Sorrow Turned to Joy

Sealed with King Xerxes’ ring, the second decree left Susa under Mordecai’s authority and traveled to every province in its own script and language. It could not erase Haman’s order. Instead, it permitted the Jews in every city to assemble and defend themselves, to destroy any armed force that attacked them, and to take their enemies’ property. The date remained the thirteenth day of Adar—the same day Haman had selected by casting the pur. What had been fixed as the day of their destruction now carried a royal answer: the scattered Jewish communities could stand together when their enemies came.

Copies of the new order were issued as law in every province and made known to every people so the Jews would be ready on the appointed day. Haman’s first decree still remained, but it no longer stood unanswered. The same royal seal that had authorized their destruction now authorized them to gather rather than face their attackers alone. The thirteenth of Adar still approached, but the balance of power had changed: Mordecai held the ring, the provincial officials knew his growing authority, and every Jewish community now had a legal command under which to stand.

The couriers went out in haste, urged on by the king’s command, and the decree was issued in the citadel of Susa. Then Mordecai went out from the presence of the king in royal garments of blue and white, with a large gold crown and a purple robe of fine linen. And the city of Susa shouted and rejoiced. For the Jews there was light and gladness, joy and honor. In every province and every city, wherever the king’s edict reached, there was joy and gladness among the Jews, with feasting and celebration. And many of the peoples of the land became Jews, because the fear of the Jews had fallen upon them.

When the thirteenth day of Adar arrived, the very day the enemies of the Jews had hoped to gain the upper hand, the reverse happened: the Jews prevailed over those who hated them. They assembled in their cities throughout the provinces, and no one could withstand them, for the fear of them had fallen on all the peoples. The nobles and officials helped the Jews, because the fear of Mordecai had fallen upon them. For Mordecai was now great in the palace, and his fame spread through all the provinces, growing more and more powerful.

In Susa the Jews killed five hundred men, and the ten sons of Haman as well, though they did not lay their hands on the plunder. When the number of the slain in Susa was reported to the king, he asked Esther what more she requested, and she asked that the Jews of Susa be permitted to act the next day also, and that Haman’s ten sons be hanged on the gallows. It was done, and the Jews rested and made the fourteenth day a day of feasting and gladness. Those in the provinces, having fought on the thirteenth, rested and rejoiced on the fourteenth.

Therefore Mordecai recorded these events and sent letters to all the Jews, near and far, obligating them to celebrate annually the fourteenth and fifteenth days of Adar as the days on which their sorrow was turned into joy and their mourning into a holiday. They were to observe them as days of feasting and joy, of sending gifts of food to one another and gifts to the poor. These days were called Purim, from the word Pur, the lot Haman had cast. Queen Esther and Mordecai confirmed the observance in writing, and it was accepted among the Jews for themselves and their descendants forever.

And Mordecai the Jew was second only to King Xerxes, preeminent among the Jews and highly favored by his many kinsmen, seeking the good of his people and speaking peace to all his kindred.