13 The letters were sent by means of couriers to all the king’s provinces,* giving the order to annihilate, to kill, and to destroy all the Jews, young and old alike, children and women, on a single day, on the 13th day of the 12th month, that is, the month of Aʹdar,+ and to seize their possessions.+

9 On the 13th day of the 12th month, that is, the month of Aʹdar,*+ when the king’s word and his law were to be carried out,+ on the day when the enemies of the Jews hoped to overpower them, the opposite happened, and the Jews defeated those who hated them.+ 2 The Jews gathered together in their cities in all the provinces* of King A·has·u·eʹrus+ to lay hands on those seeking to harm them, and not a man could stand against them, for the dread of them had fallen upon all the peoples.+

16 The rest of the Jews in the provinces* of the king also gathered together and defended their lives.*+ They got rid of their enemies,+ killing 75,000 of those who hated them; but they did not seize any plunder. 17 That was on the 13th day of the month of Aʹdar, and they rested on the 14th day and made it a day of feasting and of rejoicing.