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Thursday, August 21st, 2025
the Week of Proper 15 / Ordinary 20
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Read the Bible

Legacy Standard Bible

Esther 9:20

Then Mordecai wrote down these events, and he sent letters to all the Jews who were in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, both near and far,

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Month;   Purim;   Thompson Chain Reference - Mordecai;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Feast of Purim, or Lots, the;  

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 - Apocrypha;   Esther;   Festivals;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Purim;   The Hawker's Poor Man's Concordance And Dictionary - Lots;   People's Dictionary of the Bible - Feasts;   Smith Bible Dictionary - Festivals;   Lysim'achus,;   Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary - Book;  

Encyclopedias:

- International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Purim;   The Jewish Encyclopedia - Esther, Apocryphal Book of;  

Devotionals:

- Every Day Light - Devotion for June 25;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
Mordecai recorded these events and sent letters to all the Jews in all of King Ahasuerus’s provinces, both near and far.
Hebrew Names Version
Mordekhai wrote these things, and sent letters to all the Yehudim who were in all the provinces of the king Achashverosh, both near and far,
King James Version
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,
English Standard Version
And Mordecai recorded these things and sent letters to all the Jews who were in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, both near and far,
New Century Version
Mordecai wrote down everything that had happened. Then he sent letters to all the Jewish people in all the empire of King Xerxes, far and near.
New English Translation
Mordecai wrote these matters down and sent letters to all the Jews who were throughout all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, both near and far,
Amplified Bible
Now Mordecai recorded these events, and he sent letters to all the Jews who lived in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, both near and far,
New American Standard Bible
Then Mordecai recorded these events, and he sent letters to all the Jews who were in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, both near and far,
World English Bible
Mordecai wrote these things, and sent letters to all the Jews who were in all the provinces of the king Ahasuerus, both near and far,
Geneva Bible (1587)
And Mordecai wrote these words, and sent letters vnto all the Iewes that were through all the prouinces of the King Ahashuerosh, both neere and farre,
Berean Standard Bible
Mordecai recorded these events and sent letters to all the Jews in all the provinces of King Xerxes, both near and far,
Contemporary English Version
Mordecai wrote down everything that had happened. Then he sent letters to the Jews everywhere in the provinces
Complete Jewish Bible
Mordekhai recorded these events and sent letters to all the Jews in all the provinces of King Achashverosh, both near and far,
Darby Translation
And Mordecai wrote these things, and sent letters to all the Jews near and far that were in all the provinces of king Ahasuerus,
Easy-to-Read Version
Mordecai wrote everything down that had happened, and then he sent letters to all the Jews in all of King Xerxes' provinces. He sent letters far and near.
George Lamsa Translation
And Mordecai wrote these things and sent letters to all the Jews who were in all the provinces of King Akhshirash, both near and far.
Good News Translation
Mordecai had these events written down and sent letters to all the Jews, near and far, throughout the Persian Empire,
Lexham English Bible
Mordecai wrote down these things and he sent letters to all the Jews who were in all of the provinces of King Ahasuerus, both near and far,
Literal Translation
And Mordecai wrote these things, and sent letters to all the Jews in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, near and far,
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
And Mardocheus wrote these actes, and sent the writinges vnto all the Iewes yt were in all ye londes of kynge Ahasuerus, both nye and farre,
American Standard Version
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,
Bible in Basic English
And Mordecai sent letters to all the Jews in every division of the kingdom of Ahasuerus, near and far,
Bishop's Bible (1568)
And Mardocheus wrote these wordes, and sent letters vnto all the Iewes that were in all the prouinces of king Ahasuerus, both nie and farre:
JPS Old Testament (1917)
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,
King James Version (1611)
And Mordecai wrote these things, and sent letters vnto all the Iewes, that were in all the prouinces of the king Ahasuerus, both nigh & farre,
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And Mardochaeus wrote these things in a book, and sent them to the Jews, as many as were in the kingdom of Artaxerxes, both them that were near and them that were afar off,
English Revised Version
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,
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Therfor Mardochee wroot alle these thingis, and sente these thingis comprehendid bi lettris to the Jewis, that dwelliden in alle prouynces of the kyng, as wel to Jewis set nyy as fer,
Update Bible Version
And Mordecai wrote these things, and sent letters to all the Jews that were in all the provinces of the king Ahasuerus, both near and far,
Webster's Bible Translation
And Mordecai wrote these things, and sent letters to all the Jews that [were] in all the provinces of the king Ahasuerus, [both] nigh and far,
New King James Version
And Mordecai wrote these things and sent letters to all the Jews, near and far, who were in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus,
New Living Translation
Mordecai recorded these events and sent letters to the Jews near and far, throughout all the provinces of King Xerxes,
New Life Bible
Mordecai wrote down these things. And he sent letters to all the Jews who were in all the nation of King Ahasuerus, both near and far.
New Revised Standard
Mordecai recorded these things, and sent letters to all the Jews who were in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, both near and far,
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And Mordecai wrote these things, - and sent letters unto all the Jews who were in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, near, and far off;
Douay-Rheims Bible
And Mardochai wrote all these things, and sent them comprised in letters to the Jews that abode in all the king’s provinces, both those that lay near and those afar off,
Revised Standard Version
And Mor'decai recorded these things, and sent letters to all the Jews who were in all the provinces of King Ahasu-e'rus, both near and far,
Young's Literal Translation
And Mordecai writeth these things, and sendeth letters unto all the Jews who [are] in all provinces of the king Ahasuerus, who are near and who are far off,
THE MESSAGE
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New American Standard Bible (1995)
Then Mordecai recorded these events, and he sent letters to all the Jews who were in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, both near and far,

