1On that day did the king Ahasuerus give the house of Haman the Jews’ enemy unto Esther the queen. And Mordecai came before the king; for Esther had told what he was unto her. 2And the king took off his ring, which he had taken from Haman, and gave it unto Mordecai. And Esther set Mordecai over the house of Haman.
3¶ And Esther spake yet again before the king, and fell down at his feet, and besought him with tears to put away the mischief of Haman the Agagite, and his device that he had devised against the Jews.8.3 and besought…: Heb. and she wept, and besought him 4Then the king held out the golden sceptre toward Esther. So Esther arose, and stood before the king, 5And said, If it please the king, and if I have found favour in his sight, and the thing seem right before the king, and I be pleasing in his eyes, let it be written to reverse the letters devised by Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, which he wrote to destroy the Jews which are in all the king’s provinces:8.5 devised: Heb. the device8.5 which he…: or, who wrote 6For how can I endure to see the evil that shall come unto my people? or how can I endure to see the destruction of my kindred?8.6 endure…: Heb. be able that I may see
7¶ Then the king Ahasuerus said unto Esther the queen and to Mordecai the Jew, Behold, I have given Esther the house of Haman, and him they have hanged upon the gallows, because he laid his hand upon the Jews. 8Write ye also for the Jews, as it liketh you, in the king’s name, and seal it with the king’s ring: for the writing which is written in the king’s name, and sealed with the king’s ring, may no man reverse. 9Then were the king’s scribes called at that time in the third month, that is, the month Sivan, on the three and twentieth day thereof; and it was written according to all that Mordecai commanded unto the Jews, and to the lieutenants, and the deputies and rulers of the provinces which are from India unto Ethiopia, an hundred twenty and seven provinces, unto every province according to the writing thereof, and unto every people after their language, and to the Jews according to their writing, and according to their language. 10And he wrote in the king Ahasuerus’ name, and sealed it with the king’s ring, and sent letters by posts on horseback, and riders on mules, camels, and young dromedaries: 11Wherein the king granted the Jews which were in every city to gather themselves together, and to stand for their life, to destroy, to slay, and to cause to perish, all the power of the people and province that would assault them, both little ones and women, and to take the spoil of them for a prey, 12Upon one day in all the provinces of king Ahasuerus, namely, upon the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month Adar. 13The copy of the writing for a commandment to be given in every province was published unto all people, and that the Jews should be ready against that day to avenge themselves on their enemies.8.13 published: Heb. revealed 14So the posts that rode upon mules and camels went out, being hastened and pressed on by the king’s commandment. And the decree was given at Shushan the palace.
15¶ And Mordecai went out from the presence of the king in royal apparel of blue and white, and with a great crown of gold, and with a garment of fine linen and purple: and the city of Shushan rejoiced and was glad.8.15 blue: or, violet 16The Jews had light, and gladness, and joy, and honour. 17And in every province, and in every city, whithersoever the king’s commandment and his decree came, the Jews had joy and gladness, a feast and a good day. And many of the people of the land became Jews; for the fear of the Jews fell upon them.
ንጉሡ በአይሁድ ስም የተናገረው ዐዋጅ
1በዚያኑ ዕለት ንጉሥ ጠረክሲስ የአይሁድን ጠላት የሐማን ቤት ንብረት ለንግሥት አስቴር ሰጣት፤ አስቴርም መርዶክዮስ እንዴት እንደሚዛመዳት ለንጉሡ ነግራው ስለ ነበር፣ መርዶክዮስ ወደ ንጉሡ ዘንድ ቀረበ። 2ንጉሡ ከሐማ መልሶ የወሰደውን ባለ ማኅተም ቀለበት አውልቆ ለመርዶክዮስ ሰጠው፤ አስቴርም መርዶክዮስን በሐማ ቤት ንብረት ላይ ሾመችው።
3አስቴር በንጉሡ እግር ላይ ወድቃ በማልቀስ ልመናዋን እንደ ገና አቀረበች። አጋጋዊው ሐማ በአይሁድ ላይ የሸረበው ክፉ ሤራ እንዲሽር ለመነችው። 4ከዚያም ንጉሡ የወርቅ ዘንጉን ለአስቴር ዘረጋላት፤ እርሷም ተነሥታ በፊቱ ቆመች።
5እንዲህም አለች፤ “ንጉሡን ደስ የሚያሰኘውና እኔም በፊቱ ሞገስ አግኝቼ ከሆነ፣ ጕዳዩም በንጉሡ ዘንድ ተገቢ ሆኖ ከተገኘና በእኔም ደስ ከተሰኘ፣ የአጋጋዊው የሐመዳቱ ልጅ ሐማ በንጉሡ አውራጃዎች ሁሉ የሚገኙትን አይሁድ ለማጥፋት የሸረበውን ሤራና የጻፈውን ደብዳቤ የሚሽር ትእዛዝ ይጻፍ። 6በሕዝቤ ላይ መዓት ሲወርድ እያየሁ እንዴት ልታገሥ እችላለሁ? የቤተ ሰቤንስ መጥፋት እያየሁ እንዴት መቋቋም እችላለሁ?”
