Yudafo Nkonimdi
1Na Adar ɔsram (bɛyɛ Ɔbɛnem) da a ɛto so ason no, wɔde ɔhene no mmara abien no yɛɛ adwuma. Saa da no na Yudafo no atamfo no ani da so sɛ wɔbɛsɛe wɔn, nanso ani danee. 2Yudafo no boaa wɔn ho ano wɔ wɔn nkuropɔn a ɛwɔ ɔhene amantam no mu no nyinaa so, bɔɔ wɔn ho ban de tiaa obiara a ɔpɛ sɛ ɔbɛhaw wɔn no. Nanso obiara antumi ansɔre antia wɔn, efisɛ na obiara suro wɔn. 3Esiane Mordekai ho hu nti, amantam so asafohene nyinaa, mmapɔmma, amradofo ne ɔhene adwumayɛfo nyinaa boaa Yudafo no. 4Efisɛ na wɔama Mordekai panyin wɔ ahemfi hɔ, ama ne din ahyeta amantam no nyinaa mu, bere a na ne tumi nso rekɔ soro.
5Yudafo no kunkum wɔn atamfo, sɛee wɔn wɔ afoa ano. Wokunkum wɔn atamfo, tɔree wɔn ase, na wɔyɛɛ wɔn a wɔtan wɔn no nea wɔpɛ biara. 6Wokunkum nnipa ahannum wɔ Susa aban no mu. 7Wɔsan kunkum Parsandata, Dalfon ne Aspata, 8Porata, Adalia, Aridata, 9Parmasta, Arisai, Aridai ne Waisata 10a, wɔyɛ Hamedata babarima Haman a ɔyɛ Yudafo tamfo no mmabarima du no. Nanso wɔamfa asade biara.
11Bere a wɔbɔɔ ɔhene no amanneɛ a ɛfa nnipa dodow a wokum wɔn wɔ Susa aban mu ho anwummere no, 12ɔma wɔfrɛɛ Ɔhemmea Ɛster, na ɔka kyerɛɛ no se, “Yudafo no akunkum nnipa ahannum wɔ Susa aban mu nko ara ne Haman mmabarima du no. Sɛ wɔayɛ saa wɔ ha de a, ɛno de asɛm bɛn na asi wɔ amantam a aka no mu? Afei, dɛn bio na wohwehwɛ? Wɔde bɛma wo; ka kyerɛ me na mɛyɛ.”
13Na Ɛster kae se, “Ɔhempɔn, sɛ ɛsɔ wʼani a, ma Yudafo a wɔwɔ Susa no kwan na wɔnyɛ nea wɔyɛɛ no nnɛ no bio ɔkyena, na wɔmfa Haman mmabarima du no amu nsensɛn nnua so.”
14Na ɔhene no penee so, na wɔbɔɔ mmara no ho dawuru wɔ Susa. Wɔsan de Haman mmabarima du no amu sensɛn nnua so. 15Na Yudafo a wɔwɔ Susa no boaa wɔn ho ano Adar ɔsram (bɛyɛ Ɔbɛnem) da a ɛto so awotwe, na wɔsan kunkum nnipa ahaasa; na bio, wɔamfa asade biara.
16Saa bere no na Yudafo nkae a wɔwɔ Ɔhene no amantam mu nyinaa aboa wɔn ho ano, rebɔ wɔn nkwa ho ban. Wokum wɔn atamfo no mpem aduɔson anum, nam so nyaa ɔhome fii wɔn atamfo nsam. Nanso wɔamfa asade biara. 17Saa ara na wɔyɛɛ wɔ Adar ɔsram no (bɛyɛ Ɔbɛnem) da a ɛto so ason no wɔ amantam no nyinaa mu. Ade kyee no, wɔhomee, didii, gyee wɔn ani wɔ wɔn nkonimdi no ho.
