Die illo dedit rex Assuerus Esther reginæ domum Aman adversarii Judæorum, et Mardochæus ingressus est ante faciem regis. Confessa est enim ei Esther quod esset patruus suus.

On that day king Assuerus gave the house of Aman, the Jews’ enemy, to queen Esther, and Mardochai came in before the king. For Esther had confessed to him that he was her uncle.

That same day, Assuerus made a present to Esther of Aman’s house, that was the Jews’ enemy, and gave audience to Mardochaeus; for now Esther had told him that this was her uncle.

Tulitque rex annulum, quem ab Aman recipi jusserat, et tradidit Mardochæo. Esther autem constituit Mardochæum super domum suam.

And the king took the ring which he had commanded to be taken again from Aman, and gave it to Mardochai. And Esther set Mardochai over her house.

He took back, too, the ring he had bade Aman wear, and gave it to Mardochaeus instead; and Mardochaeus was given charge of Esther’s house.

Nec his contenta, procidit ad pedes regis, flevitque, et locuta ad eum oravit ut malitiam Aman Agagitæ, et machinationes ejus pessimas quas excogitaverat contra Judæos, juberet irritas fieri.

And not content with these things, she fell down at the king’s feet and wept, and speaking to him besought him, that he would give orders that the malice of Aman the Agagite, and his most wicked devices which he had invented against the Jews, should be of no effect.

Nor would Esther be content, till she had fallen weeping at the king’s feet and prayed him to prevent the mischief Aman had thought to do by his false plotting against the Jews.

At ille ex more sceptrum aureum protendit manu, quo signum clementiæ monstrabatur: illaque consurgens stetit ante eum,

But he, as the manner was, held out the golden sceptre with his hand, which was the sign of clemency: and she arose up and stood before him,

The golden sceptre was held out, in sign of the royal favour, and she rose to her feet and stood fronting him.

et ait: Si placet regi, et si inveni gratiam in oculis ejus, et deprecatio mea non ei videtur esse contraria, obsecro ut novis epistolis, veteres Aman litteræ, insidiatoris et hostis Judæorum, quibus eos in cunctis regis provinciis perire præceperat, corrigantur.

And said: If it please the king, and if I have found favour in his sight, and my request be not disagreeable to him, I beseech thee, that the former letters of Aman the traitor and enemy of the Jews, by which he commanded that they should be destroyed in all the king’s provinces, may be reversed by new letters.

Please it the king’s grace, she said, to look favourably on my suit, and find nothing in it to his disadvantage. I would have new dispatches sent out, to revoke the order made by Aman, our crafty enemy, for the slaying of the Jews in all thy domains.

Quomodo enim potero sustinere necem et interfectionem populi mei?

For how can I endure the murdering and slaughter of my people?

How can I bear to see my own people exterminated by massacre?

Responditque rex Assuerus Esther reginæ, et Mardochæo Judæo: Domum Aman concessi Esther, et ipsum jussi affigi cruci, quia ausus est manum mittere in Judæos.

And king Assuerus answered Esther the queen, and Mardochai the Jew: I have given Aman’s house to Esther, and I have commanded him to be hanged on a gibbet, because he durst lay hands on the Jews.

Nay, said the king to Esther and Mardochaeus; Aman’s house I have granted to Esther, and Aman himself I have sent to the gallows, for daring to lift his hand against the Jews.

Scribite ergo Judæis, sicut vobis placet, regis nomine, signantes litteras annulo meo. Hæc enim consuetudo erat, ut epistolis, quæ ex regis nomine mittebantur et illius annulo signatæ erant, nemo auderet contradicere.

Write ye therefore to the Jews, as it pleaseth you, in the king’s name, and seal the letters with my ring. For this was the custom, that no man durst gainsay the letters which were sent in the king’s name, and were sealed with his ring.

But letters sent in the king’s name and signed with his ring, by the custom of the realm, none must ever revoke. Write rather in my name, under the royal seal, orders for the Jewish people to obey, in whatever sense likes you best.

Accitisque scribis et librariis regis (erat autem tempus tertii mensis, qui appellatur Siban) vigesima et tertia die illius scriptæ sunt epistolæ, ut Mardochæus voluerat, ad Judæos, et ad principes, procuratoresque et judices, qui centum viginti septem provinciis ab India usque ad Æthiopiam præsidebant: provinciæ atque provinciæ, populo et populo juxta linguas et litteras suas, et Judæis, prout legere poterant et audire.

