以斯帖记 9

¹十二月，乃亚达月十三日，王的谕旨将要举行，就是犹大人的仇敌盼望辖制他们的日子，犹大人反倒辖制恨他们的人。On the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the month of Adar, the king’s command and edict were to be executed. On this day the enemies of the Jews had hoped to overpower them, but their plan was overturned and the Jews overpowered those who hated them.

²犹大人在亚哈随鲁王各省的城里聚集，下手击杀那要害他们的人。无人能敌挡他们，因为各族都惧怕他们。In each of the provinces of King Xerxes, the Jews assembled in their cities to attack those who sought to harm them. No man could withstand them, because the fear of them had fallen upon all peoples.

³各省的首领、总督、省长，和办理王事的人，因惧怕末底改，就都帮助犹大人。And all the officials of the provinces, the satraps, the governors, and the king’s administrators helped the Jews, because the fear of Mordecai had fallen upon them.

⁴末底改在朝中为大，名声传遍各省，日渐昌盛。For Mordecai exercised great power in the palace, and his fame spread throughout the provinces as he became more and more powerful.

⁵犹大人用刀击杀一切仇敌，任意杀灭恨他们的人。The Jews put all their enemies to the sword, killing and destroying them, and they did as they pleased to those who hated them.

⁶在书珊城，犹大人杀灭了五百人；In the citadel of Susa, the Jews killed and destroyed five hundred men,

⁷又杀巴珊大他、达分、亚斯帕他、including Parshandatha, Dalphon, Aspatha,

⁸破拉他、亚大利雅、亚利大他、Poratha, Adalia, Aridatha,

⁹帕玛斯他、亚利赛、亚利代、瓦耶撒他；Parmashta, Arisai, Aridai, and Vaizatha.

¹⁰这十人都是哈米大他的孙子、犹大人仇敌哈曼的儿子。犹大人却没有下手夺取财物。They killed these ten sons of Haman son of Hammedatha, the enemy of the Jews, but they did not lay a hand on the plunder.

¹¹当日，将书珊城被杀的人数呈在王前。On that day the number of those killed in the citadel of Susa was reported to the king,

¹²王对王后以斯帖说：“犹大人在书珊城杀灭了五百人，又杀了哈曼的十个儿子，在王的各省不知如何呢？现在你要什么，我必赐给你；你还求什么，也必为你成就。”who said to Queen Esther, “In the citadel of Susa the Jews have killed and destroyed five hundred men, including Haman’s ten sons. What have they done in the rest of the royal provinces? Now what is your petition? It will be given to you. And what further do you request? It will be fulfilled.”

¹³以斯帖说：“王若以为美，求你准书珊的犹大人，明日也照今日的旨意行，并将哈曼十个儿子的尸首挂在木架上。”Esther replied, “If it pleases the king, may the Jews in Susa also have tomorrow to carry out today’s edict, and may the bodies of Haman’s ten sons be hanged on the gallows.”

¹⁴王便允准如此行。旨意传在书珊，人就把哈曼十个儿子的尸首挂起来了。So the king commanded that this be done. An edict was issued in Susa, and they hanged the ten sons of Haman.

¹⁵亚达月十四日，书珊的犹大人又聚集在书珊，杀了三百人，却没有下手夺取财物。On the fourteenth day of the month of Adar, the Jews in Susa came together again and put to death three hundred men there, but they did not lay a hand on the plunder.

¹⁶在王各省其余的犹大人也都聚集保护性命，杀了恨他们的人七万五千，却没有下手夺取财物。这样，就脱离仇敌，得享平安。The rest of the Jews in the royal provinces also assembled to defend themselves and rid themselves of their enemies. They killed 75,000 who hated them, but they did not lay a hand on the plunder.

¹⁷亚达月十三日，行了这事；十四日安息，以这日为设筵欢乐的日子。This was done on the thirteenth day of the month of Adar, and on the fourteenth day they rested, making it a day of feasting and joy.

