Esther 9

1 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.

1 十二月，乃亞達月十三日，王的諭旨將要舉行，就是猶大人的仇敵盼望轄制他們的日子，猶大人反倒轄制恨他們的人。

2 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.

2 猶大人在亞哈隨魯王各省的城裏聚集，下手擊殺那要害他們的人。無人能敵擋他們，因為各族都懼怕他們。

3 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.

3 各省的首領、總督、省長，和辦理王事的人，因懼怕末底改，就都幫助猶大人。

4 For Mordecai exercised great power in the palace, and his fame spread throughout the provinces as he became more and more powerful.

4 末底改在朝中為大，名聲傳遍各省，日漸昌盛。

5 The Jews put all their enemies to the sword, killing and destroying them, and they did as they pleased to those who hated them.

5 猶大人用刀擊殺一切仇敵，任意殺滅恨他們的人。

6 In the citadel of Susa, the Jews killed and destroyed five hundred men,

6 在書珊城，猶大人殺滅了五百人；

7 including Parshandatha, Dalphon, Aspatha,

7 又殺巴珊大他、達分、亞斯帕他、

8 Poratha, Adalia, Aridatha,

8 破拉他、亞大利雅、亞利大他、

9 Parmashta, Arisai, Aridai, and Vaizatha.

9 帕瑪斯他、亞利賽、亞利代、瓦耶撒他；

10 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.

10 這十人都是哈米大他的孫子、猶大人仇敵哈曼的兒子。猶大人卻沒有下手奪取財物。

11 On that day the number of those killed in the citadel of Susa was reported to the king,

11 當日，將書珊城被殺的人數呈在王前。

12 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.”

12 王對王后以斯帖說：「猶大人在書珊城殺滅了五百人，又殺了哈曼的十個兒子，在王的各省不知如何呢？現在你要甚麼，我必賜給你；你還求甚麼，也必為你成就。」

13 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.”

13 以斯帖說：「王若以為美，求你准書珊的猶大人，明日也照今日的旨意行，並將哈曼十個兒子的屍首掛在木架上。」

14 So the king commanded that this be done. An edict was issued in Susa, and they hanged the ten sons of Haman.

14 王便允准如此行。旨意傳在書珊，人就把哈曼十個兒子的屍首掛起來了。

15 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.

15 亞達月十四日，書珊的猶大人又聚集在書珊，殺了三百人，卻沒有下手奪取財物。

16 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.

16 在王各省其餘的猶大人也都聚集保護性命，殺了恨他們的人七萬五千，卻沒有下手奪取財物。這樣，就脫離仇敵，得享平安。

17 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.

17 亞達月十三日，行了這事；十四日安息，以這日為設筵歡樂的日子。

18 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.

18 但書珊的猶大人，這十三日、十四日聚集殺戮仇敵；十五日安息，以這日為設筵歡樂的日子。

19 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.

19 所以住無城牆鄉村的猶大人，如今都以亞達月十四日為設筵歡樂的吉日，彼此餽送禮物。

20 Mordecai recorded these events and sent letters to all the Jews in all the provinces of King Xerxes, both near and far,

20 末底改記錄這事，寫信與亞哈隨魯王各省遠近所有的猶大人，

21 to establish among them an annual celebration on the fourteenth and fifteenth days of the month of Adar

21 囑咐他們每年守亞達月十四、十五兩日，

22 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.

22 以這月的兩日為猶大人脫離仇敵得平安、轉憂為喜、轉悲為樂的吉日。在這兩日設筵歡樂，彼此餽送禮物，賙濟窮人。

23 So the Jews agreed to continue the custom they had started, as Mordecai had written to them.

23 於是，猶大人按着末底改所寫與他們的信，應承照初次所守的守為永例；

24 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.

24 是因猶大人的仇敵亞甲族哈米大他的兒子哈曼設謀殺害猶大人，掣普珥，就是掣籤，為要殺盡滅絕他們；

25 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.

25 這事報告於王，王便降旨使哈曼謀害猶大人的惡事歸到他自己的頭上，並吩咐把他和他的眾子都掛在木架上。

26 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,

26 照着普珥的名字，猶大人就稱這兩日為「普珥日」。他們因這信上的話，又因所看見所遇見的事，

27 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.

27 就應承自己與後裔，並歸附他們的人，每年按時必守這兩日，永遠不廢。

28 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.

28 各省各城、家家戶戶、世世代代紀念遵守這兩日，使這「普珥日」在猶大人中不可廢掉，在他們後裔中也不可忘記。

29 So Queen Esther daughter of Abihail, along with Mordecai the Jew, wrote with full authority to confirm this second letter concerning Purim.

29 亞比孩的女兒－王后以斯帖和猶大人末底改以全權寫第二封信，堅囑猶大人守這「普珥日」，

30 And Mordecai sent letters with words of peace and truth to all the Jews in the 127 provinces of the kingdom of Xerxes,

30 用和平誠實話寫信給亞哈隨魯王國中一百二十七省所有的猶大人，

31 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.

31 勸他們按時守這「普珥日」，禁食呼求，是照猶大人末底改和王后以斯帖所囑咐的，也照猶大人為自己與後裔所應承的。

32 So Esther’s decree confirmed these regulations about Purim, which were written into the record.

32 以斯帖命定守「普珥日」，這事也記錄在書上。