king had commanded concerning him; but Mordecai would not bow or pay homage.3:3Then the king’s servants who were in the king’s gate said to Mordecai, “Why do you transgress the king’s command?”3:4They spoke to him day after day, but he would not listen to them. So they told Haman, to see whether Mordecai’s words would stand, for he had told them that he was a Jew.3:5When Haman saw that Mordecai would not bow or pay homage to him, Haman was filled with wrath.3:6But he disdained to lay hands on Mordecai alone, for they had told him the people of Mordecai. So Haman sought to destroy all the Jews throughout the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus—the people of Mordecai.3:7In the first month—the month of Nisan—in the twelfth year of King Ahasuerus, they cast Pur—that is, the lot—before Haman for each day and each month, until it fell on the twelfth month, the month of Adar.3:8Then Haman said to King Ahasuerus, “There is one people scattered and dispersed among the peoples in all the provinces of your kingdom. Their laws are different from those of every other people, and they do not keep the king’s laws; therefore it is not fitting for the king to tolerate them.3:9If it pleases the king, let it be written that they are to be destroyed; and I will weigh out ten thousand talents of silver into the hands of those who conduct the king’s business, to bring it into the king’s treasuries.”3:10Then the king removed his signet ring from his hand and gave it to Haman son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the adversary of the Jews.3:11And the king said to Haman, “The silver is given to you, and the people also, to do with them as seems good in your eyes.”3:12Then the king’s scribes were summoned on the thirteenth day of the first month, and a decree was written according to all that Haman commanded—to the king’s satraps, to the governors over every province, and to the officials of every people, to each province in its own script and to each people in its own language. It was written in the name of King Ahasuerus and sealed with the king’s signet ring.3:13Letters were sent by couriers to all the king’s provinces, commanding them to destroy, kill, and annihilate all the Jews, young and old, children and women, in one day—the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the month of Adar—and to seize their plunder.3:14A copy of the writing was to be issued as law in every province and proclaimed to all the peoples, so that they would be ready for that day.3:15The couriers went out, hurried by the king’s command, and the decree was issued in the citadel of Susa. Then the king and Haman sat down to drink, but the city of Susa was thrown into confusion.Chapter 4
4:1When Mordecai learned all that had been done, he tore his garments, put on sackcloth and ashes, and went out into the midst of the city, crying out with a loud and bitter cry.4:2He went as far as the front of the king’s gate, for no one clothed in sackcloth was permitted to enter the king’s gate.4:3In every province, wherever the king’s word and decree came, there was great mourning among the Jews, with fasting, weeping, and lamentation; and many lay in sackcloth and ashes.4:4When Esther’s young women and her eunuchs came and told her, the queen was deeply distressed. She sent garments to clothe Mordecai and take away his sackcloth, but he would not accept them.4:5Then Esther summoned Hathach, one of the king’s eunuchs appointed to attend her, and commanded him to go to Mordecai and learn what this was and why it had happened.4:6So Hathach went out to Mordecai in the city square before the king’s gate.4:7Mordecai told him all that had happened to him, and the exact sum of silver that Haman had promised to pay into the king’s treasuries for the destruction of the Jews.4:8He also gave him a copy of the written decree issued in Susa for their destruction, to show Esther and explain it to her; and he commanded her to go in to the king, to plead with him and seek favor before him for her people.4:9Then Hathach came in and declared to Esther the words of Mordecai.4:10Then Esther spoke to Hathach and commanded him to say to Mordecai:4:11“All the king’s servants and the people of the king’s provinces know that for any man or woman who comes to the king in the inner court without being called, there is one law: that person must be put to death—unless the king holds out the golden scepter, so that the person may live. But I have not been called to go in to the king these thirty days.”4:12They told Mordecai the words of Esther.4:13Then Mordecai commanded them to answer Esther, “Do not imagine that you will escape in the king’s house more than all the other Jews.4:14For if you remain entirely silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows whether you have attained royal position for a time such as this?”4:15Then Esther commanded them to answer Mordecai:4:16“Go, gather all the Jews who are found in Susa and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my young women will fast likewise. Then I will go in to the king, though it is not according to the law; and if I perish, I perish.”4:17So Mordecai went away and did according to all that Esther had commanded him.Chapter 5
