19. Therefore, the Jews of the rural areas, who were living in the villages, made the fourteenth day of the month Adar a day of rejoicing and feasting and a special day for sending portions of food to one another.
20. Mordecai recorded these events and sent letters to all the Jews throughout all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, both near and far,
21. in order to institute for them the celebration for the fourteenth day and the fifteenth day of the month of Adar, each and every year,
22. like the days when the Jews had rest from their enemies, and like the month when things turned around for them—changing from sorrow to joy and from mourning into a favorable day—so that they could celebrate a season of feasting and rejoicing and sending food portions to one another and gifts to the poor.
23. So the Jews accepted what had begun as tradition as Mordecai had written to them.