Day 160 The Bible in a Year (Orthodox canon)

Esther (Greek) 8

1 And in that day king Artaxerxes gave to Esther all that belonged to Aman the slanderer: and Mardochæus was called by the king; for Esther had shewn that he was related to her. 2 And the king took the ring which he had taken away from Aman, and gave it to Mardochæus: and Esther appointed Mardochæus over all that had been Aman's. 3 And she spoke yet again to the king, and fell at his feet, and besought [him] to do away the mischief of Aman, and all that he had done against the Jews. 4 Then the king stretched out to Esther the golden sceptre: and Esther arose to stand near the king. 5 And Esther said, If it seem good to thee, and I have found favour [in thy sight], let an order be sent that the letters sent by Aman may be reversed, that were written for the destruction of the Jews, who are in thy kingdom. 6 For how shall I be able to look upon the affliction of my people, and how shall I be able to survive the destruction of my kindred? 7 And the king said to Esther, If I have given and freely granted thee all that was Aman's, and hanged him on a gallows, because he laid his hands upon the Jews, what dost thou yet further seek? 8 Write ye also in my name, as it seems good to you, and seal [it] with my ring: for whatever [orders] are written at the command of the king, and sealed with my ring, it is not lawful to gainsay them. 9 So the scribes were called in the first month, which is Nisan, on the three and twentieth day of the same year; and [orders] were written to the Jews, whatever [the king had] commanded to the local governors and chiefs of the satraps, from India even to Ethiopia, a hundred and twenty-seven satraps, according to the several provinces, according to their dialects. 10 And they were written by order of the king, and sealed with his ring, and they sent the letters by the posts: 11 wherein he charged them to use their [own] laws in every city, and to help each other, and to treat their adversaries, and those who attacked them, as they pleased, 12 on one day in all the kingdom of Artaxerxes, on the thirteenth [day] of the twelfth month, which is Adar. 12a And the following is the copy of the letter of the orders. 12b [The great king Artaxerxes sends greeting to the rulers of provinces [in] a hundred and twenty-seven satrapies, from India to Ethiopia, even to those who are faithful to our interests. 12c Many who have been frequently honoured by the most abundant kindness of their benefactors have conceived ambitious designs, and not only endeavour to hurt our subjects, but moreover, not being able to bear prosperity, they also endeavour to plot against their own benefactors. 12d And they not only would utterly abolish gratitude from among men, but also, elated by the boastings of men who are strangers to all that is good, they suppose that they shall escape the sin-hating vengeance of the ever-seeing God. 12e And oftentimes [evil] exhortation has made partakers of the guilt of shedding innocent blood, and has involved in irremediable calamities, many of those who were appointed to offices of authority, who had been entrusted with the management of their friends' affairs; 12f while [men], by the false sophistry of an evil disposition, have deceived the simple candour of the ruling powers. 12g And it is possible to see [this], not so much from more ancient traditionary accounts, as it is immediately in your power [to see it] by examining what things have been wickedly perpetrated by the baseness of men unworthily holding power. 12h And [it is right] to take heed with regard to the future, that we may maintain the government in undisturbed peace for all men, 12i adopting [needful] changes, and ever judging those cases which come under [our] notice, with truly equitable decision. 12k For whereas Aman, a Macedonian, the son of Amadathes, in reality an alien from the blood of the Persians, and differing widely from our mild course of government, having been hospitably entertained by us, 12l obtained so large a share of our universal kindness, as to be called our father, and to continue the person next to the royal throne, reverenced of all; 12m [he, however], overcome by the pride [of his station], endeavoured to deprive us of our dominion, and our life; 12n having by various and subtle artifices demanded for destruction both Mardochæus our deliverer and perpetual benefactor, and Esther the blameless consort of [our] kingdom, with their whole nation. 12o For by these methods he thought, having surprised us in a defenceless state, to transfer the dominion of the Persians to the Macedonians. 12p But we find that the Jews, who have been consigned to destruction by the most abominable of men, are not malefactors, but living according to the justest laws, 12q and being the sons of the living God, the most high and mighty, who maintains the kingdom, to us as well as to our forefathers, in the most excellent order. 12r Ye will therefore do well in refusing to obey the letters sent by Aman the son of Amadathes, because he that has done these things, has been hanged with his whole family at the gates of Susa, Almighty God having swiftly returned to him a worthy recompence. 12s [We enjoin you] then, having openly published a copy of this letter in every place, to give the Jews permission to use their own lawful customs, and to strengthen them, that on the thirteenth of the twelfth month Adar, on the self-same day, they may defend themselves against those who attacked them in a time of affliction. 12t For in the place of the destruction of the chosen race, Almighty God has granted them this [time of] gladness. 12u Do ye therefore also, among your [notable] feasts, keep a distinct day with all festivity, that both now and hereafter it may be a day of deliverance to us and those who are well disposed toward the Persians, but to those that plotted against us a memorial of destruction. 12x And every city and province collectively, which shall not do accordingly, shall be consumed with vengeance by spear and fire: it shall be made not only inaccessible to men, but also most hateful to wild beasts and birds for ever.] 13 And let the copies be posted in conspicuous places throughout the kingdom, and let all the Jews be ready against this day, to fight against their enemies. 14 So the horsemen went forth with haste to perform the king's commands; and the ordinance was also published in Susa. 15 And Mardochæus went forth robed in the royal apparel, and wearing a golden crown, and a diadem of fine purple linen: and the people in Susa saw [it] and rejoiced. 16 And the Jews had light and gladness, 17 in every city and province wherever the ordinance was published: wherever the proclamation took place, the Jews had joy and gladness, feasting and mirth: and many of the Gentiles were circumcised, and became Jews, for fear of the Jews.

