Lectionary Calendar
Friday, August 15th, 2025
the Week of Proper 14 / Ordinary 19
Attention!
Tired of seeing ads while studying? Now you can enjoy an "Ads Free" version of the site for as little as 10¢ a day and support a great cause!
Click here to learn more!

Read the Bible

American Standard Version

Esther 9:23

And the Jews undertook to do as they had begun, and as Mordecai had written unto them;

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Month;   Purim;  

Dictionaries:

- American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - Purim;   Bridgeway Bible Dictionary - Feasts;   Baker Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology - Day;   Feasts and Festivals of Israel;   Fausset Bible Dictionary - Esther;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Festivals;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Calitas;   Colius;   Eliezer;   Jonas;   Jozabad;   Jozabdus;   Judah;   Judas;   Kelaiah;   Patheus;   Pethahiah;   Purim;   Semeis;   Shimei, Shimeites;   The Hawker's Poor Man's Concordance And Dictionary - Lots;  

Devotionals:

- Every Day Light - Devotion for June 23;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
So the Jews agreed to continue the practice they had begun, as Mordecai had written them to do.
Hebrew Names Version
The Yehudim undertook to do as they had begun, and as Mordekhai had written to them;
King James Version
And the Jews undertook to do as they had begun, and as Mordecai had written unto them;
English Standard Version
So the Jews accepted what they had started to do, and what Mordecai had written to them.
New Century Version
So the Jewish people agreed to do what Mordecai had written to them, and they agreed to hold the celebration every year.
New English Translation
So the Jews committed themselves to continue what they had begun to do and to what Mordecai had written to them.
Amplified Bible
So the Jews undertook what they had started to do, and what Mordecai had written to them.
New American Standard Bible
So the Jews undertook what they had started to do, and what Mordecai had written to them.
World English Bible
The Jews undertook to do as they had begun, and as Mordecai had written to them;
Geneva Bible (1587)
And the Iewes promised to do as they had begun, & as Mordecai had written vnto them,
Legacy Standard Bible
Thus the Jews fully accepted what they had started to do and what Mordecai had written to them.
Berean Standard Bible
So the Jews agreed to continue the custom they had started, as Mordecai had written to them.
Contemporary English Version
They followed Mordecai's instructions and set aside these two days every year as a time of celebration.
Complete Jewish Bible
So the Jews took it upon themselves to continue what they had already begun to do, and as Mordekhai had written to them;
Darby Translation
And the Jews undertook to do as they had begun, and as Mordecai had written to them.
Easy-to-Read Version
So the Jews agreed to do what Mordecai had written to them. And they agreed to continue the celebration they had begun.
George Lamsa Translation
And the Jews took upon them selves to do as they had begun and as Mordecai had written them;
Good News Translation
So the Jews followed Mordecai's instructions, and the celebration became an annual custom.
Lexham English Bible
And the Jews adopted what they had begun to do and what Mordecai had written to them.
Literal Translation
And the Jews undertook to do as they had begun, and as Mordecai had written to them,
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
And the Iewes receaued it that they had begonne to do, and that Mardocheus wrote vnto them:
Bible in Basic English
And the Jews gave their word to go on as they had been doing and as Mordecai had given them orders in writing;
Bishop's Bible (1568)
And the Iewes promised to do as they had begunne, and as Mardocheus had written vnto them:
JPS Old Testament (1917)
And the Jews took upon them to do as they had begun, and as Mordecai had written unto them;
King James Version (1611)
And the Iewes vndertooke to doe, as they had begun, and as Mordecai had written vnto them:
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And the Jews consented to this accordingly as Mardochaeus wrote to them,
English Revised Version
And the Jews undertook to do as they had begun, and as Mordecai had written unto them;
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Forsothe the Jewis resseyueden in to solempne custom alle thingis, whiche thei bigunnen to do in that tyme, and whiche thingis Mardochee hadde comaundid bi lettris to be doon.
Update Bible Version
And the Jews undertook to do as they had begun, and as Mordecai had written to them;
Webster's Bible Translation
And the Jews undertook to do as they had begun, and as Mordecai had written to them;
New King James Version
So the Jews accepted the custom which they had begun, as Mordecai had written to them,
New Living Translation
So the Jews accepted Mordecai's proposal and adopted this annual custom.
New Life Bible
So the Jews agreed to do what they had started to do, and what Mordecai had written to them.
New Revised Standard
So the Jews adopted as a custom what they had begun to do, as Mordecai had written to them.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And the Jews took upon them that which they had begun to do, - and that which Mordecai had written unto them;
Douay-Rheims Bible
And the Jews undertook to observe with solemnity all they had begun to do at that time, which Mardochai by letters had commanded to be done.
Revised Standard Version
So the Jews undertook to do as they had begun, and as Mor'decai had written to them.
Young's Literal Translation
And the Jews have received that which they had begun to do, and that which Mordecai hath written unto them,
THE MESSAGE
lass="passage-text">
New American Standard Bible (1995)
Thus the Jews undertook what they had started to do, and what Mordecai had written to them.

