Esther 3

1 And after this king Artaxerxes highly honoured Aman [son] of Amadathes, the Bugæan, and exalted him, and set his seat above all his friends.

After these things has King Ahasuerus exalted Haman son of Hammedatha the Agagite, and lifts him up, and sets his throne above all the heads who [are] with him,

2 And all in the palace did him obeisance, for so the king had given orders to do: but Mardochæus did not do him obeisance.

and all servants of the king, who [are] in the gate of the king, are bowing and doing homage to Haman, for so the king has commanded for him; and Mordecai does not bow nor pay respect.

3 And they in the king’s palace said to Mardochæus, Mardochæus, why dost thou transgress the commands of the king?

And the servants of the king, who [are] in the gate of the king, say to Mordecai, “Why [are] you transgressing the command of the king?”

4 [Thus] they spoke daily to him, but he hearkened not unto them; so they represented to Aman that Mardochæus resisted the commands of the king: and Mardochæus had shewn to them that he was a Jew.

And it comes to pass, in their speaking to him, day by day, and he has not listened to them, that they declare [it] to Haman, to see whether the words of Mordecai stand, for he has declared to them that he [is] a Jew.

5 And when Aman understood that Mardochæus did not obeisance to him, he was greatly enraged,

And Haman sees that Mordecai is not bowing and doing homage to him, and Haman is full of fury,

6 and took counsel to destroy utterly all the Jews who were under the rule of Artaxerxes.

and it is contemptible in his eyes to put forth a hand on Mordecai by himself, for they have declared to him the people of Mordecai, and Haman seeks to destroy all the Jews who [are] in all the kingdom of Ahasuerus—the people of Mordecai.

7 And he made a decree in the twelfth year of the reign of Artaxerxes, and cast lots daily and monthly, to slay in one day the race of Mardochæus: and the lot fell on the fourteenth [day] of the month which is Adar.

In the first month—it [is] the month of Nisan—in the twelfth year of King Ahasuerus, has one caused to fall Pur (that [is] the lot) before Haman, from day to day, and from month to month, [to] the twelfth, it [is] the month of Adar.

8 And he spoke to king Artaxerxes, saying, There is a nation scattered among the nations in all thy kingdom, and their laws differ from [those of] all the [other] nations; and they disobey the laws of the king; and it is not expedient for the king to let them alone.

And Haman says to King Ahasuerus, “There is one people scattered and separated among the peoples, in all provinces of your kingdom, and their laws [are] diverse from all people, and the laws of the king they are not doing, and for the king it is not profitable to permit them;

9 If it seem good to the king, let him make a decree to destroy them: and I will remit into the king’s treasury ten thousand talents of silver.

if to the king [it be] good, let it be written to destroy them, and ten thousand talents of silver I weigh into the hands of those doing the work, to bring [it] into the treasuries of the king.”

10 And the king took off his ring, and gave it into the hands of Aman, to seal the decrees against the Jews.

And the king turns aside his signet from off his hand, and gives it to Haman son of Hammedatha the Agagite, adversary of the Jews;

11 And the king said to Aman, Keep the silver, and treat the nation as thou wilt.

and the king says to Haman, “The silver is given to you, and the people, to do with it as [it is] good in your eyes.”

12 So the king’s recorders were called in the first month, on the thirteenth [day], and they wrote as Aman commanded to the captains and governors in every province, from India even to Ethiopia, to a hundred and twenty-seven provinces; and to the rulers of the nations according to their [several] languages, in the name of king Artaxerxes.

And scribes of the king are called, on the first month, on the thirteenth day of it, and it is written according to all that Haman has commanded, to lieutenants of the king, and to the governors who [are] over province and province, and to the heads of people and people, province and province, according to its writing, and people and people according to its tongue, in the name of King Ahasuerus it has been written and sealed with the signet of the king,

13 And [the message] was sent by posts throughout the kingdom of Artaxerxes, to destroy utterly the race of the Jews on the first day of the twelfth month, which is Adar, and to plunder their goods.

and letters to be sent by the hand of the runners to all provinces of the king, to cut off, to slay, and to destroy all the Jews, from young even to old, infant and women, on one day, on the thirteenth of the twelfth month—it [is] the month of Adar—and to seize their spoil,

14 And the copies of the letters were published in every province; and an order was given to all the nations to be ready against that day.

a copy of the writing to be made law in each and every province is revealed to all the peoples, to be ready for this day.

15 And the business was hastened, and [that] at Susa: and the king and Aman began to drink; but the city was troubled.

The runners have gone forth, hurried by the word of the king, and the law has been given in Shushan the palace, and the king and Haman have sat down to drink, and the city Shushan is perplexed.