Esther 3
1 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.
Some time after this, King Xerxes honored Haman, son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, giving him a position higher than all his fellow officials.
2 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.
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 Then the king’s courtiers, who were in the king’s gate, said to Mordecai, ‘Why do you disobey the king’s command?’
The king's officials asked Mordecai, “Why are you disobeying the king's command?”
4 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.
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 When Haman saw that Mordecai did not bow down nor prostrate himself before him, he was furious.
Haman was furious when he saw that Mordecai did not bow down and show respect to him.
6 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.
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 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.
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 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.
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 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.’
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 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.
The king took off his signet ring and handed it to Haman, son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, the enemy of the Jews.
11 ‘The money is yours,’ the king said to Haman, ‘and the people also to do with them as you wish.’
The king told Haman, “You can have the money, and do to the people whatever you want.”
12 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.
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 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.
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 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.
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 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.
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.
