Esther 3

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

Aftir these thingis kyng Assuerus enhaunside Aaman, the sone of Amadathi, that was of the kynrede of Agag, and settide his trone aboue alle the princes whiche he hadde.

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

And alle the seruauntis of the kyng, that lyuyden in the yatis of the paleis, kneliden, and worschipiden Aaman; for the emperour hadde comaundid so to hem; Mardochee aloone bowide not the knees, nethir worschipide hym.

3 And they in the king's palace said to Mardochaeus, Mardochaeus, why do you transgress the commands of the king?

`To whom the children of the kyng seiden, that saten bifore at the yatis of the paleis, Whi kepist `thou not the comaundementis of the kyng, othere wise than othere men?

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

And whanne thei seiden ful ofte these thingis, and he nolde here, thei tolden to Aaman, `and wolden wite, whether he contynuede in sentence; for he hadde seid to hem, that he was a Jew.

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

And whanne Aaman hadde herd this thing, and hadde preued `bi experience, that Mardochee bowide not the kne to hym, nethir worschipide hym, he was ful wrooth,

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

and he ledde for nouyt to sette hise hondis on Mardochee aloone; for he hadde herd, that Mardochee was of the folc of Jewis, and more he wolde leese al the nacioun of Jewis, that weren in the rewme of Assuerus.

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

In the firste monethe, whos nam is Nysan, in the tweluethe yeer of the rewme of Assuerus, lot was sent in to a vessel, which lot is seid in Ebrew phur, `bifor Aaman, in what dai and in what monethe the folk of Jewis ouyte to be slayn; and the tweluethe monethe yede out, which is clepid Adar.

8 And he spoke to king Artaxerxes, saying, There is a nation scattered amongst the nations in all your 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 Aaman seide to the king Assuerus, A puple is scaterid bi alle the prouynces of thi rewme, and is departid fro it silf togidere, and vsith newe lawis and cerymonyes, and ferthermore it dispisith also the comaundementis of the kyng; and thou knowest best, that it spedith not to thi rewme, `that it encreesse in malice bi licence.

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 it plesith thee, `deme thou that it perisch, and Y schal paie ten thousynde of talentis to the keperis of thi tresour.

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

Therfor the kyng took `fro his hond the ryng which he vside, and yaf it to Aaman, the sone of Amadathi, of the kynrede of Agag, to the enemy of Jewis.

11 And the king said to Aman, Keep the silver, and treat the nation as you will.

And the kyng seide to hym, The siluer, which thou bihiytist, be thin; do thou of the puple that, that plesith thee.

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 the scryuens of the kyng weren clepid in the firste monethe Nysan, in the threttenthe dai of the same monethe; and it was writun, as Aaman hadde comaundid, to alle prynces of the kyng, and to domesmen of prouynces and of dyuerse folkis, that ech folk myyte rede and here, `for dyuersite of langagis, bi the name of kyng Assuerus. And lettris aseelid with

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.

the ring of the kyng weren sent bi the corouris of the kyng to alle hise prouynces, that thei schulden sle, and `do awei alle Jewis, fro a child to an eld man, litle children and wymmen, in o dai, that is, in the thrittenthe dai of the tweluethe monethe, which is clepid Adar; and that thei schulden take awei the goodis of Jewis.

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.

Forsothe the sentence `in schort of the pistlis was this, that alle prouyncis schulden wite, and make hem redi to the forseid dai.

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

And the coroures, that weren sent, hastiden to fille the comaundement of the kyng; and anoon the comaundement hangide in Susa, `while the kyng and Aaman maden feeste, and `the while that alle Jewis wepten, that weren in the citee.