7ንጉሥ ጠረክሲስም ለንግሥት አስቴርና ለአይሁዳዊው ለመርዶክዮስ እንዲህ ሲል መለሰላቸው፤ “እነሆ ሐማ አይሁድን ለማጥፋት ስላቀደ፣ ቤት ንብረቱን ለአስቴር ሰጥቻለሁ፤ እርሱንም በዕንጨት ላይ ሰቅለውታል። 8በንጉሥ ስም የተጻፈና በቀለበቱ የታተመ ደብዳቤ ሊሻር ስለማይችል፣ እናንተ ደግሞ አይሁድን በተመለከተ መልካም መስሎ የታያችሁን ሌላ ዐዋጅ በንጉሡ ስም ጽፋችሁ በንጉሡ የቀለበት ማኅተም ዐትሙት።”
9ኒሳን በተባለው በሦስተኛው ወር ሃያ ሦስተኛ ቀን የቤተ መንግሥቱ ጸሓፊዎች በአስቸኳይ ተጠርተው ነበር፤ እነርሱም የመርዶክዮስን ትእዛዝ ሁሉ ለአይሁድ፣ እንዲሁም ከህንድ ጀምሮ እስከ ኢትዮጵያ ድረስ፣ በአንድ መቶ ሃያ ሰባት አውራጃዎች ለሚገኙ እንደራሴዎች፣ የአውራጃ ገዦችና መኳንንት ሁሉ ጻፉ። እነዚህም ትእዛዞች የተጻፉት በእያንዳንዱ አውራጃ ፊደልና በእያንዳንዱ ሕዝብ ቋንቋ፣ እንደዚሁም ለአይሁድ በገዛ ፊደላቸውና በገዛ ቋንቋቸው ነበር። 10መርዶክዮስ ትእዛዙን በንጉሥ ጠረክሲስ ስም ጽፎ በንጉሡ የቀለበት ማኅተም ዐተመው፤ ከዚያም በተለይ ለንጉሡ በተገሩ ፈጣን ፈረሶች በሚጋልቡ መልእክተኞች እጅ ላከው።
11የንጉሡም ዐዋጅ በየከተማው የሚኖሩ አይሁድ ሁሉ እንዲሰበሰቡና ራሳቸውን ከጥቃት እንዲከላከሉ እንዲሁም በራሳቸው፣ በሚስቶቻቸውና በልጆቻቸው ላይ አደጋ የሚያደርስባቸውን የየትኛውንም ዜጋ ወይም አውራጃ የታጠቀ ኀይል እንዲያጠፉ፣ እንዲገድሉ፣ እንዲደመስሱና የጠላቶቻቸውን ሀብት እንዲዘርፉ ፈቀደላቸው። 12አይሁድ በመላው የንጉሥ ጠረክሲስ አውራጃ ሁሉ ይህን እንዲፈጽሙ የተወሰነው አዳር በተባለው በዐሥራ ሁለተኛው ወር ዐሥራ ሦስተኛ ቀን ነበር። 13አይሁድ በዚያን ቀን ጠላቶቻቸውን ለመበቀል ዝግጁ እንዲሆኑ፣ የዋናው ዐዋጅ ቅጅ ሕግ ወደየአውራጃው እንዲላክና የየአገሩም ሕዝብ እንዲያውቀው ተደረገ።
14በቤተ መንግሥቱ ፈረሶች የተቀመጡ መልእክተኞችም፣ በንጉሡ አስቸኳይ ትእዛዝ ጋልበው ወጡ፤ ዐዋጁም በሱሳ ግንብ ተነገረ።
15መርዶክዮስ ሰማያዊና ነጭ የቤተ መንግሥት ልብስ ለብሶ፣ ትልቅ የወርቅ አክሊል ደፍቶ፣ ከቀጭን በፍታና ከሐምራዊ ግምጃ የተሠራ መጐናጸፊያ ተጐናጽፎ ከንጉሡ ፊት ወጣ፤ የሱሳ ከተማም ደስታ የተሞላበት በዓል አከበረች። 16ጊዜውም ለአይሁድ የደስታና የፈንጠዝያ፣ የተድላና የክብር ወቅት ሆነላቸው። 17የንጉሡ ዐዋጅ በደረሰበት በእያንዳንዱ አውራጃና በእያንዳንዱ ከተማ አይሁድ ደስ አላቸው፤ ሐሤት አደረጉ፤ የፈንጠዝያና የደስታም ቀን ሆነላቸው። አይሁድን ከመፍራታቸው የተነሣ፣ ከሌሎች አገር ዜጎች ብዙ ሕዝብ አይሁድ ሆኑ።
