Imágenes de páginas
PDF
EPUB

This book takes its name from queen Esther; saw the face of the king, and were used to sit first whose history is here recorded. The general after him:)

opinion of almost all commentators on the Holy 15 What sentence ought to pass upon Vasthi Scripture makes Mardochai the writer of it: the queen, who had refused to obey the comwhich also may be collected below from chap.mandment of king Assuerus, which he had sent ix. ver. 20. to her by the eunuchs?

CHAP. I.

King Assuerus maketh a great feast. Queen Vasthi being sent for, refuseth to come: for which disobedience she is deposed.

16 And Mamuchan answered, in the hearing of the king and the princes: Queen Vasthi hath not only injured the king, but also all people and princes that are in all the provinces of king As

suerus.

17 For this deed of the queen will go abroad to IN the days of Assuerus, who reigned from In-all women, so that they will despise their hus dia to Ethiopia over a hundred and twenty bands, and will say: King Assuerus commanded seven provinces: that queen Vasthi should come in to him, and she would not.

2 When he sat on the throne of his kingdom, the city Susan was the capital of his kingdom.

3 Now in the third year of his reign he made a great feast for all the princes, and for his servants, for the most mighty of the Persians, and the nobles of the Medes, and the governors of the provinces in his sight,

4 That he might show the riches of the glory of his kingdom, and the greatness, and boasting of his power, for a long time, to wit, for a hundred and fourscore days.

5 And when the days of the feast were expired, he invited all the people that were found in Susan, from the greatest to the least: and commanded a feast to be made seven days in the court of the garden, and of the wood, which was planted by the care and the hand of the king.

18 And by this example all the wives of the princes of the Persians and the Medes will slight the commandments of their husbands: wherefore the king's indignation is just.

19 If it please thee, let an edict go out from thy presence, and let it be written according to the law of the Persians and of the Medes, which must not be altered, that Vasthi come in no more to the king; but another that is better than her, be made queen in her place.

20 And let this be published through all the provinces of thy empire (which is very wide) and let all wives, as well of the greater as of the lesser, give honour to their husbands.

21 His counsel pleased the king, and the princes: and the king did according to the coun6 And there were hung up on every side sky-sel of Mamuchan. coloured, and green, and violet hangings, fasten- 22 And he sent letters to all the provinces of ed with cords of silk, and of purple, which were his kingdom, as every nation could hear and read, put into rings of ivory, and were held up with in divers languages and characters, that the husmarble pillars. The beds also were of gold and bands should be rulers and masters in their houses: silver, placed in order upon a floor paved with and that this should be published to every people. porphyry and white marble: which was embellished with painting of wonderful variety.

7 And they that were invited, drank in golden cups; and the meats were brought in divers vessels one after another. Wine also in abundance,

and of the best was presented, as was worthy of

a king's magnificence.

8 Neither was there any one to compel them to drink that were not willing, but as the king had appointed, who set over every table one of his nobles, that every man might take what he would.

9 Also Vasthi the queen made a feast for the women in the palace, where king Assuerus was used to dwell.

10 Now on the seventh day, when the king was merry, and after very much drinking was well warmed with wine, he commanded Mauman, and Bazatha, and Harbona, and Bagatha, and Abgatha, and Zethar, and Charcas, the seven eunuchs that served in his presence,

11 To bring in queen Vasthi before the king, with the crown set upon her head, to show her beauty to all the people and the princes: for she was exceeding beautiful.

12 But she refused, and would not come at the king's commandment, which he had signified to her by the eunuchs. Whereupon the king, being angry, and inflamed with a very great fury,

CHAP. II.

Esther is advanced to be queen. Mardockai detecteth a plot against the king.

Arus was appeased, he remembered Vasthi,

FTER this, when the wrath of king Assue

and what she had done, and what she had suffered: 2 And the king's servants and his officers said: Let young women be sought for the king, virgins and beautiful:

3 And let some persons be sent through all the provinces to look for beautiful maidens and virgins: and let them bring them to the city of Susan, and put them into the house of the women, under the hand of Egeus the eunuch, who is the overseer and keeper of the king's women: and let them receive women's ornaments, and other things necessary for their use.