18Nanso Yudafo a wɔwɔ Susa no toaa so kunkum wɔn atamfo no da a ɛto so abien no nso, na wɔhomee ne nnansa so de didii, gyee wɔn ani. 19Enti ebesi nnɛ yi, Yudafo a wɔtete nkuraa a wɔntoo afasu mfaa ho no di saa afirihyia dapɔnna yi. Wodi afoofi saa awɔwbere da yi mu, sɛpɛw wɔn ho, de akyɛde mema wɔn ho wɔn ho.
Purim Afahyɛ
20Mordekai kyerɛw saa nsɛm a esisii yi nyinaa, na wɔde nkrataa kɔmaa Yudafo a wɔbɛn ne wɔn a wɔwɔ akyiri wɔ ɔhene no amantam nyinaa mu, 21hyɛɛ wɔn nkuran sɛ, wonni afirihyia afahyɛ yi wɔ saa nnaanu no mu. 22Ɔka kyerɛɛ wɔn se wɔnhyɛ saa nna no ho fa a adidi ne ɔnom ka ho, na wɔmma wɔn ho wɔn ho ne ahiafo akyɛde. Eyi bɛma Yudafo no akae bere a wonyaa ogye fii wɔn atamfo nsam, wɔn awerɛhow dan anigye, na wɔn su bɛyɛɛ ahosɛpɛw no.
23Enti Yudafo no faa Mordekai adwenkyerɛ no, fii afirihyia amanne no ase. 24Efisɛ na Haman a ɔyɛ Agagni Hamedata babarima, a ɔyɛ Yudafo tamfo no apam sɛ ɔbɛyam wɔn, asɛe wɔn saa da no ne ɔsram a ɔnam ntontobɔ so nyae no. (Na wɔfrɛ saa ntonto no Purim). 25Nanso Ɛster baa ɔhene anim no, ɔhyɛɛ mmara, nam so maa Haman adwemmɔne no bɔɔ ne ti so, na wɔsɛn no ne ne mmabarima wɔ nnua so. 26(Ɛno nti na wɔfrɛ saa afahyɛ no Purim no, efisɛ ɛyɛ tete kasa a ne nkyerɛase ne ntontobɔ.) Esiane Mordekai krataa no ne osuahu a wɔanya no nti, 27Yudafo a wɔwɔ ahemman no mu no nyinaa penee so sɛ, wɔbɛhyɛ saa amanne no ho fa, na wɔama wɔn awo ntoatoaso ne wɔn a wɔbɛyɛ Yudafo no nyinaa abɛhyɛ bi. Wɔn nyinaa gye too mu sɛ, saa nnaanu a wɔayi ato hɔ sɛ wɔnhyɛ fa no wɔ afe biara mu no, wɔremma ɛmpa wɔn ti so da. 28Wɔbɛkae saa nna yi wɔ awo ntoatoaso nyinaa mu na ɛsɛ sɛ abusua biara a ɛwɔ amantam ne nkuropɔn wɔ ahemman no mu no di. Wɔrennyae saa nna yi di wɔ Yudafo mu, na nsɛm a esii no nso wɔn asefo werɛ remfi da.
29Na Ɔhemmea Ɛster, Abihail babea no ne Yudani Mordekai kyerɛw krataa foforo a wɔde ɔhemmea no tumi kɛse foaa krataa no so de hyɛɛ Purim afahyɛ no mu den. 30Ɛno akyi no, wɔsoma ma wɔde nkrataa a wɔde bɛma asomdwoe ne bammɔ aba, kɔɔ Yudafo a wɔwɔ amantam ɔha ne aduonu ason no a ɛwɔ Ahasweros ahemman mu no nyinaa so. 31Saa nkrataa yi ma Purim Afahyɛ a ɛyɛ afirihyiade a wodi no nnɛ yi ara no timii. Yudani Mordekai ne Ɔhemmea Ɛster na wɔhyɛɛ mmara no. (Nnipa no yɛɛ wɔn adwene sɛ wɔbɛhyɛ saa fa yi, sɛnea wɔasi no gyinae ama wɔn ho ne wɔn asefo no, de ama mmuadadi ne agyaadwotwa mmere no atim.) 32Enti Ɛster mmara no sii Purim ho nhyehyɛe so dua, na wɔkyerɛw ne nyinaa guu nhoma mu.