Contextual Overview

20 And Mordecai wrote these things, and sent letters unto all the Jews that were in all the provinces of the king Ahasuerus, both nigh and far, 21 to enjoin them that they should keep the fourteenth day of the month Adar, and the fifteenth day of the same, yearly, 22 as the days wherein the Jews had rest from their enemies, and the month which was turned unto them from sorrow to gladness, and from mourning into a good day; that they should make them days of feasting and gladness, and of sending portions one to another, and gifts to the poor. 23 And the Jews undertook to do as they had begun, and as Mordecai had written unto them; 24 because Haman the son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, the enemy of all the Jews, had plotted against the Jews to destroy them, and had cast Pur, that is the lot, to consume them, and to destroy them; 25 but when the matter came before the king, he commanded by letters that his wicked device, which he had devised against the Jews, should return upon his own head, and that he and his sons should be hanged on the gallows. 26 Wherefore they called these days Purim, after the name of Pur. Therefore because of all the words of this letter, and of that which they had seen concerning this matter, and that which had come unto them, 27 the Jews ordained, and took upon them, and upon their seed, and upon all such as joined themselves unto them, so that it should not fail, that they would keep these two days according to the writing thereof, and according to the appointed time thereof, every year; 28 and that these days should be remembered and kept throughout every generation, every family, every province, and every city; and that these days of Purim should not fail from among the Jews, nor the remembrance of them perish from their seed. 29 Then Esther the queen, the daughter of Abihail, and Mordecai the Jew, wrote with all authority to confirm this second letter of Purim.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Cross-References

Exodus 20:12
Honor thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be long in the land which Jehovah thy God giveth thee.
Leviticus 19:32
Thou shalt rise up before the hoary head, and honor the face of the old man, and thou shalt fear thy God: I am Jehovah.
Romans 13:7
Render to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honor to whom honor.
Galatians 6:1
Brethren, even if a man be overtaken in any trespass, ye who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness; looking to thyself, lest thou also be tempted.
1 Timothy 5:1
Rebuke not an elder, but exhort him as a father; the younger men as brethren:
1 Timothy 5:17
Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in the word and in teaching.
1 Timothy 5:19
Against an elder receive not an accusation, except at the mouth of two or three witnesses.
1 Peter 2:17
Honor all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king.
1 Peter 4:8
above all things being fervent in your love among yourselves; for love covereth a multitude of sins:

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And the Jews undertook to do as they had begun, and as Mordecai had written unto them. They engaged to keep these two days as festivals annually, as they had at this time done; not in a religious but in a civil way, not as parts of religious worship, and as additions to and innovations of the law, but by way of commemoration of a civil benefit which they had received; and yet we find in later times that this was scrupled by some as an innovation; for we are told r that there were eighty five elders, and more than thirty of them prophets, who were distressed about this matter, fearing it was an innovation.

r T. Hieros. Megillah. fol. 70. 4.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Esther 9:23. The Jews undertook to do as they had begun — They had already kept the fifteenth day, and some of them in the country the fourteenth also, as a day of rejoicing: Mordecai wrote to them to bind themselves and their successors, and all their proselytes, to celebrate this as an annual feast throughout all their generations; and this they undertook to do. And it has been observed among them, in all places of their dispersion, from that day to the present time, without any interruption.


 
adsfree-icon
Ads FreeProfile