Lectionary Calendar
Monday, December 22nd, 2025
the Fourth Week of Advent
Attention!
StudyLight.org has pledged to help build churches in Uganda. Help us with that pledge and support pastors in the heart of Africa.
Click here to join the effort!

Read the Bible

New Century Version

Esther 9:20

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.

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 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,
Legacy Standard Bible
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,
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
lass="passage-text">
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

20 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. 21 He told them to celebrate every year on the fourteenth and fifteenth days of the month of Adar, 22 because that was when the Jewish people got rid of their enemies. They were also to celebrate it as the month their sadness was turned to joy and their crying for the dead was turned into celebration. He told them to celebrate those days as days of joyful feasting and as a time for giving food to each other and presents to the poor. 23 So the Jewish people agreed to do what Mordecai had written to them, and they agreed to hold the celebration every year. 24 Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, was the enemy of all the Jewish people. He had made an evil plan against the Jewish people to destroy them, and he had thrown the Pur (that is, the lot) to choose a day to ruin and destroy them. 25 But when the king learned of the evil plan, he sent out written orders that the evil plans Haman had made against the Jewish people would be used against him. And those orders said that Haman and his sons should be hanged on the platform. 26 So these days were called Purim, which comes from the word "Pur" (the lot). Because of everything written in this letter and what they had seen and what happened to them, 27 the Jewish people set up this custom. They and their descendants and all those who join them are always to celebrate these two days every year. They should do it in the right way and at the time Mordecai had ordered them in the letter. 28 These two days should be remembered and celebrated from now on in every family, in every state, and in every city. These days of Purim should always be celebrated by the Jewish people, and their descendants should always remember to celebrate them, too. 29 So Queen Esther daughter of Abihail, along with Mordecai the Jew, wrote this second letter about Purim. Using the power they had, they wrote to prove the first letter was true.

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
So the Lord God forced Adam out of the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken.
Genesis 4:2
After that, Eve gave birth to Cain's brother Abel. Abel took care of flocks, and Cain became a farmer.
Genesis 5:29
Lamech named his son Noah and said, "He will comfort us in our work, which comes from the ground the Lord has cursed."
Genesis 9:18
The sons of Noah who came out of the boat with him were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. (Ham was the father of Canaan.)
Genesis 9:19
These three men were Noah's sons, and all the people on earth came from these three sons.
Genesis 9:24
Noah was sleeping because of the wine. When he woke up and learned what his youngest son, Ham, had done to him,
Genesis 9:26
Noah also said, "May the Lord , the God of Shem, be praised! May Canaan be Shem's slave.
Deuteronomy 20:6
Has anyone planted a vineyard and not begun to enjoy it? He may go home, because he might die in battle and someone else would enjoy his vineyard.
Deuteronomy 28:30
You will be engaged to a woman, but another man will force her to have sexual relations with him. You will build a house, but you will not live in it. You will plant a vineyard, but you will not get its grapes.
Proverbs 10:11
The words of a good person give life, like a fountain of water, but the words of the wicked contain nothing but 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.


 
adsfree-icon
Ads FreeProfile