¹⁰ Then he said to them, “Go, eat the festival foods, drink the sweet drinks, and ^(A)send portions to him who has nothing prepared; for this day is holy to our Lord. Do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your ^[a]refuge.” ¹¹ So the Levites silenced all the people, saying, “Be still, for the day is holy; do not be grieved.” ¹² Then all the people went away to eat, drink, ^(B)to send portions, and to ^[b]celebrate a great feast, ^(C)because they understood the words which had been made known to them.

¹⁹ Therefore the Jews of the rural areas, who live in ^(A)the rural towns, make the fourteenth day of the month Adar a ^[a](B)holiday for rejoicing and feasting and ^(C)sending portions of food to one another.

²² because on those days the Jews ^[a]rid themselves of their enemies, and it was a month which was ^(A)turned for them from grief into joy, and from mourning into a ^[b]holiday; that they were to make them days of feasting and rejoicing, and ^(B)sending portions of food to one another, and gifts to the poor.