¹¹ Then you and the Levites^(A) and the foreigners residing among you shall rejoice^(B) in all the good things the Lord your God has given to you and your household.

¹² When you have finished setting aside a tenth^(C) of all your produce in the third year, the year of the tithe,^(D) you shall give it to the Levite, the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow, so that they may eat in your towns and be satisfied. ¹³ Then say to the Lord your God: “I have removed from my house the sacred portion and have given it to the Levite, the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow, according to all you commanded. I have not turned aside from your commands nor have I forgotten any of them.^(E)

¹⁹ That is why rural Jews—those living in villages—observe the fourteenth of the month of Adar^(A) as a day of joy and feasting, a day for giving presents to each other.^(B)

²² as the time when the Jews got relief^(A) from their enemies, and as the month when their sorrow was turned into joy and their mourning into a day of celebration.^(B) He wrote them to observe the days as days of feasting and joy and giving presents of food^(C) to one another and gifts to the poor.^(D)

¹⁰ The inhabitants of the earth^(A) will gloat over them and will celebrate by sending each other gifts,^(B) because these two prophets had tormented those who live on the earth.