A copy of this edict was to be presented as law throughout every province; it was to be made known to all the inhabitants, ¹  so that they would be prepared for this day.

A copy of the edict was to be presented as law throughout each and every province and made known to all peoples, so that the Jews might be prepared on that ¹  day to avenge themselves from their enemies.

Mordecai the Jew was second only to King Ahasuerus. He was the highest-ranking ¹  Jew, and he was admired by his numerous relatives. ²  He worked enthusiastically ³  for the good of his people and was an advocate for the welfare of ⁴  all his descendants. ⁵ 

Even when I am old and gray, ¹  O God, do not abandon me, until I tell the next generation about your strength, and those coming after me about your power. ² 

I thought to myself, “God will judge both the righteous and the wicked; for there is an appropriate time for every activity, and there is a time of judgment ¹  for every deed.

Also, do not pay attention to everything that people ¹  say; otherwise, ²  you might even hear ³  your servant cursing you.

“Do not say, ‘Conspiracy,’ every time these people say the word. ¹  Don’t be afraid of what scares them; don’t be terrified.

The Lord who commands armies will hold a banquet for all the nations on this mountain. ¹  At this banquet there will be plenty of meat and aged wine – tender meat and choicest wine. ² 

“They will go out and observe the corpses of those who rebelled against me, for the maggots that eat them will not die, ¹  and the fire that consumes them will not die out. ²  All people will find the sight abhorrent.” ³ 

So I went to Perath and dug up ¹  the shorts from the place where I had buried them. I found ²  that they were ruined; they were good for nothing.

I will make all the people in all the kingdoms of the world horrified at what has happened to them because of what Hezekiah’s son Manasseh, king of Judah, did in Jerusalem.” ¹ 

I said, ¹  “Oh, mother, how I regret ²  that you ever gave birth to me! I am always starting arguments and quarrels with the people of this land. ³  I have not lent money to anyone and I have not borrowed from anyone. Yet all of these people are treating me with contempt.” ⁴ 

I will bring such disaster on them that all the kingdoms of the earth will be horrified. I will make them an object of reproach, a proverbial example of disaster. I will make them an object of ridicule, an example to be used in curses. ¹  That is how they will be remembered wherever I banish them. ² 

The sounds of battle ¹  will resound to the ends of the earth. For the Lord will bring charges against the nations. ²  He will pass judgment on all humankind and will hand the wicked over to be killed in war.’ ³  The Lord so affirms it! ⁴ 

If you do not obey me, ¹  then I will do to this temple what I did to Shiloh. ²  And I will make this city an example to be used in curses by people from all the nations on the earth.’”

And all the exiles of Judah who are in Babylon will use them as examples when they put a curse on anyone. They will say, “May the Lord treat you like Zedekiah and Ahab whom the king of Babylon roasted to death in the fire!” ¹ 

At that time I will be the God of all the clans of Israel ¹  and they will be my people. I, the Lord, affirm it!” ² 

I will purify them from all the sin that they committed against me. I will forgive all their sins which they committed in rebelling against me. ¹ 

We and our wives and our sons and daughters have obeyed everything our ancestor Jonadab commanded us. We have never drunk wine. ¹ 

Oh, how shattered Moab will be! Oh, how her people will wail! Oh, how she will turn away ¹  in shame! Moab will become an object of ridicule, a terrifying sight to all the nations that surround her.”