5:1On the third day Esther put on her royal robes and stood in the inner court of the king’s house, opposite the king’s house. The king was sitting on his royal throne in the royal house, facing the entrance.5:2When the king saw Queen Esther standing in the court, she gained favor in his sight; and the king held out to Esther the golden scepter that was in his hand. So Esther drew near and touched the top of the scepter.5:3Then the king said to her, “What is it, Queen Esther? What is your request? Even to half the kingdom, it shall be given to you.”5:4Esther said, “If it pleases the king, let the king and Haman come today to the banquet I have prepared for him.”5:5Then the king said, “Bring Haman quickly, so that we may do as Esther has said.” So the king and Haman came to the banquet Esther had prepared.5:6During the banquet of wine, the king said to Esther, “What is your petition? It shall be given to you. And what is your request? Even to half the kingdom, it shall be done.”5:7Then Esther answered and said, “My petition and my request are this:5:8If I have found favor in the king’s sight, and if it pleases the king to grant my petition and fulfill my request, let the king and Haman come to the banquet I will prepare for them. Tomorrow I will do as the king has said.”5:9Haman went out that day joyful and glad of heart. But when Haman saw Mordecai in the king’s gate, and that he neither rose nor trembled before him, Haman was filled with wrath against Mordecai.5:10Yet Haman restrained himself and went to his house. Then he sent for his friends and Zeresh his wife.5:11Haman recounted to them the glory of his wealth, the multitude of his sons, and all the ways the king had made him great and advanced him above the king’s officials and servants.5:12Haman also said, “Even Queen Esther brought no one but me with the king to the banquet she prepared. And tomorrow also I am invited by her with the king.5:13Yet all this gives me no satisfaction as long as I see Mordecai the Jew sitting in the king’s gate.”5:14Then Zeresh his wife and all his friends said to him, “Let a gallows fifty cubits high be made, and in the morning speak to the king, so that Mordecai may be hanged on it. Then go joyfully with the king to the banquet.” The proposal pleased Haman, and he had the gallows made.Chapter 6
6:1That night the king could not sleep, so he commanded that the Book of the Records of the Chronicles be brought; and it was read before the king.6:2It was found written that Mordecai had reported Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king’s officials who kept the threshold, who had sought to lay hands on King Ahasuerus.6:3Then the king said, “What honor and distinction have been given to Mordecai for this?” The king’s young men who attended him said, “Nothing has been done for him.”6:4The king said, “Who is in the court?” Now Haman had entered the outer court of the king’s house to speak to the king about hanging Mordecai on the gallows he had prepared for him.6:5The king’s young men said to him, “Behold, Haman is standing in the court.” And the king said, “Let him come in.”6:6When Haman came in, the king said to him, “What should be done for the man whom the king delights to honor?” Haman said in his heart, “Whom would the king delight to honor more than me?”6:7Then Haman said to the king, “The man in whose honor the king has delighted—6:8let them bring a royal robe that the king has worn, and a horse on which the king has ridden and upon whose head the royal crown has been placed.6:9Let the robe and the horse be delivered into the hand of one of the king’s most noble officials. Let them clothe the man whom the king delights to honor, lead him on the horse through the city square, and proclaim before him, ‘Thus shall it be done for the man whom the king delights to honor!’”6:10Then the king said to Haman, “Hurry; take the robe and the horse, just as you have said, and do so for Mordecai the Jew, who sits in the king’s gate. Leave nothing undone of all that you have spoken.”6:11So Haman took the robe and the horse, clothed Mordecai, led him on horseback through the city square, and proclaimed before him, “Thus shall it be done for the man whom the king delights to honor!”6:12Then Mordecai returned to the king’s gate. But Haman hurried to his house, mourning and with his head covered.6:13Haman recounted to Zeresh his wife and all his friends everything that had happened to him. Then his wise men and Zeresh his wife said to him, “If Mordecai, before whom you have begun to fall, is of the seed of the Jews, you will not prevail against him, but will surely fall before him.”6:14While they were still speaking with him, the king’s eunuchs came and hurried Haman away to the banquet Esther had prepared.Chapter 7