4 And whosoever among them all shall please the king's eyes, let her be queen instead of Vasthi. The word pleased the king: and he commanded it should be done as they had suggested.

5 There was a man in the city of Susan, a Jew, named Mardochai, the son of Jair, the son of Semei, the son of Cis, of the race of Jemini,

6 Who had been carried away from Jerusalem at the time that Nabuchodonosor king of Babylon carried away Jechonias king of Juda,

13 Asked the wise men, who according to the 7 And he had brought up his brother's daugh custom of the kings, were always near his person, ter Edissa, who by another name was called and all he did was by their counsel, who knew Esther: now she had lost both her parents, and the laws, and judgments, of their forefathers: was exceeding fair and beautiful. And her fa14 (Now the chief and nearest him were, Char- ther and mother being dead, Mardochai adopted sena, and Sethar, and Admatha, and Tharsis, and her for his daughter.

Mares, and Marsana, and Mamuchan, seven 8 And when the king's ordinance was noised princes of the Persians, and of the Medes, who abroad, and according to his commandment many

beautiful virgins were brought to Susan, and were] delivered to Egeus the eunuch: Esther also among the rest of the maidens was delivered to him to be kept in the number of the women.

9 And she pleased him, and found favour in his sight. And he commanded the eunuch to hasten the women's ornaments, and to deliver to her her part, and seven of the most beautiful maidens of the king's house, and to adorn and deck out both her and her waiting-maids.

10 And she would not tell him her people nor her country: for Mardochai had charged her to say nothing at all of that.

11 And he walked every day before the court of the house, in which the chosen virgins were kept, having a care for Esther's welfare, and desiring to know what would befall her.

12 Now when every virgin's turn came to go in to the king, after all had been done for setting them off to advantage, it was the twelfth month: so that for six months they were anointed with oil of myrrh: and for other six months they used certain perfumes and sweet spices.

CHAP. III.

Aman advanced by the king, is offended at Mardochai; and therefore procureth the king's decree to destroy the whole nation of the Jews. AFTER these things, king Assuerus advanced Aman the son of Amadathi, who was of the race of Agag: and he set his throne above all the princes that were with him.

2 "And all the king's servants, that were at the doors of the palace, bent their knees, and worshipped Aman: for so the emperor had commanded them; only Mardochai did not bend his knee, nor worship him.

3 And the king's servants that were chief at the doors of the palace, said to him: Why dost thou alone not observe the king's commandment?

4 And when they were saying this often, and he would not hearken to them, they told Aman, desirous to know whether he would continue in his resolution: for he had told them that he was a Jew.

5 Now when Aman had heard this, and had proved by experience that Mardochai did not 13 And when they were going in to the king, bend his knee to him, nor worship him, he was whatsoever they asked to adorn themselves they exceedingly angry. received: and being decked out, as it pleased 6 And he counted it as nothing to lay his hands them, they passed from the chamber of the wo-upon Mardochai alone: for he had heard that he men to the king's chamber. was of the nation of the Jews; and he chose

14 And she that went in at evening, came out rather to destroy all the nation of the Jews that in the morning; and from thence she was conduct-were in the kingdom of Assuerus. ed to the second house, that was under the hand 7 In the first month (which is called Nisan) in of Susagaz the eunuch, who had the charge over the king's concubines: neither could she return any more to the king, unless the king desired it, and had ordered her by name to come.

the twelfth year of the reign of Assuerus, the lot was cast into an urn, which in Hebrew is called Phur, before Aman, on what day and what month the nation of the Jews should be destroyed: and there came out the twelfth month, which is called Adar.

