03/24 – Esther 9:18-32- What is Purim the 14 of Adar

Esther 9:18-32

The Jews in Susa {SOO-sa} had assembled on the thirteenth and fourteenth. They rested on the fifteenth and made it a day of feasting and joy. That is why the Jews who live in the villages in the rural towns make the fourteenth day of the month of Adar a holiday for feasting and gladness. They also send gifts of food to one another.

Now, Mordecai {more-DECK-eye} wrote these things down and sent official letters to all the Jews in all the provinces of King Xerxes {ZERK-sees}, near and far. He established the fourteenth and fifteenth days of the month of Adar {AH-dar} as days they must observe every year. They were to observe them just like the days when the Jews received relief from their enemies. In that month their grief turned to joy and their mourning into a holiday. He declared that these days are to be days for feasting and celebrating and for sending gifts of food to one another, especially gifts to the poor.

So the Jews accepted what they had begun, as Mordecai had written to them. It was because Haman {HAY-man}, the enemy of all the Jews, had plotted against the Jews to destroy them. (Haman was the son of Hammedatha {ham-ah-DATH-ah} and was from Agag {ah-GAG}.) Haman had the Pur {poor} (which means the lot) thrown in order to determine when to crush and destroy them, but when this came to the king’s attention he ordered, in the well-known letter, that the evil plan Haman had plotted against the Jews should turn back on his own head. As a result they hung Haman and his sons on poles.

So the Jews called these days Purim {poor-IM}, based on the word Pur. Because of everything that was said in this letter—both what they had seen and what had happened to them— the Jews established a tradition for themselves and their descendants and for anyone who would join them. The tradition was that a person should never fail to observe these two days every year, as they were described and at their appointed time. So these days must be remembered and observed in every age, family, province, and city. These days of Purim must not be ignored among the Jews, and the importance of these days must never be forgotten by the generations to come.

Queen Esther daughter of Abihail {ab-i-HAIL}, and Mordecai the Jew wrote with full authority in order to establish with this second letter the well-known celebration of Purim. Mordecai sent official documents granting peace and security to all the Jews in the 127 provinces of the kingdom of Xerxes. He did this in order to establish these days of Purim at the appointed time. Mordecai the Jew and Queen Esther established them for themselves, as they had established for themselves and their descendants the practices of fasting with sadness. Esther’s command had established these practices of Purim, and they are written in a book.

2 Timothy 4:14-18

[Paul wrote:] Alexander the metalworker did me a great deal of harm. The Lord will pay him back for what he did. Watch out for him. He violently opposed what we said. At my first hearing no one stood up in my defense. Everyone abandoned me. I pray that it won’t be held against them.

However, the Lord stood by me and gave me strength so that I could finish spreading the Good News for all the nations to hear. I was snatched out of a lion’s mouth. The Lord will rescue me from all harm and will take me safely to his heavenly kingdom. Glory belongs to him forever! Amen.

Luke 10:1-9

After this, the Lord appointed 70 other disciples to go ahead of him to every city and place that he intended to go. They were to travel in pairs. He told them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. So ask the Lord who gives this harvest to send workers to harvest his crops.

Go! I’m sending you out like lambs among wolves. Don’t carry a wallet, a traveling bag, or sandals, and don’t stop to greet anyone on the way. Whenever you go into a house, greet the family right away with the words, ‘May there be peace in this house.’ If a peaceful person lives there your greeting will be accepted, if not your greeting will be rejected.

Stay with the family that accepts you. Eat and drink whatever they offer you. After all, the worker deserves his pay. Do not move around from one house to another. Whenever you go into a city and the people welcome you eat whatever they serve you. Heal the sick that are there, and tell the people, ‘God’s kingdom is near you!’