Contextual Overview

20Then Mordecai wrote down these events, and he sent letters to all the Jews who were in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, both near and far, 21to establish among them to celebrate the fourteenth day of the month Adar, and the fifteenth day of the same month, annually, 22because on those days the Jews obtained rest for themselves from their enemies, and it was a month which was turned around for them from sorrow into gladness and from mourning into a holiday; that they should make them days of feasting and gladness and sending portions of food to one another and gifts to the poor. 23Thus the Jews fully accepted what they had started to do and what Mordecai had written to them. 24For Haman the son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, the adversary of all the Jews, had devised against the Jews to cause them to perish and had cast Pur, that is the lot, to throw them into confusion and cause them to perish. 25But when it came before the king, he said by letter that his evil scheme, which he had devised against the Jews, should return on his own head and that he and his sons should be hanged on the gallows. 26Therefore they called these days Purim after the name of Pur. Therefore, because of the words in this letter, both what they had seen in this regard and what had reached them, 27the Jews established and accepted a custom for themselves and for their seed and for all those who joined themselves to them, so that celebrating these two days according to what was written down and according to their fixed time from year to year would not pass away. 28So these days were to be remembered and celebrated throughout every generation, every family, every province, and every city; thus these days of Purim were not to pass away from among the Jews, nor their memory come to an end from their seed. 29Then Queen Esther, daughter of Abihail, with Mordecai the Jew, wrote with full authority to establish this second letter about Purim.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Mordecai: That is, as the words imply, the history contained in this book; and not merely the letters afterwards mentioned, as some understand it.

wrote these: Exodus 17:14, Deuteronomy 31:19-22, 1 Chronicles 16:12, Psalms 124:1-3, Psalms 145:4-12, 2 Corinthians 1:10, 2 Corinthians 1:11

in all the provinces: Esther 1:1, Esther 1:22, Esther 3:12, Esther 8:9

Reciprocal: 2 Chronicles 30:5 - established Esther 9:26 - letter Esther 9:29 - confirm Jeremiah 29:1 - of the letter

Cross-References

Genesis 3:23
therefore Yahweh God sent him out from the garden of Eden, to cultivate the ground from which he was taken.
Genesis 4:2
And again, she gave birth to his brother Abel. Abel was a keeper of flocks, but Cain was a cultivator of the ground.
Genesis 5:29
Now he called his name Noah, saying, "This one will give us rest from our work and from the pain of our hands arising from the ground which Yahweh has cursed."
Genesis 9:18
Now the sons of Noah who went out of the ark were Shem and Ham and Japheth; and Ham was the father of Canaan.
Genesis 9:19
These three were the sons of Noah, and from these the whole earth was scattered abroad.
Genesis 9:24
Then Noah awoke from his wine, and he knew what his youngest son had done to him.
Genesis 9:26
And he said,"Blessed be Yahweh,The God of Shem;And let Canaan be his servant.
Deuteronomy 20:6
Who is the man that has planted a vineyard and has not begun to use its fruit? Let him go and return to his house, lest he die in the battle and another man begin to use its fruit.
Deuteronomy 28:30
You shall betroth a wife, but another man will violate her; you shall build a house, but you will not live in it; you shall plant a vineyard, but you will not use its fruit.
Proverbs 10:11
The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life,But the mouth of the wicked covers up violence.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And Mordecai wrote these things,.... The transactions of those two days, and the causes of them, as well as the following letter; some conclude from hence that he was the penman of the book; and so he might be, but it does not necessarily follow from hence:

and sent letters unto all the Jews that were in all the provinces of the King Ahasuerus, both nigh and far; such as were near the city Shushan, and those that were at the greatest distance from it; these were more especially the things he wrote.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Esther 9:20. Mordecai wrote these things — It has been supposed that thus far that part of the book of Esther, which was written by Mordecai extends: what follows to the end, was probably added either by Ezra, or the men of the Great Synagogue; though what is said here may refer only to the letters sent by Mordecai to the Jews of the provinces. From this to the end of the chapter is nothing else than a recapitulation of the chief heads of the preceding history, and an account of the appointment of an annual feast, called the feast of Purim, in commemoration of their providential deliverance from the malice of Haman.


 
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