15 And as the time came orderly about, the day was at hand, when Esther the daughter of Abihail the brother of Mardochai, whom he had 8 And Aman said to king Assuerus: There is adopted for his daughter, was to go in to the king.a people scattered through all the provinces of thy But she sought not women's ornaments, but kingdom, and separated one from another, that whatsoever Egeus the eunuch the keeper of the use new laws and ceremonies, and moreover virgins had a mind, he gave her to adorn her. For despise the king's ordinances: and thou knowest she was exceeding fair, and her incredible beauty very well that it is not expedient for thy kingdom made her appear agreeable and amiable in the that they should grow insolent by impunity. eyes of all.

16 So she was brought to the chamber of king Assuerus the tenth month, which is called Tebeth, in the seventh year of his reign.

17 And the king loved her more than all the women: and she had favour and kindness before him above all the women: and he set the royal crown on her head, and made her queen instead of Vasthi.

9 If it please thee, decree that they may be destroyed; and I will pay ten thousand talents to thy treasurers.

10 And the king took the ring that he used, from his own hand, and gave it to Aman the son of Amadathi of the race of Agag, the enemy of the Jews.

11 And he said to him: As to the money which thou promisest, keep it for thyself: and as to the people, do with them as seemeth good to thee.

18 And he commanded a magnificent feast to be prepared for all the princes, and for his ser- 12 And the king's scribes were called in the vants, for the marriage and wedding of Esther. first month Nisan, on the thirteenth day of the And he gave rest to all the provinces, and bestow-same month: and they wrote, as Aman had comed gifts according to princely magnificence.

19 And when the virgins were sought the second time, and gathered together, Mardochai stayed at the king's gate:

manded, to all the king's lieutenants, and to the judges of the provinces, and of divers nations, as every nation could read and hear according to their different languages, in the name of king Assuerus: and the letters sealed with his ring

20 Neither had Esther as yet declared her country, and people, according to his command- 13 Were sent by the king's messengers to all ment. For whatsoever he commanded, Esther provinces, to kill and destroy all the Jews, both observed: and she did all things in the same man-young and old, little children and women, in one ner as she was wont at that time when he brought her up a little one.

21 At that time therefore, when Mardochai abode at the king's gate, Bagathan and Thares, two of the king's eunuchs, who were porters, and presided in the first entry of the palace, were angry: and they designed to rise up against the king, and to kill him.

day, that is, on the thirteenth of the twelfth month, which is called Adar, and to make a spoil of their goods.

14 And the contents of the letters were to this effect, that all provinces might know, and be ready against that day.

15 The couriers that were sent made haste to fulfil the king's commandment. And immediate22 And Mardochai had notice of it, and imme-ly the edict was hung up in Susan, the king and diately he told it to queen Esther; and she to the Aman feasting together, and all the Jews that king in Mardochai's name, who had reported the were in the city weeping. thing unto her.

CHAP. IV.

23 It was inquired into, and found out; and Mardochai desireth Esther to petition the king they were both hanged on a gibbet. And it was for the Jews. They join in fasting and prayer. cles before the kin, and recorded in the chroni-Nobin when Mardochai had, heard these things, he rent his garments, and put on

sackcloth, strewing ashes on his head: and he queen Esther? what is thy request? if thou cried with a loud voice in the street in the midst shouldst even ask one half of the kingdom, it of the city, shewing the anguish of his mind. shall be given to thee. 2 And he came lamenting in this manner even to the gate of the palace: for no one clothed with sackcloth might enter the king's court.

3 And in all provinces, towns, and places, to which the king's cruel edict was come, there was great mourning among the Jews, with fasting, wailing, and weeping, many using sackcloth and ashes for their bed.

4 But she answered: If it please the king, I beseech thee to come to me this day, and Aman with thee, to the banquet which I have prepared. 5 And the king said forthwith: Call ye Aman quickly, that he may obey Esther's will. So the king and Aman came to the banquet which the queen had prepared for them.

6 And the king said to her, after he had drunk 4 Then Esther's maids and her eunuchs went wine plentifully: What dost thou desire should in, and told her. And when she heard it she was be given thee? and for what thing askest thou? in a consternation: and she sent a garment to although thou shouldst ask the half of my kingclothe him, and to take away the sackcloth: but dom, thou shalt have it. he would not receive it.

