Old Testament

New Testament

Esther 14:8-20 Catholic Public Domain Version (CPDV)

8. and Poratha, and Adalia, and Aridatha,

9. and Parmashta, and Arisai, and Aridai, and Vaizatha.

10. When they had slain them, they were unwilling to touch the spoils of their belongings.

11. And immediately the number of those who had been killed in Susa was reported to the king.

12. He said to the queen, "In the city of Susa, the Jews have executed five hundred men, and also the ten sons of Haman. How many executions do you think that they have carried out in all the provinces? What more do you ask, and what do you wish, so that I may order it to be done?"

13. And she answered, "If it pleases the king, may power be granted to the Jews, so as to do tomorrow in Susa just as they have done today, and that the ten sons of Haman may be hung up the gallows."

14. And the king instructed that it should be so done. And immediately the edict was hung up in Susa, and the ten sons of Haman were hung up.

15. On the fourteenth day of the month Adar, the Jews gathered themselves together, and they executed in Susa three hundred men, but they did not seize their belongings from them.

16. Moreover, throughout all the provinces which were subject to the king's dominion, the Jews made a stand for their lives, and they executed their enemies and their persecutors, so much so that the number of those who were killed amounted to seventy-five thousand, and yet no one touched any of their belongings.

17. Now the thirteenth day of the month Adar was the first day with all of the executions, and on the fourteenth day they ceased the killing. This day they established to be sacred, so that in all times hereafter they would be free for feasting, joyfulness, and celebration.

18. But, as for those who were carrying out the killings in the city of Susa, they turned to killing on the thirteenth and fourteenth day of the same month. But on the fifteenth day they ceased to attack. And for that reason they established that day as sacred, with feasting and with gladness.

19. But in truth, those Jews who were staying in unwalled towns and villages, appointed the fourteenth day of the month Adar for celebration and gladness, so as to rejoice on that day and send one another portions of their feasts and their meals.

20. And so Mordecai wrote down all these things and sent them, composed in letters, to the Jews who were staying in all the king's provinces, as much to those in nearby places as to those far away,

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