Esther (Greek) 9

1 For in the twelfth month, on the thirteenth day of the month which is Adar, the letters written by the king arrived. 2 In that day the adversaries of the Jews perished: for no one resisted, through fear of them. 3 For the chiefs of the satraps, and the princes and the royal scribes, honoured the Jews; for the fear of Mardochæus lay upon them. 4 For the order of the king was in force, that he should be celebrated in all the kingdom. 6 And in the city Susa the Jews slew five hundred men: 7 both Pharsannes, and Delphon and Phasga, 8 and Pharadatha, and Barea, and Sarbaca, 9 and Marmasima, and Ruphæus, and Arsæus, and Zabuthæus, 10 the ten sons of Aman the son of Amadathes the Bugæan, the enemy of the Jews, and they plundered [their property] on the same day: 11 and the number of them that perished in Susa was rendered to the king. 12 And the king said to Esther, The Jews have slain five hundred men in the city Susa; and how, thinkest thou, have they used them in the rest of the country? What then dost thou yet ask, that it may be [done] for thee? 13 And Esther said to the king, Let it be granted to the Jews so to treat them to-morrow as to hang the ten sons of Aman. 14 And he permitted it to be so done; and he gave up to the Jews of the city the bodies of the sons of Aman to hang. 15 And the Jews assembled in Susa on the fourteenth [day] of Adar, and slew three hundred men, but plundered no property. 16 And the rest of the Jews who were in the kingdom assembled, and helped one another, and obtained rest from their enemies: for they destroyed fifteen thousand of them on the thirteenth [day] of Adar, but took no spoil. 17 And they rested on the fourteenth of the same month, and kept it as a day of rest with joy and gladness. 18 And the Jews in the city Susa assembled also on the fourteenth [day] and rested; and they kept also the fifteenth with joy and gladness. 19 On this account then [it is that] the Jews dispersed in every foreign land keep the fourteenth of Adar [as] a holy day with joy, sending portions each to his neighbour. 20 And Mardochæus wrote these things in a book, and sent them to the Jews, as many as were in the kingdom of Artaxerxes, both them that were near and them that were afar off, 21 to establish these [as] joyful days, and to keep the fourteenth and fifteenth of Adar; 22 for on these days the Jews obtained rest from their enemies: and [as to] the month, which was Adar, in which a change was made for them, from mourning to joy, and from sorrow to a good day, to spend the whole of it [in] good days of feasting and gladness, sending portions to their friends, and to the poor. 23 And the Jews consented [to this] accordingly as Mardochæus wrote to them, 24 [shewing] how Aman the son of Amadathes the Macedonian fought against them, how he made a decree and cast lots to destroy them utterly; 25 also how he went in to the king, telling [him] to hang Mardochæus: but all the calamities he tried to bring upon the Jews came upon himself, and he was hanged, and his children. 26 Therefore these days were called Phruræ, because of the lots; (for in their language they are called Phruræ;) because of the words of this letter, and [because of] all they suffered on this account, and all that happened to them. 27 And [Mardochæus] established it, and the Jews took upon themselves, and upon their seed, and upon those that were joined to them [to observe it], neither would they on any account behave differently: but these days [were to be] a memorial kept in every generation, and city, and family, and province. 28 And these days of the Phruræ, [said they], shall be kept for ever, and their memorial shall not fail in any generation. 29 And queen Esther, the daughter of Aminadab, and Mardochæus the Jew, wrote all that they had done, and the confirmation of the letter of Phruræ. 31 And Mardochæus and Esther the queen appointed [a fast] for themselves privately, even at that time also having formed their plan against their own health. 32 And Esther established it by a command for ever, and it was written for a memorial.

Esther (Greek) 10

1 And the king levied [a tax] upon [his] kingdom both by land and sea. 2 And [as for] his strength and valour, and the wealth and glory of his kingdom, behold, they are written in the book of the Persians and Medes, for a memorial. 3 And Mardochæus was viceroy to king Artaxerxes, and was a great man in the kingdom, and honoured by the Jews, and passed his life beloved of all his nation. 3a [And Mardochæus said, These things have been done of God. 3b For I remember the dream which I had concerning these matters: for not one particular of them has failed. 3c [There was] the little fountain, which became a river, and there was light, and the sun, and much water. The river is Esther, whom the king married, and made queen. 3d And the two serpents are I and Aman. 3e And the nations are those [nations] that combined to destroy the name of the Jews. 3f But [as for] my nation, this is Israel, [even] they that cried to God, and were delivered: for the Lord delivered his people, and the Lord rescued us out of all these calamities; and God wrought such signs and great wonders as have not been done among the nations. 3g Therefore did he ordain two lots, one for the people of God, and one for all the [other] nations. 3h And these two lots came for an appointed season, and for a day of judgment, before God, and for all the nations. 3i And God remembered his people, and vindicated his inheritance. 3k And they shall observe these days, in the month Adar, on the fourteenth and on the fifteenth [day] of the month, with an assembly, and joy and gladness before God, throughout the generations for ever among his people Israel. 3l In the fourth year of the reign of Ptolemy and Cleopatra, Dositheus, who said that he was a priest and a Levite, and Ptolemy his son, brought in the published letter of Phruræ, which they said existed, and [which] Lysimachus the son of Ptolemy, who was in Jerusalem, had interpreted.]