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 ngolkhoel te a taengkah mangpa rhoek boeih so ah a khueh pah.
Some time later, King Xerxes (promoted/gave his most important job/work to) Haman, the son of Hammedatha, who was a descendant of [King] Agag. Haman became more important than all his other officials. [Only the king was more important.]
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.
Then the king commanded that all the other officials had to bow down in front of Haman to honor him [when he walked by]. But Mordecai refused to bow down to Haman.
3 Manghai vongka kah manghai sal rhoek loh Mordekai te, “Balae tih manghai olpaek te na poe,” a ti na uh.
The [other] officials [saw that, and they] asked Mordecai, “Why do you disobey what the king commanded?”
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.
Mordecai told them that he was a Jew, [and that Jews would bow down only to God]. Day after day the other officials spoke to Mordecai about that, but he still refused to obey. So they told Haman about it, to see if Haman would tolerate it.
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 would not bow down to him, he became extremely angry.
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.
[After he found out that Mordecai was a Jew, ] he decided that it would not be enough to get rid of only Mordecai. He decided to kill all the Jews in all the area that Xerxes ruled.
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.
So, during the twelfth year that Xerxes was ruling, during the month of April, [Haman told his advisors to] (cast lots/throw small marked stones) to determine the best month and the best day to kill the Jews. Haman’s advisors did that, and the day that was selected was March 7th [during the following/next year].
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 olkhan 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.
Then Haman [went to] the king [and] said to [him], “[Your majesty, ] there is a certain group of people who live in many areas [of your empire] whose customs are different from ours. They even refuse to obey your laws. So it would be good for you to get rid of 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 pleases you, command that they should all be killed. [If you do that, ] I will give (375 tons/750,000 pounds) of silver to your administrators so that you can use it for your government.”
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 liked [what Haman said, so, and to confirm what he decided], he gave the ring that had his official seal on it to Haman, who now hated 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, “Keep your money, but do what you want to with those people [whom you talked about]!”
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 April 17th Haman summoned the king’s secretaries, and he dictated a letter to them that they [translated and] wrote to all the governors and administrators and other officials in all the provinces. They wrote copies of the letter in every language and every kind of writing/alphabet that was used in the empire. They wrote that all the Jews, [including] young people and old people, women and children, had to be killed on one day. That day was March 7th of the following year. They also wrote that [those who killed the Jews] could take everything that belonged to the Jews. [They signed] the king’s name [at the end of] the letters. Then they sealed the letters [with wax, and stamped the wax by] using the king’s ring. Then they sent the letters swiftly to every province in the empire,
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.
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.
The king [also commanded that] copies of these letters should be [nailed up] where [all the people] could see them, in every province, so that the people would be ready to do on the day the king had set [what was written in the letter].
15 Tatloe rhoek khaw manghai ol bangla a khuen uh paitok. Olkhan 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.
Then, according to what the king commanded, men [riding horses] took those letters quickly to every province [in the empire]. And one of the letters was read [aloud to the people] in the capital city, Susa. Then the king and Haman sat down and drank [wine], but the people in Susa were very perplexed [about why this was going to happen].