1On the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the month of Adar, the edict commanded by the king was to be carried out. On this day the enemies of the Jews had hoped to overpower them, but now the tables were turned and the Jews got the upper hand over those who hated them. 2The Jews assembled in their cities in all the provinces of King Xerxes to attack those determined to destroy them. No one could stand against them, because the people of all the other nationalities were afraid of them. 3And all the nobles of the provinces, the satraps, the governors and the king’s administrators helped the Jews, because fear of Mordecai had seized them. 4Mordecai was prominent in the palace; his reputation spread throughout the provinces, and he became more and more powerful.
5The Jews struck down all their enemies with the sword, killing and destroying them, and they did what they pleased to those who hated them. 6In the citadel of Susa, the Jews killed and destroyed five hundred men. 7They also killed Parshandatha, Dalphon, Aspatha, 8Poratha, Adalia, Aridatha, 9Parmashta, Arisai, Aridai and Vaizatha, 10the ten sons of Haman son of Hammedatha, the enemy of the Jews. But they did not lay their hands on the plunder.
11The number of those killed in the citadel of Susa was reported to the king that same day. 12The king said to Queen Esther, “The Jews have killed and destroyed five hundred men and the ten sons of Haman in the citadel of Susa. What have they done in the rest of the king’s provinces? Now what is your petition? It will be given you. What is your request? It will also be granted.”
13“If it pleases the king,” Esther answered, “give the Jews in Susa permission to carry out this day’s edict tomorrow also, and let Haman’s ten sons be impaled on poles.”
14So the king commanded that this be done. An edict was issued in Susa, and they impaled the ten sons of Haman. 15The Jews in Susa came together on the fourteenth day of the month of Adar, and they put to death in Susa three hundred men, but they did not lay their hands on the plunder.
16Meanwhile, the remainder of the Jews who were in the king’s provinces also assembled to protect themselves and get relief from their enemies. They killed seventy-five thousand of them but did not lay their hands on the plunder. 17This happened on the thirteenth day of the month of Adar, and on the fourteenth they rested and made it a day of feasting and joy.
18The Jews in Susa, however, had assembled on the thirteenth and fourteenth, and then on the fifteenth they rested and made it a day of feasting and joy.
19That is why rural Jews—those living in villages—observe the fourteenth of the month of Adar as a day of joy and feasting, a day for giving presents to each other.
Purim Established
20Mordecai recorded these events, and he sent letters to all the Jews throughout the provinces of King Xerxes, near and far, 21to have them celebrate annually the fourteenth and fifteenth days of the month of Adar 22as the time when the Jews got relief from their enemies, and as the month when their sorrow was turned into joy and their mourning into a day of celebration. He wrote them to observe the days as days of feasting and joy and giving presents of food to one another and gifts to the poor.
23So the Jews agreed to continue the celebration they had begun, doing what Mordecai had written to them. 24For 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) for their ruin and destruction. 25But when the plot came to the king’s attention,9:25 Or when Esther came before the king he issued written orders that the evil scheme Haman had devised against the Jews should come back onto his own head, and that he and his sons should be impaled on poles. 26(Therefore these days were called Purim, from the word pur.) Because of everything written in this letter and because of what they had seen and what had happened to them, 27the Jews took it on themselves to establish the custom that they and their descendants and all who join them should without fail observe these two days every year, in the way prescribed and at the time appointed. 28These days should be remembered and observed in every generation by every family, and in every province and in every city. And these days of Purim should never fail to be celebrated by the Jews—nor should the memory of these days die out among their descendants.
29So Queen Esther, daughter of Abihail, along with Mordecai the Jew, wrote with full authority to confirm this second letter concerning Purim. 30And Mordecai sent letters to all the Jews in the 127 provinces of Xerxes’ kingdom—words of goodwill and assurance— 31to establish these days of Purim at their designated times, as Mordecai the Jew and Queen Esther had decreed for them, and as they had established for themselves and their descendants in regard to their times of fasting and lamentation. 32Esther’s decree confirmed these regulations about Purim, and it was written down in the records.
