So Queen Esther, the daughter of Abihail, and Mordecai the Jew wrote with full authority to confirm this second ¹  letter about Purim.

You exalt my horn like that of a wild ox. ¹  I am covered ²  with fresh oil.

It is better to go to a funeral ¹  than a feast. ²  For death ³  is the destiny ⁴  of every person, ⁵  and the living should ⁶  take this ⁷  to heart.

You ¹  have enlarged the nation; you give them great joy. ²  They rejoice in your presence as harvesters rejoice; as warriors celebrate ³  when they divide up the plunder.

But look, there is outright celebration! ¹  You say, “Kill the ox and slaughter the sheep, eat meat and drink wine. Eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!” ² 

I will put an end to the sounds of joy and gladness, to the glad celebration of brides and grooms in these lands. ¹  I will put an end to the sound of people grinding meal. I will put an end to lamps shining in their houses. ² 

At the celebration ¹  of their king, ²  his princes become inflamed ³  with wine; they conspire ⁴  with evildoers.

They stretch out on clothing seized as collateral; they do so right ¹  beside every altar! They drink wine bought with the fines they have levied; they do so right in the temple ²  of their God! ³ 

“Speak to all the people and priests of the land as follows: ‘When you fasted and lamented in the fifth and seventh ¹  months through all these seventy years, did you truly fast for me – for me, indeed?

Now on the first day of the feast of ¹  Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus and said, ²  “Where do you want us to prepare for you to eat the Passover?” ³ 

But ¹  when the feast was over, ²  as they were returning home, ³  the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. His ⁴  parents ⁵  did not know it,

But the father said to his slaves, ¹  ‘Hurry! Bring the best robe, ²  and put it on him! Put a ring on his finger ³  and sandals ⁴  on his feet!

Now while Jesus ¹  was in Jerusalem ²  at the feast of the Passover, many people believed in his name because they saw the miraculous signs he was doing. ³ 

Thus they were looking for Jesus, ¹  and saying to one another as they stood in the temple courts, ²  “What do you think? That he won’t come to the feast?”

When he saw that this pleased the Jews, ¹  he proceeded to arrest Peter too. (This took place during the feast of Unleavened Bread.) ² 

The jailer ¹  brought them into his house and set food ²  before them, and he rejoiced greatly ³  that he had come to believe ⁴  in God, together with his entire household. ⁵ 

But you have come to Mount Zion, the city ¹  of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels, to the assembly

“‘When the people of the land come before the Lord at the appointed feasts, whoever enters by way of the north gate to worship will go out by way of the south gate; whoever enters by way of the south gate will go out by way of the north gate. No one will return by way of the gate they entered but will go out straight ahead.

On the first day there will be a holy convocation, ¹  and on the seventh day there will be a holy convocation for you. You must do no work of any kind ²  on them, only what every person will eat – that alone may be prepared for you.

¹  It ²  will be a sign ³  for you on your hand and a memorial ⁴  on your forehead, ⁵  so that the law of the Lord may be ⁶  in your mouth, ⁷  for ⁸  with a mighty hand the Lord brought you out of Egypt.