< 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.
After these events King Ahasuerus promoted Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, and advanced him to a place above all the officials who were with him.
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 king’s courtiers who were in the king’s gate used to bow down before Haman, for so the king had commanded, but Mordecai did not bow down nor prostrate himself.
3 Manghai vongka kah manghai sal rhoek loh Mordekai te, “Balae tih manghai olpaek te na poe,” a ti na uh.
Then the king’s courtiers, who were in the king’s gate, said to Mordecai, “Why do you disobey 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.
When they had spoken to him day after day without his listening to them, they informed Haman, to see whether Mordecai’s acts would be tolerated, for he had told them that he was a Jew.
5 Anih taengah Mordekai cungkueng neh a bakop pawt te Haman loh a hmuh vaengah Haman tah kosi la hah.
When Haman saw that Mordecai did not bow down nor prostrate himself before him, he was furious.
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.
But it seemed to him beneath his dignity to lay hands on Mordecai alone, for they had told him who Mordecai’s people were. Instead Haman sought to destroy all the people of Mordecai, all the Jews throughout the kingdom of Ahasuerus.
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 first month (the month of Nisan) in the twelfth year of the reign of King Ahasuerus, Haman had ‘pur’ (which means ‘lot’) cast before him to determine the best day and best month for his actions. The lot fell on the thirteenth day of 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.
So Haman said to King Ahasuerus, “There is a certain people scattered among the peoples in all the provinces of your kingdom, whose laws differ from those of every other and who do not keep the king’s laws. Therefore it is not right for the king to tolerate 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 seems best to the king, let an order be given to destroy them, and I will pay ten thousand silver coins into 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.
So the king took off his signet ring from his hand and gave 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 money is yours,” the king said to Haman, “and the people also to do with them as you wish.”
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.
And so, on the thirteenth day of the first month, the king’s secretaries were summoned and as Haman instructed an edict was issued to the king’s satraps and provincial governors and the rulers of each of the peoples in their own script and their own language. The edict was written in the name of King Ahasuerus and sealed with his 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.
Dispatches were sent by couriers to all the king’s provinces, saying: Destroy, kill, put an end to all the Jews, young and old, little children and women, on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, and plunder their possessions.
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 edict was to be published as a decree in every province – publicly displayed so that everyone might be ready for that 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 command of the king the couriers raced off, and the edict was published in Susa itself. Then the king and Haman sat down to drink, but the city of Susa was in turmoil.