7:1So the king and Haman came to feast with Queen Esther.7:2On the second day, during the banquet of wine, the king again said to Esther, “What is your petition, Queen Esther? It shall be given to you. And what is your request? Even to half the kingdom, it shall be done.”7:3Then Queen Esther answered, “If I have found favor in your sight, O king, and if it pleases the king, let my life be granted me at my petition, and my people at my request.7:4For we have been sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, killed, and annihilated. If we had merely been sold as male and female slaves, I would have remained silent, for the adversary could not compensate for the king’s loss.”7:5Then King Ahasuerus said to Queen Esther, “Who is he, and where is he, who has dared in his heart to do this?”7:6Esther said, “The adversary and enemy is this wicked Haman!” Then Haman was terrified before the king and the queen.7:7The king arose in wrath from the banquet of wine and went into the palace garden. But Haman remained to beg for his life from Queen Esther, for he saw that evil had been determined against him by the king.7:8When the king returned from the palace garden to the house of the banquet of wine, Haman was falling upon the couch where Esther was. Then the king said, “Will he even assault the queen in my presence, in my own house?” As the word went out from the king’s mouth, they covered Haman’s face.7:9Then Harbonah, one of the eunuchs, said before the king, “Behold also, the gallows that Haman made for Mordecai—who spoke on the king’s behalf—stands at Haman’s house, fifty cubits high.” And the king said, “Hang him on it.”7:10So they hanged Haman on the gallows he had prepared for Mordecai. Then the king’s wrath subsided.Chapter 8
8:1On that day King Ahasuerus gave Queen Esther the house of Haman, the adversary of the Jews. And Mordecai came before the king, for Esther had revealed how he was related to her.8:2The king removed his signet ring, which he had taken from Haman, and gave it to Mordecai; and Esther set Mordecai over the house of Haman.8:3Then Esther spoke again before the king. She fell at his feet, wept, and pleaded with him to avert the evil of Haman the Agagite and the scheme he had devised against the Jews.8:4And the king held out to Esther the golden scepter; and Esther rose, and stood before the king,8:5She said, “If it pleases the king, if I have found favor before him, if the matter seems right before the king, and if I am pleasing in his eyes, let it be written to revoke the letters devised by Haman son of Hammedatha the Agagite, which he wrote to destroy the Jews in all the king’s provinces.8:6For how can I endure to see the calamity that will come upon my people? How can I endure to see the destruction of my kindred?”8:7Then King Ahasuerus said to Queen Esther and Mordecai the Jew, “Behold, I have given Haman’s house to Esther, and they have hanged him on the gallows because he laid his hand against the Jews.8:8Now you write concerning the Jews as seems good in your eyes, in the king’s name, and seal it with the king’s signet ring; for a writing issued in the king’s name and sealed with the king’s signet ring cannot be revoked.”8:9Then the king’s scribes were summoned at that time, in the third month—the month of Sivan—on the twenty-third day. A decree was written according to all that Mordecai commanded concerning the Jews, to the satraps, the governors, and the officials of the provinces from India to Cush, one hundred twenty-seven provinces—to each province in its own script, to each people in its own language, and to the Jews in their own script and their own language.8:10He wrote in the name of King Ahasuerus, sealed it with the king’s signet ring, and sent letters by mounted couriers riding swift horses bred from the royal mares.8:11In them the king granted the Jews in every city the right to assemble and defend their lives—to destroy, kill, and annihilate every armed force of any people or province that might attack them, including children and women, and to seize their plunder—8:12on one day throughout all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the month of Adar.8:13A copy of the writing was to be issued as law in every province and proclaimed to all the peoples, so that the Jews would be ready on that day to avenge themselves upon their enemies.8:14The couriers, riding on swift royal horses, went out hurried and pressed by the king’s command; and the decree was issued in the citadel of Susa.8:15Mordecai went out from the king’s presence in royal robes of blue and white, with a great crown of gold and a garment of fine linen and purple. And the city of Susa shouted and rejoiced.8:16To the Jews there was light, and gladness, and joy, and honor.8:17In every province and every city, wherever the king’s word and decree came, there was gladness and joy among the Jews, a banquet and a day of celebration. And many among the peoples of the land declared themselves Jews, for fear of the Jews had fallen upon them.Chapter 9
