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10When the Jews received this letter, they didn’t rush to depart. Instead, they petitioned the king that they might carry out the punishment deserved by those Jews who had voluntarily turned aside from the holy God and God’s Law.
11They insisted that those who had broken divine laws for the sake of the belly would never be reliable subjects under the king’s government either.
12The king recognized and agreed that they were speaking the truth. So he gave them a free hand to utterly destroy those who had violated God’s Law in every place within his kingdom, and to do so with confidence and without needing royal approval or supervision.
13Then they applauded him, as was fitting, and their priests and all the crowd shouted the Hallelujah joyously and departed.
14On their way they punished and killed any fellow Jews they came upon who had polluted themselves, making a public example of them.
15On that day they killed more than three hundred persons, a day that they also observed as a joyous festival since they had subdued the renegades.
16But those who had held fast to God to the point of death, having obtained the complete reward of deliverance, set out from the city crowned with all kinds of the most fragrant flowers, celebrating and shouting, giving thanks with praises and beautiful hymns to the God of their ancestors, the eternal savior of Israel.
17The Jews arrived at Ptolemais, named “Rose-bearing” because of a distinctive feature of the place, where the fleet waited for them for seven days in line with their common desire.
18There they toasted their rescue, since the king had generously supplied them, each and every one, with all things they needed until their arrival at their own homes.
19When they had reached their land in peace, there too, in like manner with appropriate expressions of thanks, they decided to observe these days as a festival for as long as they lived in Egypt.
20They inscribed the record of these events on a pillar and dedicated a place of prayer at the site of the festival. Then they departed unharmed, free, and overjoyed, being safely returned by land, sea, and river to their own homes, by the king’s command.
21They gained more influence among their enemies than they had had previously, and were held in honor and awe. No one at all kept back their possessions from them.
22The Jews recovered all their property in keeping with the lists that had been previously drawn up, with the result that those who held anything of theirs returned it to them with the greatest deference, for the supreme God had perfectly performed mighty deeds for their salvation.
23Bless the rescuer of Israel from now to eternity! Amen.