Num 23:24, Est 8:7, 9, 11, Est 9-10, Eze 39:8-10, Zec 14:1-7 | ESV | STEP | Behold , a people ! As a lioness it rises up and as a lion it lifts itself; it does not lie down until it has devoured the prey and drunk the blood of the slain .

24 Behold, a people! ^aAs a lioness it rises up
and as a lion it lifts itself;
^bit does not lie down until it has devoured the prey
and drunk the blood of the slain.”

Esther 8:7

7 Then King Ahasuerus said to Queen Esther and to Mordecai the Jew, “Behold, ^cI have given Esther the house of Haman, and they have hanged him on the gallows, ^{▼▼Or stake} because he intended to lay hands on the Jews.

Esther 8:9

9 ^eThe king’s scribes were summoned at that time, in the third month, which is the month of Sivan, on the twenty-third day. And an edict was written, according to all that Mordecai commanded concerning the Jews, to ^fthe satraps and the governors and the officials of the provinces ^gfrom India to Ethiopia, ^h127 provinces, ⁱto each province in its own script and to each people in its own language, and also to the Jews in their script and their language.

Esther 8:11

11 saying that the king allowed the Jews who were in every city ^jto gather and defend their lives, ^kto destroy, to kill, and to annihilate any armed force of any people or province that might attack them, children and women included, ^land to plunder their goods,

Esther 9

The Jews Destroy Their Enemies

1 ^mNow in the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar, ⁿon the thirteenth day of the same, ^owhen the king’s command and edict were about to be carried out, ^pon the very day when the enemies of the Jews hoped to gain the mastery over them, the reverse occurred: the Jews gained mastery over those who hated them. 2 ^qThe Jews gathered in their cities throughout all the provinces of King Ahasuerus to lay hands on those who sought their harm. And no one could stand against them, ^rfor the fear of them had fallen on all peoples. 3 All the officials of the provinces and ^sthe satraps and the governors and the royal agents also helped the Jews, for the fear of Mordecai had fallen on them. 4 For Mordecai was great in the king’s house, and his fame spread throughout all the provinces, for the man Mordecai grew ^tmore and more powerful. 5 The Jews struck all their enemies with the sword, killing and destroying them, and did as they pleased to those who hated them. 6 In Susa the citadel itself the Jews killed and destroyed 500 men, 7 and also killed Parshandatha and Dalphon and Aspatha 8 and Poratha and Adalia and Aridatha 9 and Parmashta and Arisai and Aridai and Vaizatha, 10 ^uthe ten sons of Haman the son of Hammedatha, ^vthe enemy of the Jews, ^wbut they laid no hand on the plunder.

11 That very day the number of those killed in Susa the citadel was reported to the king. 12 And the king said to Queen Esther, “In Susa the citadel the Jews have killed and destroyed 500 men and also the ten sons of Haman. What then have they done in the rest of the king’s provinces! ^xNow what is your wish? It shall be granted you. And what further is your request? It shall be fulfilled.” 13 And Esther said, “If it please the king, let the Jews who are in Susa be allowed ^ytomorrow also to do according to this day’s edict. And let the ten sons of Haman be hanged on the gallows.” ^{▼▼Or stake} 14 So the king commanded this to be done. A decree was issued in Susa, and the ten sons of Haman were hanged. 15 The Jews who were in Susa gathered also on the fourteenth day of the month of Adar and they killed 300 men in Susa, but they laid no hands on the plunder.

16 ^aaNow the rest of the Jews who were in the king’s provinces also ^abgathered to defend their lives, and got relief from their enemies and killed 75,000 of those who hated them, but they laid no hands on the plunder. 17 This was ^acon the thirteenth day of the month of Adar, and on the fourteenth day they rested and made that a day of feasting and gladness. 18 But the Jews who were in Susa gathered ^adon the thirteenth day and on the fourteenth, and rested ^aeon the fifteenth day, making that a day of feasting and gladness. 19 Therefore the Jews of the villages, who live in ^afthe rural towns, hold the fourteenth day of the month of Adar as a day for gladness and feasting, as ^aga holiday, and ^ahas 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 ^aia 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.