5 And she called for Athach the eunuch, whom the king had appointed to attend upon her: and she commanded him to go to Mardochai, and to learn of him, why he did this.

7 And Esther answered: My petition and request is this:

8 If I have found favour in the king's sight, and if it please the king to give me what I ask, and to fulfil my petition; let the king and Aman come 6 And Athach going out went to Mardochai to the banquet which I have prepared them; and who was standing in the street of the city, before to-morrow I will open my mind to the king. the palace-gate:

9 So Aman went out that day joyful and mer

7 And Mardochai told him all that had happen- ry. And when he saw Mardochai sitting before ed, how Aman had promised to pay money into the gate of the palace, and that he not only did the king's treasures, to have the Jews destroyed. not rise up to honour him, but did not so much as 8 He gave him also a copy of the edict which move from the place where he sat, he was exwas hanging up in Susan, that he should show it ceedingly angry: to the queen, and admonish her to go in to the king, and to entreat him for her people.

9 And Athach went back, and told Esther all that Mardochai had said.

10 She answered him, and bade him say to Mardochai:

10 But dissembling his anger, and returning into his house, he called together to him his friends, and Zares his wife:

11 And he declared to them the greatness of his riches, and the multitude of his children, and with how great glory the king had advanced him above all his princes and servants.

11 All the king's servants, and all the provinces that are under his dominion, know, that who- 12 And after this he said: Queen Esther also soever, whether man or woman, cometh into the hath invited no other to the banquet with the king's inner court, who is not called for, is imme-king, but me: and with her I am also to dine todiately to be put to death without any delay: ex-morrow with the king.

I

cept the king shall hold out the golden sceptre to 13 And whereas I have all these things, I think him, in token of clemency, that so he may live. have nothing, so long as I see Mardochai the How then can I go in to the king, who for these Jew sitting before the king's gate. thirty days now have not been called unto him? 12 And when Mardochai had heard this, 13 He sent word to Esther again, saying: Think not that thou mayst save thy life only, because thou art in the king's house, more than all the Jews:

14 For if thou wilt now hold thy peace, the Jews shall be delivered by some other occasion: and thou and thy father's house shall perish. And who knoweth whether thou art not therefore come to the kingdom, that thou mightest be ready in such a time as this?

15 And again Esther sent to Mardochai in these words:

14 Then Zares his wife, and the rest of his friends answered him: Order a great beam to be prepared, fifty cubits high; and in the morning speak to the king, that Mardochai may be hanged upon it; and so thou shalt go full of joy with the king to the banquet. The counsel pleased him; and he commanded a high gibbet to be prepared.

CHAP. VI.

The king hearing of the good service done him by Mardochai, commandeth Aman to honour him next to the king, which he performeth.

THAT night the king passed without sleep:

16 Go, and gather together all the Jews whom and he commanded the histories and chronithou shalt find in Susan, and pray ye for me. cles of former times to be brought him. And Neither eat, nor drink for three days and three when they were reading them before him, nights: and I with my handmaids will fast in like 2 They came to that place where it was writmanner; and then I will go in to the king, against ten, how Mardochai had discovered the treason the law, not being called, and expose myself to of Bagathan and Thares the eunuchs, who sought death and to danger. to kill king Assuerus.

17 So Mardochai went, and did all that Esther had commanded him.

CHAP. V.

Esther is graciously received: she inviteth the king and Aman to dinner. Aman prepareth a gibbet for Mardochai.

3 And when the king heard this, he said: What honour and reward hath Mardochai received for this fidelity? His servants and ministers said to him: He hath received no reward at all.*

4 And the king said immediately: Who is in the court? for Aman was coming in to the inner court of the king's house, to speak to the king, ND on the third day Esther put on her that he might order Mardochai to be hanged upon A royal apparel, and stood the on hurt

[ocr errors]

of the king's house, over against the king's hall: 5 The servants answered: Aman standeth in now he sat upon his throne in the hall of the the court. And the king said: Let him come in. palace, over-against the door of the house.