Then the king’s scribes and secretaries were called for (now it was the time of the third month which is called Siban) the three and twentieth day of the month, and letters were written, as Mardochai had a mind, to the Jews, and to the governors, and to the deputies, and to the judges, who were rulers over the hundred and twenty-seven provinces, from India even to Ethiopia: to province and province, to people and people, according to their languages and characters, and to the Jews, according as they could read and hear.

So, on the twenty-third day of the third month, Siban, they summoned notary and scribe of the royal household, and at Mardochaeus’ bidding they issued orders to the Jewish people. Letters were sent to all the chieftains, governors and judges who ruled the hundred and twenty-seven provinces between India and Ethiopia, written to each province or tribe in the characters it used and in the language it spoke; to the Jews, in their own characters and their own language.

Ipsæque epistolæ, quæ regis nomine mittebantur, annulo ipsius obsignatæ sunt, et missæ per veredarios: qui per omnes provincias discurrentes, veteres litteras novis nuntiis prævenirent.

And these letters which were sent in the king’s name, were sealed with his ring, and sent by posts: who were to run through all the provinces, to prevent the former letters with new messages.

And these letters, written under the royal seal in the king’s name, were sent out by post-boys, that must carry them from province to province before the earlier decree could be executed.

Quibus imperavit rex, ut convenirent Judæos per singulas civitates, et in unum præciperent congregari ut starent pro animabus suis, et omnes inimicos suos cum conjugibus ac liberis et universis domibus, interficerent atque delerent, et spolia eorum diriperent.

And the king gave orders to them, to speak to the Jews in every city, and to command them to gather themselves together, and to stand for their lives, and to kill and destroy all their enemies with their wives and children and all their houses, and to take their spoil.

City by city the Jews must be brought together, so that they could muster their whole number and fight for their lives. They might slay their enemies till they made an end of them, with their wives and children and all their households, and divide their goods as plunder.

Et constituta est per omnes provincias una ultionis dies, id est tertiadecima mensis duodecimi Adar.

And one day of revenge was appointed through all the provinces, to wit, the thirteenth of the twelfth month Adar.

The day fixed everywhere for this act of retribution was the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, Adar ….

Summaque epistolæ hæc fuit, ut in omnibus terris ac populis qui regis Assueri subjacebant imperio, notum fieret paratos esse Judæos ad capiendam vindictam de hostibus suis.

And this was the content of the letter, that it should be notified in all lands and peoples that were subject to the empire of king Assuerus, that the Jews were ready to be revenged of their enemies.

A copy of the letter warning the Jews everywhere in Assuerus’ empire, to be prepared for vengeance ….

Egressique sunt veredarii celeres nuntia perferentes, et edictum regis pependit in Susan.

So the swift posts went out carrying the messages, and the king’s edict was hung up in Susan.

Swiftly the post-boys went about their errand, and in Susan the royal edict was hung up for all to see.

Mardochæus autem de palatio et de conspectu regis egrediens, fulgebat vestibus regiis, hyacinthinis videlicet et æriis, coronam auream portans in capite, et amictus serico pallio atque purpureo. Omnisque civitas exultavit atque lætata est.

And Mardochai going forth out of the palace, and from the king’s presence, shone in royal apparel, to wit, of violet and sky colour, wearing a golden crown on his head, and clothed with a cloak of silk and purple. And all the city rejoiced and was glad.

When Mardochaeus came out from his audience with the king, resplendent in royal robes of violet and white, a gold crown on his head, his cloak of purple and lawn, the whole city welcomed him with rejoicing and applause;

Judæis autem nova lux oriri visa est, gaudium, honor, et tripudium.

But to the Jews a new light seemed to rise, joy, honour, and dancing.

for the Jews, it was a dawn of new hope, a day of gladness and triumphant glory.

Apud omnes populos, urbes, atque provincias, quocumque regis jussa veniebant, mira exultatio, epulæ atque convivia, et festus dies: in tantum ut plures alterius gentis et sectæ eorum religioni et cæremoniis jungerentur. Grandis enim cunctos judaici nominis terror invaserat.

And in all peoples, cities, and provinces, whithersoever the king’s commandments came, there was wonderful rejoicing, feasts and banquets, and keeping holy day: insomuch that many of other nations and religion, joined themselves to their worship and ceremonies. For a great dread of the name of the Jews had fallen upon all.

As each tribe, city and province received the royal letter, there was feasting and carousal and holiday; and many there were, of alien race and alien creed, that submitted themselves to Jewish rite and observance; such terror the name of Jewry struck into their hearts.