9 On the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the month of Adar,^(A) 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^(B) over those who hated them.^{(C) 2} The Jews assembled in their cities^(D) in all the provinces of King Xerxes to attack those determined to destroy them. No one could stand against them,^(E) because the people of all the other nationalities were afraid of them. ³ And all the nobles of the provinces, the satraps, the governors and the king’s administrators helped the Jews,^(F) because fear of Mordecai had seized them.^{(G) 4} Mordecai^(H) was prominent^(I) in the palace; his reputation spread throughout the provinces, and he became more and more powerful.^(J)

⁵ The Jews struck down all their enemies with the sword, killing and destroying them,^(K) and they did what they pleased to those who hated them. ⁶ In the citadel of Susa, the Jews killed and destroyed five hundred men. ⁷ They also killed Parshandatha, Dalphon, Aspatha, ⁸ Poratha, Adalia, Aridatha, ⁹ Parmashta, Arisai, Aridai and Vaizatha, ¹⁰ the ten sons^(L) of Haman son of Hammedatha, the enemy of the Jews.^(M) But they did not lay their hands on the plunder.^(N)

¹¹ The number of those killed in the citadel of Susa was reported to the king that same day. ¹² The 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.”^(O)

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^(P) be impaled^(Q) on poles.”

¹⁴ So the king commanded that this be done. An edict was issued in Susa, and they impaled^(R) the ten sons of Haman. ¹⁵ The 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.^(S)

¹⁶ Meanwhile, the remainder of the Jews who were in the king’s provinces also assembled to protect themselves and get relief^(T) from their enemies.^(U) They killed seventy-five thousand of them^(V) but did not lay their hands on the plunder.^{(W) 17} This happened on the thirteenth day of the month of Adar, and on the fourteenth they rested and made it a day of feasting^(X) and joy.

¹⁸ The 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.

¹⁹ That is why rural Jews—those living in villages—observe the fourteenth of the month of Adar^(Y) as a day of joy and feasting, a day for giving presents to each other.^(Z)

Purim Established

²⁰ Mordecai recorded these events, and he sent letters to all the Jews throughout the provinces of King Xerxes, near and far, ²¹ to have them celebrate annually the fourteenth and fifteenth days of the month of Adar ²² as the time when the Jews got relief^(AA) from their enemies, and as the month when their sorrow was turned into joy and their mourning into a day of celebration.^(AB) He wrote them to observe the days as days of feasting and joy and giving presents of food^(AC) to one another and gifts to the poor.^(AD)

²³ So the Jews agreed to continue the celebration they had begun, doing what Mordecai had written to them. ²⁴ For Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite,^(AE) the enemy of all the Jews, had plotted against the Jews to destroy them and had cast the pur^(AF) (that is, the lot^(AG)) for their ruin and destruction.^{(AH) 25} But when the plot came to the king’s attention,^[a] he issued written orders that the evil scheme Haman had devised against the Jews should come back onto his own head,^(AI) and that he and his sons should be impaled^(AJ) on poles.^{(AK) 26} (Therefore these days were called Purim, from the word pur.^(AL)) Because of everything written in this letter and because of what they had seen and what had happened to them, ²⁷ the 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. ²⁸ These 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.

²⁹ So Queen Esther, daughter of Abihail,^(AM) along with Mordecai the Jew, wrote with full authority to confirm this second letter concerning Purim. ³⁰ And Mordecai sent letters to all the Jews in the 127 provinces^(AN) of Xerxes’ kingdom—words of goodwill and assurance— ³¹ to 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^(AO) and lamentation.^{(AP) 32} Esther’s decree confirmed these regulations about Purim, and it was written down in the records.

The Greatness of Mordecai

10 King Xerxes imposed tribute throughout the empire, to its distant shores.^{(AQ) 2} And all his acts of power and might, together with a full account of the greatness of Mordecai,^(AR) whom the king had promoted,^(AS) are they not written in the book of the annals^(AT) of the kings of Media and Persia? ³ Mordecai the Jew was second^(AU) in rank^(AV) to King Xerxes,^(AW) preeminent among the Jews, and held in high esteem by his many fellow Jews, because he worked for the good of his people and spoke up for the welfare of all the Jews.^(AX)

3 “I will send my messenger,^(A) who will prepare the way before me.^(B) Then suddenly the Lord^(C) you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant,^(D) whom you desire,^(E) will come,” says the Lord Almighty.