2 And when he saw Esther the queen standing, she pleased his eyes, and he held out toward her the golden sceptre, which he held in his hand: and she drew near, and kissed the top of his sceptre.

3 And the king said to her: What wilt thou,

6 And when he was come in, he said to him: What ought to be done to the man whom the

*No reward at all. He received some presents from the king, chap. xii. 5. but these were so inconsiderable in the opinion of the courtiers, that they esteemed them as nothing at all.

king is desirous to honour? But Aman thinking in spoke for the king, standeth in Aman's house, behis heart, and supposing that the king would ing fifty cubits high. And the king said to him: honour no other but himself, Hang him upon it.

7 Answered: The man whom the king desireth to honour,

8 Ought to be clothed with the king's apparel, and to be set upon the horse that the king rideth upon, and to have the royal crown upon his head.

And let the first of the king's princes and nobles hold his horse, and going through the street of the city, proclaim before him, and say:

Thus shall he be honoured, whom the king hall

a mind to honour.

10 And the king said to him: Make haste, and take the robe, and the horse; and do as thou hast spoken to Mardochai the Jew, who sitteth before the gates of the palace. Beware thou pass over any of those things which thou hast spoken.

11 So Aman took the robe, and the horse, and arraying Mardochai in the street of the city, and setting him on the horse, went before him, and proclaimed: This honour is he worthy of, whom the king hath a mind to honour.

10 So Aman was hanged on the gibbet which he had prepared for Mardochai: and the king's wrath ceased. CHAP. VIII.

Mardochai is advanced: Aman's letters are re

versed.

ON that day king Assuerus gave the house of

Aman, the Jews' enemy, to queen Esther: and Mardochai came in before the king. For Esther had confessed to him that he was her uncle.

2 And the king took the ring which he had commanded to be taken again from Aman, and gave it to Mardochai. And Esther set Mardochai over her house.

3 And not content with these things, she fell down at the king's feet and wept; and speaking to him besought him, that he would give orders that the malice of Aman the Agagite, and his 12 And Mardochai returned to the palace gate: most wicked devices which he had invented and Aman made haste to go to his house, mourn-against the Jews, should be of no effect. ing and having his head covered:

13 And he told Zares his wife, and his friends all that had befallen him. And the wise men whom he had in counsel, and his wife answered him: If Mardochai be of the seed of the Jews, before whom thou hast begun to fall, thou canst not resist him, but thou shalt fall in his sight.

14 As they were yet speaking, the king's eunuchs came, and compelled him to go quickly to the banquet which the queen had prepared. CHAP. VII.

Esther's petition for herself and her people: Aman is hanged upon the gibbet he had prepared for Mardochai.

O the king and Aman went in, to drink with the queen.

2 And the king said to her again the second day, after he was warm with wine: What is thy petition, Esther, that it may be granted thee? and what wilt thou have done? although thou ask the half of my kingdom, thou shalt have it.

3 Then she answered: If I have found favour in thy sight, O king, and if it please thee, giye me my life for which I ask, and my people for which I request.

4 For we are given up, I and my people, to be destroyed, to be slain, and to perish. And would God we were sold for bondmen and bondwomen: the evil might be borne with, and I would have mourned in silence: but now we have an enemy, whose cruelty redoundeth upon the king.

5 And king Assuerus answered, and said: Who is this, and of what power, that he should do these things?

4 But he, as the manner was, held out the golden sceptre with his hand, which was the sign of clemency: and she arose up, and stood before him, 5 And said: If it please the king, and if I have found favour in his sight, and my request be not disagreeable to him, I beseech thee, that the former letters of Aman the traitor and enemy of the Jews, by which he commanded that they should be destroyed in all the king's provinces, may be reversed by new letters.