23 So the Jews accepted what they had started to do, and what Mordecai had written to them. 24 For Haman the Agagite, the son of Hammedatha, ^ajthe enemy of all the Jews, ^akhad plotted against the Jews to destroy them, and ^alhad cast Pur (that is, cast lots), to crush and to destroy them. 25 But when it came before the king, he gave orders in writing ^amthat his evil plan that he had devised against the Jews ^anshould return on his own head, and that he and his sons should be hanged on the gallows. ^{▼▼Or suspended on a stake} 26 Therefore they called these days Purim, after the term ^apPur. Therefore, because of all that was written in ^aqthis letter, and of what they had faced in this matter, and of what had happened to them, 27 the Jews firmly obligated themselves and their offspring and ^arall who joined them, that without fail they would keep ^asthese two days according to what was written and at the time appointed every year, 28 that these days should be remembered and kept throughout every generation, in every clan, province, and city, and that these days of Purim should never fall into disuse among the Jews, nor should the commemoration of these days cease among their descendants.

29 Then Queen Esther, ^atthe daughter of Abihail, and Mordecai the Jew gave full written authority, confirming ^authis second letter about Purim. 30 Letters were sent to all the Jews, ^avto the 127 provinces of the kingdom of Ahasuerus, in words of peace and truth, 31 that these days of Purim should be observed at their appointed seasons, as Mordecai the Jew and Queen Esther obligated them, and as they had obligated themselves and their offspring, with regard to ^awtheir fasts and their lamenting. 32 The command of Esther confirmed these practices of ^axPurim, and it was recorded in writing.

Esther 10

The Greatness of Mordecai

1 King Ahasuerus imposed tax on the land and on ^aythe coastlands of the sea. 2 And all the acts of his power and might, and the full account of the high honor of Mordecai, ^azto which the king advanced him, are they not written in ^bathe Book of the Chronicles of the kings of Media and Persia? 3 For Mordecai the Jew was ^bbsecond in rank to King Ahasuerus, and he was great among the Jews and popular with the multitude of his brothers, for he ^bcsought the welfare of his people and spoke peace to all his people.

Ezekiel 39:8-10

8 ^bdBehold, it is coming and it will be brought about, declares the Lord God. That is the day ^beof which I have spoken.

9 “Then those who dwell in the cities of Israel will go out and ^bfmake fires of the weapons and burn them, shields and bucklers, bow and arrows, ^bgclubs ^{▼▼Or javelins} and spears; and they will make fires of them for seven years, 10 so that they will not need to take wood out of the field or cut down any out of the forests, for ^bithey will make their fires of the weapons. ^bjThey will seize the spoil of those who despoiled them, and plunder those who plundered them, declares the Lord God.

Zechariah 14:1-7

The Coming Day of the Lord

1 Behold, ^bka day is coming for the Lord, when the spoil taken from you will be divided in your midst. 2 For ^blI will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle, and ^bmthe city shall be taken ^bnand the houses plundered ^boand the women raped. ^bpHalf of the city shall go out into exile, but the rest of the people shall not be cut off from the city. 3 ^bqThen the Lord will go out and fight against those nations as when he fights on a day of battle. 4 ^brOn that day his feet shall stand ^bson ^btthe Mount of Olives that lies before Jerusalem on the east, and ^buthe Mount of Olives shall be split in two from east to west by ^bva very wide valley, so that one half of the Mount shall move northward, and the other half southward. 5 And you shall flee to the valley of my mountains, for the valley of the mountains shall reach to Azal. And you shall flee as you fled from ^bwthe earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Then the Lord my God will come, and all the holy ones with him.

6 ^bxOn that day ^bythere shall be ^bzno light, cold, or frost. ^{▼▼Compare Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate, Targum; the meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain} 7 ^cbAnd there shall be a unique ^{▼▼Hebrew one} day, ^cdwhich is known to the Lord, neither day nor night, but ^ceat evening time there shall be light.