¹⁸但书珊的犹大人，这十三日、十四日聚集杀戮仇敌；十五日安息，以这日为设筵欢乐的日子。The Jews in Susa, however, had assembled on the thirteenth and the fourteenth days of the month. So they rested on the fifteenth day, making it a day of feasting and joy.

¹⁹所以住无城墙乡村的犹大人，如今都以亚达月十四日为设筵欢乐的吉日，彼此馈送礼物。This is why the rural Jews, who live in the villages, observe the fourteenth day of the month of Adar as a day of joy and feasting. It is a holiday for sending gifts to one another.

²⁰末底改记录这事，写信与亚哈随鲁王各省远近所有的犹大人，Mordecai recorded these events and sent letters to all the Jews in all the provinces of King Xerxes, both near and far,

²¹嘱咐他们每年守亚达月十四、十五两日，to establish among them an annual celebration on the fourteenth and fifteenth days of the month of Adar

²²以这月的两日为犹大人脱离仇敌得平安、转忧为喜、转悲为乐的吉日。在这两日设筵欢乐，彼此馈送礼物，周济穷人。as the days on which the Jews gained rest from their enemies and the month in which their sorrow turned to joy and their mourning into a holiday. He wrote that these were to be days of feasting and joy, of sending gifts to one another and to the poor.

²³于是，犹大人按着末底改所写与他们的信，应承照初次所守的守为永例；So the Jews agreed to continue the custom they had started, as Mordecai had written to them.

²⁴是因犹大人的仇敌亚甲族哈米大他的儿子哈曼设谋杀害犹大人，掣普珥，就是掣签，为要杀尽灭绝他们；For Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, the enemy of all the Jews, had plotted against the Jews to destroy them and had cast the Pur (that is, the lot) to crush and destroy them.

²⁵这事报告于王，王便降旨使哈曼谋害犹大人的恶事归到他自己的头上，并吩咐把他和他的众子都挂在木架上。But when it came before the king, he commanded by letter that the wicked scheme which Haman had devised against the Jews should come back upon his own head, and that he and his sons should be hanged on the gallows.

²⁶照着普珥的名字，犹大人就称这两日为“普珥日”。他们因这信上的话，又因所看见所遇见的事，Therefore these days are called Purim, from the word Pur. Because of all the instructions in this letter, and because of all they had seen and experienced,

²⁷就应承自己与后裔，并归附他们的人，每年按时必守这两日，永远不废。the Jews bound themselves to establish the custom that they and their descendants and all who join them should not fail to celebrate these two days at the appointed time each and every year, according to their regulation.

²⁸各省各城、家家户户、世世代代纪念遵守这两日，使这“普珥日”在犹大人中不可废掉，在他们后裔中也不可忘记。These days should be remembered and celebrated by every generation, family, province, and city, so that these days of Purim should not fail to be observed among the Jews, nor should the memory of them fade from their descendants.

²⁹亚比孩的女儿—王后以斯帖和犹大人末底改以全权写第二封信，坚嘱犹大人守这“普珥日”，So Queen Esther daughter of Abihail, along with Mordecai the Jew, wrote with full authority to confirm this second letter concerning Purim.

³⁰用和平诚实话写信给亚哈随鲁王国中一百二十七省所有的犹大人，And Mordecai sent letters with words of peace and truth to all the Jews in the 127 provinces of the kingdom of Xerxes,

³¹劝他们按时守这“普珥日”，禁食呼求，是照犹大人末底改和王后以斯帖所嘱咐的，也照犹大人为自己与后裔所应承的。in order to confirm these days of Purim at their appointed time, just as Mordecai the Jew and Queen Esther had established them and had committed themselves and their descendants to the times of fasting and lamentation.

³²以斯帖命定守“普珥日”，这事也记录在书上。So Esther’s decree confirmed these regulations about Purim, which were written into the record.