6 For how can I endure the murdering and laughter of my people?

7 And king Assuerus answered Esther the queen, and Mardochai the Jew: I have given Aman's house to Esther; and I have commanded him to be hanged on a gibbet, because he durst lay hands on the Jews.

8 Write ye therefore to the Jews, as it pleaseth you, in the king's name, and seal the letters with my ring. For this was the custom, that no man durst gainsay the letters which were sent in the king's name, and were sealed with his ring.

9 Then the king's scribes and secretaries were called for (now it was the time of the third month which is called Siban), the three and twentieth day of the month; and letters were written, as Mardochai had a mind, to the Jews, and to the governors, and to the deputies, and to the judges, who were rulers over the hundred and twenty seven provinces, from India even to Ethiopia; to province and province, to people and people, according to their languages and characters, and to the Jews, according as they could read and hear.

10 And these letters which were sent in the king's name, were sealed with his ring, and sent 6 And Esther said: It is this Aman that is our by posts, who were to run through all the proadversary and most wicked enemy. Aman hear-vinces, to prevent the former letters with new ing this was forthwith astonished, not being able messages. to bear the countenance of the king and of the

queen.

7 But the king being angry rose up, and went from the place of the banquet into the garden set with trees. Aman also rose up to entreat Esther the queen for his life; for he understood that evil was prepared for him by the king.

8 And when the king came back out of the garden set with trees, and entered into the place of the banquet, he found Aman was fallen upon the bed on which Esther lay: and he said: He will force the queen also in my presence, in my own house. The word was not yet gone out of the king's mouth, and immediately they covered his face.

11 And the king gave orders to them, to speak to the Jews in every city, and to command them to gather themselves together, and to stand for their lives, and to kill and destroy all their enemies with their wives and children and all their houses, and to take their spoil.

12 And one day of revenge was appointed through all the provinces, to wit, the thirteenth of the twelfth month Adar.

13 And this was the content of the letter, that it should be notified in all lands and peoples that were subject to the empire of king Assuerus, that the Jews were ready to be revenged of their enemies.

14 So the swift posts went out, carrying the 9 And Harbona, one of the eunuchs that stood messages; and the king's edict was hung up in waiting on the king, said: Behold, the gibbet Susan. which he hath prepared for Mardochai, who|| 15 And Mardochai going forth out of the

palace, and from the king's presence, shone in that were killed amounted to seventy-five thou royal apparel, to wit, of violet and sky colour, sand, and no man took any of their goods. wearing a golden crown on his head, and clothed 17 Now the thirteenth day of the month Adar with a cloke of silk and purple. And all the city was the first day with them all of the slaughter, rejoiced, and was glad. and on the fourteenth day they left off. Which they ordained to be kept holy-day, so that all times hereafter they should celebrate it with feasting, joy, and banquets.

16 But to the Jews a new light seemed to rise, joy, honour, and dancing.

17 And in all peoples, cities, and provinces, whithersoever the king's commandments came, 18 But they that were killing in the city of Suthere was wonderful rejoicing, feasts and ban-san, were employed in the slaughter on the thirquets, and keeping holy-day: insomuch that many teenth and fourteenth day of the same month: and of other nations and religion, joined themselves on the fifteenth day they rested. And therefore to their worship and ceremonies. For a great they appointed that day to be a holy-day of feastdread of the name of the Jews had fallen upon all. ing and gladness.

CHAP. IX.

[ocr errors]

19 But those Jews that dwelt in towns not walled, and in villages, appointed the fourteenth The Jews kill their enemies that would have kill-day of the month Adar for banquets and gladness, ed them. The days of Phurim are appointed to be kept holy.

S

so as to rejoice on that day, and send one another portions of their banquets and meats.

on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, 20 And Mardochai wrote all these things, and which as we have said above is called Adar, sent them comprised in letters to the Jews that when all the Jews were designed to be massa- abode in all the king's provinces, both those that cred, and their enemies were greedy after their lay near and those afar off, blood, the case being altered, the Jews began to have the upper hand, and to revenge* themselves of their adversaries.

