Esther 9:20-22

International Standard Version

Official Instructions for Celebrating Purim

²⁰ Mordecai wrote these instructions and sent letters to all the Jewish people in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, both near and far, ²¹ establishing that they should celebrate the fourteenth and fifteenth days of the month Adar every year, ²² as the days on which the Jewish people enjoyed relief^[a] from their enemies. It was a month when things turned around for them, from sorrow to joy and from mourning to a holiday. They were to celebrate these days as days of feasting and joy, and they were to send presents^[b] to one another and gifts to the poor.