< ESTHER 3 >

1 He ol hnuk ah tah manghai Ahasuerus loh Agagite Hammedatha capa Haman te a pantai sak tih anih te a ludoeng. A ngokhoel te a taengkah mangpa rhoek boeih so ah a khueh pah.
Some time after this, King Xerxes honored Haman, son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, giving him a position higher than all his fellow officials.
2 Manghai sal boeih tah manghai vongka ah cungkueng uh tih Haman taengah bakop uh. He dongah he anih te manghai loh a uen coeng dae Mordekai tah cungkueng pawt tih bakop pawh.
All the officials in royal employment bowed down and showed respect to Haman, for this is what the king had commanded. But Mordecai would not bow down and show respect to him.
3 Manghai vongka kah manghai sal rhoek loh Mordekai te, “Balae tih manghai olpaek te na poe,” a ti na uh.
The king's officials asked Mordecai, “Why are you disobeying the king's command?”
4 Anih te a hnin, hnin ah a thui khaw a thui pa uh dae amih ol te a yaak moenih. Te dongah Haman taengah tah, “Amih taengah a voek dongah mah Mordekai ol a lalh te hmu lah, anih ke Judah hlang ni,” tila puen uh.
They talked to him about it day after day, but he refused to listen. So they told Haman about it to see if he would put up with what Mordecai was doing, for Mordecai had told them he was a Jew.
5 Anih taengah Mordekai cungkueng neh a bakop pawt te Haman loh a hmuh vaengah Haman tah kosi la hah.
Haman was furious when he saw that Mordecai did not bow down and show respect to him.
6 Mordekai kah pilnam kawng te a taengah a puen pa uh dongah amah bueng loh Mordekai kut hlah thil ham a mik neh rhep a hnaep. Te dongah Haman loh Ahasuerus ram pum ah Mordekai kah pilnam, Judah boeih te mit sak hamla a mae.
Having found out who Mordecai's people were, he dismissed the idea of just killing Mordecai. He decided to kill every Jew in the whole Persian Empire—all of Mordecai's people!
7 Ahasuerus manghai kah kum hlai nit, Nisan hla, hla lamhmacuek vaengah tah Haman mikhmuh kah Pur hmulung te, khohnin lamloh khohnin la, a hla lamloh a hla hlai nit nah Adar hla ah a naan.
In the twelfth year of King Xerxes, in the first month, the month of Nisan, “pur” (meaning a “lot”) was cast in Haman's presence to choose a day and month, taking each day and each month one at a time. The lot fell on the twelfth month, the month of Adar.
8 Te phoeiah Haman loh manghai Ahasuerus taengah pilnam pakhat om tih yaal uh coeng. Na paeng ram pum kah pilnam laklo ah yaal uh. Tedae amih kah khoboe te mah pilnam boeih taeng lamloh a thovael uh tih manghai khoboe khaw a vai uh moenih. Manghai taengah a duem uh ham khaw a tluk moenih.
Haman went to King Xerxes and said, “There's a particular people living among others in many different places throughout the provinces of your empire who cut themselves off from everybody else. They have their own laws which are different to those of any other people, and what's more, they don't obey the king's laws. So it's not a good idea for Your Majesty to ignore them.
9 Manghai ham a then mak atah, amih te milh sak ham ca daek mai laeh. Cak talent thawng rha te manghai baiphaih khuila up ham bitat aka saii kut ah ka khiing pah bitni,” a ti nah.
If it please Your Majesty, issue a decree to destroy them, and I will personally contribute 10,000 silver talents to those who carry out the king's business to be placed in the royal treasury.”
10 Te vaengah manghai loh a kutcaeng te a kut dong lamloh a dul tih Judah aka daengdaeh Agagite Hammedatha capa Haman taengla a paek.
The king took off his signet ring and handed it to Haman, son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, the enemy of the Jews.
11 Manghai loh Haman taengah, “Tangka te namah loh khoem lamtah pilnam te na mik ah then na ti bangla a taengah saii,” a ti nah.
The king told Haman, “You can have the money, and do to the people whatever you want.”
12 Te dongah lamhmacuek hla, hnin hlai thum vaengah tah manghai cadaek rhoek te a khue. Te vaengah Haman kah a uen bang boeih la manghai kah khoboei rhoek ham neh paeng, paeng kah rhalboei rhoek ham khaw, pilnam, pilnam kah mangpa rhoek ham khaw, a paeng, paeng ah amah ca neh, pilnam, pilnam taengah khaw amah ol neh a daek pah. Manghai Ahasuerus ming la a daek tih manghai kutcaeng neh a hnah thil.
On the thirteenth day of the first month the king's secretaries were summoned. A decree was issued in accordance with everything Haman demanded and sent to the king's chief officers, the governors of the different provinces and the nobles of the various peoples in the provinces. It was sent in the script of each province and in the language of every people, with the authorization of King Xerxes and sealed with his signet ring.
13 Hla hlai nit, Adar hla kah hnin hlai thum vaengah Judah boeih te cadong lamloh patong hil, huta camoe khaw hnin at neh mitmoeng sak ham, ngawn ham, thup hamla, amih kutbuem khaw poelyoe ham manghai kah paeng tom la tatloe rhoek kut dongah ca a pat.
Letters were sent by messenger to all the provinces in the king's empire with orders to destroy, kill, and annihilate all Jews, young and old, women and children, and confiscate their possessions, all in one day—the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the month of Adar.
14 Paeng, paeng boeih ah olkhan catlaep ca te a paek tih te khohnin ah tah pilnam boeih taengah a coekcoe la om ham a yaak sak.
A copy of the decree was to be issued as law in every province and publicized to the people so that they would be ready for the day.
15 Tatloe rhoek khaw manghai ol bangla a khuen uh paitok. Oltlah te Shushan rhalmah im ah a saii tangloeng dae manghai neh Haman te a ok ham kho a sak rhoi dongah Shushan khopuei khaw a lukil.
By order of the king the messengers hurried on their way. The decree was also issued in the fortress of Susa. The king and Haman sat down for a drink while the people in city of Susa were very disturbed.

< ESTHER 3 >