² But who can endure^(F) the day of his coming?^(G) Who can stand^(H) when he appears? For he will be like a refiner’s fire^(I) or a launderer’s soap.^{(J) 3} He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver;^(K) he will purify^(L) the Levites and refine them like gold and silver.^(M) Then the Lord will have men who will bring offerings in righteousness,^{(N) 4} and the offerings^(O) of Judah and Jerusalem will be acceptable to the Lord, as in days gone by, as in former years.^(P)

⁵ “So I will come to put you on trial. I will be quick to testify against sorcerers,^(Q) adulterers^(R) and perjurers,^(S) against those who defraud laborers of their wages,^(T) who oppress the widows^(U) and the fatherless, and deprive the foreigners^(V) among you of justice, but do not fear^(W) me,” says the Lord Almighty.

Breaking Covenant by Withholding Tithes

⁶ “I the Lord do not change.^(X) So you, the descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed.^{(Y) 7} Ever since the time of your ancestors you have turned away^(Z) from my decrees and have not kept them. Return^(AA) to me, and I will return to you,”^(AB) says the Lord Almighty.

“But you ask,^(AC) ‘How are we to return?’

⁸ “Will a mere mortal rob^(AD) God? Yet you rob me.

“But you ask, ‘How are we robbing you?’

“In tithes^(AE) and offerings. ⁹ You are under a curse^(AF)—your whole nation—because you are robbing me. ¹⁰ Bring the whole tithe^(AG) into the storehouse,^(AH) that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates^(AI) of heaven and pour out^(AJ) so much blessing^(AK) that there will not be room enough to store it.^{(AL) 11} I will prevent pests from devouring^(AM) your crops, and the vines in your fields will not drop their fruit before it is ripe,^(AN)” says the Lord Almighty. ¹² “Then all the nations will call you blessed,^(AO) for yours will be a delightful land,”^(AP) says the Lord Almighty.^(AQ)

Israel Speaks Arrogantly Against God

¹³ “You have spoken arrogantly^(AR) against me,” says the Lord.

“Yet you ask,^(AS) ‘What have we said against you?’

¹⁴ “You have said, ‘It is futile^(AT) to serve^(AU) God. What do we gain by carrying out his requirements^(AV) and going about like mourners^(AW) before the Lord Almighty? ¹⁵ But now we call the arrogant^(AX) blessed. Certainly evildoers^(AY) prosper,^(AZ) and even when they put God to the test, they get away with it.’”

The Faithful Remnant

¹⁶ Then those who feared the Lord talked with each other, and the Lord listened and heard.^(BA) A scroll^(BB) of remembrance was written in his presence concerning those who feared^(BC) the Lord and honored his name.

¹⁷ “On the day when I act,” says the Lord Almighty, “they will be my^(BD) treasured possession.^(BE) I will spare^(BF) them, just as a father has compassion and spares his son^(BG) who serves him. ¹⁸ And you will again see the distinction between the righteous^(BH) and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not.^(BI)

Judgment and Covenant Renewal

4 ^[a]“Surely the day is coming;^(BJ) it will burn like a furnace.^(BK) All the arrogant^(BL) and every evildoer will be stubble,^(BM) and the day that is coming will set them on fire,^(BN)” says the Lord Almighty. “Not a root or a branch^(BO) will be left to them. ² But for you who revere my name,^(BP) the sun of righteousness^(BQ) will rise with healing^(BR) in its rays. And you will go out and frolic^(BS) like well-fed calves. ³ Then you will trample^(BT) on the wicked; they will be ashes^(BU) under the soles of your feet on the day when I act,” says the Lord Almighty.

⁴ “Remember the law^(BV) of my servant Moses, the decrees and laws I gave him at Horeb^(BW) for all Israel.^(BX)

⁵ “See, I will send the prophet Elijah^(BY) to you before that great and dreadful day of the Lord comes.^{(BZ) 6} He will turn the hearts of the parents to their children,^(CA) and the hearts of the children to their parents; or else I will come and strike^(CB) the land with total destruction.”^(CC)

A New Heaven and a New Earth

21 Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,”^[a](A) for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away,^(B) and there was no longer any sea. ² I saw the Holy City,^(C) the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God,^(D) prepared as a bride^(E) beautifully dressed for her husband. ³ And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them.^(F) They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.^{(G) 4} ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes.^(H) There will be no more death’^[b](I) or mourning or crying or pain,^(J) for the old order of things has passed away.”^(K)

⁵ He who was seated on the throne^(L) said, “I am making everything new!”^(M) Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”^(N)

⁶ He said to me: “It is done.^(O) I am the Alpha and the Omega,^(P) the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give water without cost^(Q) from the spring of the water of life.^{(R) 7} Those who are victorious^(S) will inherit all this, and I will be their God and they will be my children.^{(T) 8} But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars^(U)—they will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur.^(V) This is the second death.”^(W)

The New Jerusalem, the Bride of the Lamb

⁹ One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues^(X) came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the bride,^(Y) the wife of the Lamb.” ¹⁰ And he carried me away^(Z) in the Spirit^(AA) to a mountain great and high, and showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God.^{(AB) 11} It shone with the glory of God,^(AC) and its brilliance was like that of a very precious jewel, like a jasper,^(AD) clear as crystal.^{(AE) 12} It had a great, high wall with twelve gates,^(AF) and with twelve angels at the gates. On the gates were written the names of the twelve tribes of Israel.^{(AG) 13} There were three gates on the east, three on the north, three on the south and three on the west. ¹⁴ The wall of the city had twelve foundations,^(AH) and on them were the names of the twelve apostles^(AI) of the Lamb.

