Esther 9:19-22

The Jews Destroy Their Enemies

19 Therefore the Jews of the villages, who live in i the rural towns, hold the fourteenth day of the month of Adar as a day for gladness and feasting, as j a holiday, and k as a day on which they send gifts of food to one another.

The Feast of Purim Inaugurated

20 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, 21 obliging them to keep the fourteenth day of the month Adar and also the fifteenth day of the same, year by year, 22 as the days on which the Jews got relief from their enemies, and as the month that had been turned for them from sorrow into gladness and from mourning into j a holiday; that they should make them days of feasting and gladness, days for sending gifts of food to one another and gifts to the poor.

  1. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 3:5
    All these were cities fortified with high walls, gates, and bars, besides very many unwalled villages.
    Ezekiel 38:11
    And say, 'I will go up against the land of unwalled villages. I will fall upon the quiet people who dwell securely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having no bars or gates.
    Zechariah 2:4
    And said to him, "Run, say to that young man, 'Jerusalem shall be inhabited as villages without walls, because of the multitude of people and livestock in it.
  2. Cross References
    Esther 8:17
    And in every province and in every city, wherever the king's command and his edict reached, there was gladness and joy among the Jews, a feast and a holiday. And many from the peoples of the country declared themselves Jews, for fear of the Jews had fallen on them.
  3. Cross References
    Nehemiah 8:10
    Then he said to them, "Go your way. Eat the fat and drink sweet wine and send portions to anyone who has nothing ready, for this day is holy to our Lord. And do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.
    Nehemiah 8:12
    And all the people went their way to eat and drink and to send portions and to make great rejoicing, because they had understood the words that were declared to them.
  4. Cross References
    Esther 9:19
    Therefore the Jews of the villages, who live in the rural towns, hold the fourteenth day of the month of Adar as a day for gladness and feasting, as a holiday, and as a day on which they send gifts of food to one another.
English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.