2 And they gathered themselves together in every city, and town, and place, to lay their hands on their enemies, and their persecutors. And no one durst withstand them; for the fear of their power had gone through every people. 3 And the judges of the provinces, and the governors, and lieutenants, and every one in dignity, that presided over every place and work, extolled the Jews for fear of Mardochai:

21 That they should receive the fourteenth and fifteenth day of the month Adar for holy-days, and always at the return of the year should celebrate them with solemn honour:

22 Because on those days the Jews revenged themselves of their enemies, and their mourning and sorrow were turned into mirth and joy, and that these should be days of feasting and gladness, in which they should send one to another portions of meats, and should give gifts to the poor. 23 And the Jews undertook to observe with solemnity all they had begun to do at that time, which Mardochai by letters had commanded to

4 For they knew him to be prince of the palace, and to have great power: and the fame be done. of his name increased daily, and was spread 24 For Aman, the son of Amadathi of the race abroad through all men's mouths. of Agag, the enemy and adversary of the Jews, 5 So the Jews made a great slaughter of their had devised evil against them, to kill them and enemies, and killed them, repaying according to destroy them: and had cast Phur, that is, the what they had prepared to do to them: lot.

6 Insomuch that even in Susan they killed five hundred men, besides the ten sons of Aman the Agagite, the enemy of the Jews: whose names are these:

7 Pharsandatha, and Delphon, and Esphatha, 8 And Phoratha, and Adalia, and Aridatha, 9 And Phermesta, and Arisai, and Aridai, and Jezatha.

10 And when they had slain them, they would not touch the spoils of their goods.

25 And afterwards Esther went in to the king, beseeching him that his endeavours might be made void by the king's letters: and the evil that he had intended against the Jews, might return upon his own head. And so both he and his sons were hanged upon gibbets.

26 And since that time these days are called Phurim, that is, of Lots: because Phur, that is, the lot, was cast into the urn. And all things that were done, are contained in the volume of this epistle, that is, of this book:

11 And presently the number of them that were killed in Susan was brought to the king. 27 And the things that they suffered, and that 12 And he said to the queen: The Jews have were afterwards changed, the Jews took upon killed five hundred men in the city of Susan, be- themselves and their seed, and upon all that had a sides the ten sons of Aman: how many dost thou mind to be joined to their religion, so that it should think they have slain in all the provinces? What be lawful for none to pass these days without askest thou more, and what wilt thou have me to command to be done?

13 And she answered: If it please the king, let it be granted to the Jews, to do to-morrow in Susan as they have done to-day, and that the ten sons of Aman may be hanged upon gibbets.

14 And the king commanded that it should be so done. And forthwith the edict was hung up in Susan, and the ten sons of Aman were hanged.

15 And on the fourteenth day of the month Adar, the Jews gathered themselves together, and they killed in Susan three hundred men: but they took not their substance.

solemnity: which the writing testifieth, and certain times require, as the years continually succeed one another.

28 These are the days which shall never be forgot: and which all provinces in the whole world shall celebrate throughout all generations: neither is there any city wherein the days of Phurim, that is, of lots, must not be observed by the Jews, and by their posterity, which is bound to these ceremonies.

29 And Esther the queen the daughter of Abihail, and Mardochai the Jew wrote also a second epistle, that with all diligence this day should be 16 Moreover through all the provinces which established a festival for the time to come. were subject to the king's dominion the Jews 30 And they sent to all the Jews that were in stood for their lives, and slew their enemies and the hundred and twenty seven provinces of persecutors: insomuch that the number of them king Assuerus, that they should have peace, and receive truth,

To revenge, &c. The Jews on this occasion 31 And observe the days of lots, and celebrate by authority from the king, were made execu- them with joy in their proper time, as Mardochai tioners of the public justice, for punishing by and Esther had appointed: and they undertook death a crime worthy of death, viz. A malicious them to be observed by themselves and by their eonspiracy for extirpating their whole nation. "seed, fasts, and cries, and the days of lots,

« AnteriorContinuar »