¹⁵ The angel who talked with me had a measuring rod^(AJ) of gold to measure the city, its gates^(AK) and its walls. ¹⁶ The city was laid out like a square, as long as it was wide. He measured the city with the rod and found it to be 12,000 stadia^[c] in length, and as wide and high as it is long. ¹⁷ The angel measured the wall using human^(AL) measurement, and it was 144 cubits^[d] thick.^{[e] 18} The wall was made of jasper,^(AM) and the city of pure gold, as pure as glass.^{(AN) 19} The foundations of the city walls were decorated with every kind of precious stone.^(AO) The first foundation was jasper,^(AP) the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, ²⁰ the fifth onyx, the sixth ruby,^(AQ) the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth turquoise, the eleventh jacinth, and the twelfth amethyst.^{[f] 21} The twelve gates^(AR) were twelve pearls,^(AS) each gate made of a single pearl. The great street of the city was of gold, as pure as transparent glass.^(AT)

²² I did not see a temple^(AU) in the city, because the Lord God Almighty^(AV) and the Lamb^(AW) are its temple. ²³ The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God^(AX) gives it light,^(AY) and the Lamb^(AZ) is its lamp. ²⁴ The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it.^{(BA) 25} On no day will its gates^(BB) ever be shut,^(BC) for there will be no night there.^{(BD) 26} The glory and honor of the nations will be brought into it.^{(BE) 27} Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful,^(BF) but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.^(BG)

Eden Restored

22 Then the angel showed me the river^(BH) of the water of life,^(BI) as clear as crystal,^(BJ) flowing^(BK) from the throne of God and of the Lamb ² down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life,^(BL) bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.^{(BM) 3} No longer will there be any curse.^(BN) The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him.^{(BO) 4} They will see his face,^(BP) and his name will be on their foreheads.^{(BQ) 5} There will be no more night.^(BR) They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light.^(BS) And they will reign for ever and ever.^(BT)

John and the Angel

⁶ The angel said to me,^(BU) “These words are trustworthy and true.^(BV) The Lord, the God who inspires the prophets,^(BW) sent his angel^(BX) to show his servants the things that must soon take place.”

⁷ “Look, I am coming soon!^(BY) Blessed^(BZ) is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy written in this scroll.”^(CA)

⁸ I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things.^(CB) And when I had heard and seen them, I fell down to worship at the feet^(CC) of the angel who had been showing them to me. ⁹ But he said to me, “Don’t do that! I am a fellow servant with you and with your fellow prophets and with all who keep the words of this scroll.^(CD) Worship God!”^(CE)

¹⁰ Then he told me, “Do not seal up^(CF) the words of the prophecy of this scroll,^(CG) because the time is near.^{(CH) 11} Let the one who does wrong continue to do wrong; let the vile person continue to be vile; let the one who does right continue to do right; and let the holy person continue to be holy.”^(CI)

Epilogue: Invitation and Warning

¹² “Look, I am coming soon!^(CJ) My reward is with me,^(CK) and I will give to each person according to what they have done.^{(CL) 13} I am the Alpha and the Omega,^(CM) the First and the Last,^(CN) the Beginning and the End.^(CO)

¹⁴ “Blessed are those who wash their robes,^(CP) that they may have the right to the tree of life^(CQ) and may go through the gates^(CR) into the city.^{(CS) 15} Outside^(CT) are the dogs,^(CU) those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.

¹⁶ “I, Jesus,^(CV) have sent my angel^(CW) to give you^[g] this testimony for the churches.^(CX) I am the Root^(CY) and the Offspring of David,^(CZ) and the bright Morning Star.”^(DA)

¹⁷ The Spirit^(DB) and the bride^(DC) say, “Come!” And let the one who hears say, “Come!” Let the one who is thirsty come; and let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life.^(DD)

¹⁸ I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this scroll:^(DE) If anyone adds anything to them,^(DF) God will add to that person the plagues described in this scroll.^{(DG) 19} And if anyone takes words away^(DH) from this scroll of prophecy,^(DI) God will take away from that person any share in the tree of life^(DJ) and in the Holy City, which are described in this scroll.

²⁰ He who testifies to these things^(DK) says, “Yes, I am coming soon.”^(DL)

Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.^(DM)

²¹ The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God’s people.^(DN) Amen.