9:1In the twelfth month—the month of Adar—on the thirteenth day, when the king’s word and decree were to be carried out, on the day when the enemies of the Jews hoped to gain mastery over them, the matter was reversed: the Jews gained mastery over those who hated them.9:2The Jews assembled in their cities throughout all the provinces of King Ahasuerus to lay hands on those who sought their harm. No one could stand against them, for fear of them had fallen upon all the peoples.9:3All the officials of the provinces, the satraps, the governors, and those who conducted the king’s business supported the Jews, for fear of Mordecai had fallen upon them.9:4For Mordecai was great in the king’s house, and his fame spread throughout all the provinces; for the man Mordecai grew more and more powerful.9:5The Jews struck all their enemies with the sword, with slaughter and destruction, and did as they pleased to those who hated them.9:6In the citadel of Susa the Jews killed and destroyed five hundred men.9:7And Parshandatha, and Dalphon, and Aspatha,9:8and Poratha, and Adalia, and Aridatha,9:9and Parmashta, and Arisai, and Aridai, and Vajezatha,9:10the ten sons of Haman son of Hammedatha, the adversary of the Jews. But they did not lay their hands on the plunder.9:11On that day the number of those killed in the citadel of Susa was reported to the king.9:12Then the king said to Queen Esther, “In the citadel of Susa the Jews have killed and destroyed five hundred men and the ten sons of Haman. What, then, have they done in the rest of the king’s provinces? Now what is your petition? It shall be given to you. What further is your request? It shall be done.”9:13Esther said, “If it pleases the king, let the Jews who are in Susa be permitted tomorrow also to act according to today’s decree, and let the ten sons of Haman be hanged on the gallows.”9:14So the king commanded that this be done. A decree was issued in Susa, and they hanged the ten sons of Haman.9:15The Jews who were in Susa assembled also on the fourteenth day of the month of Adar and killed three hundred men in Susa, but they did not lay their hands on the plunder.9:16The rest of the Jews who were in the king’s provinces also assembled to defend their lives and gain rest from their enemies. They killed seventy-five thousand of those who hated them, but they did not lay their hands on the plunder.9:17This was on the thirteenth day of the month of Adar. On the fourteenth day they rested and made it a day of feasting and joy.9:18But the Jews who were in Susa assembled on the thirteenth and fourteenth days; and on the fifteenth day they rested and made it a day of feasting and joy.9:19Therefore the Jews of the villages who dwell in unwalled towns make the fourteenth day of the month of Adar a day of joy and feasting, a day of celebration, and a day for sending portions to one another.9:20Then Mordecai wrote these things, and sent letters to all the Jews who were in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, those near and those far off,9:21obliging them to keep the fourteenth and fifteenth days of the month of Adar every year,9:22as the days on which the Jews gained rest from their enemies, and as the month that was turned for them from sorrow to joy and from mourning to celebration. They were to make them days of feasting and joy, of sending portions to one another and gifts to the poor.9:23So the Jews accepted as custom what they had begun to do and what Mordecai had written to them.9:24For Haman son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the adversary of all the Jews, had devised a scheme against the Jews to destroy them, and had cast Pur—that is, the lot—to crush and destroy them.9:25But when Esther came before the king, he commanded in writing that Haman’s evil scheme, which he had devised against the Jews, should return upon his own head; and they hanged him and his sons on the gallows.9:26Therefore they called these days Purim, after the name Pur. And because of all the words of this letter, because of what they had seen in this matter and what had happened to them,9:27the Jews established and accepted as a binding custom for themselves, their descendants, and all who joined them, that without fail they would keep these two days according to what was written and at their appointed time every year.9:28These days were to be remembered and kept in every generation, every family, every province, and every city. These days of Purim were never to cease among the Jews, nor was their remembrance to perish among their descendants.9:29Then Queen Esther, daughter of Abihail, and Mordecai the Jew wrote with full authority to confirm this second letter concerning Purim.9:30He sent letters to all the Jews in the one hundred twenty-seven provinces of the kingdom of Ahasuerus, with words of peace and truth,9:31to confirm these days of Purim at their appointed times, as Mordecai the Jew and Queen Esther had established for them, and as they had established for themselves and their descendants concerning their times of fasting and lamentation.9:32The command of Esther confirmed these regulations concerning Purim, and it was written in the Book.Chapter 10
10:1King Ahasuerus imposed tribute upon the land and the coastlands of the sea.10:2All the acts of his power and might, and the full account of the greatness of Mordecai to which the king advanced him—are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the kings of Media and Persia?10:3For Mordecai the Jew was second to King Ahasuerus, great among the Jews and accepted by the multitude of his brothers, seeking the good of his people and speaking peace to all his seed.