< Esther 3 >

1 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.]
Efter disse Tildragelser gjorde Kong Ahasverus Haman, Ham-Medathas Søn, Agagiten, stor og ophøjede ham og satte hans Stol over alle Fyrsters, som vare hos ham.
2 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.
Og alle Kongens Tjenere, som vare i Kongens Port, knælede og bøjede sig ned for Haman, thi Kongen havde saa budet om ham; men Mardokaj knælede ikke og nedbøjede sig ikke.
3 The [other] officials [saw that, and they] asked Mordecai, “Why do you disobey what the king commanded?”
Da sagde Kongens Tjenere, som vare i Kongens Port, til Mardokaj: Hvorfor overtræder du Kongens Bud?
4 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.
Og det skete, der de sagde det daglig til ham, og han hørte dem ikke, da gave de Haman det til Kende for at se, om Mardokajs Ord skulde bestaa; thi han havde tilkendegivet dem, at han var en Jøde.
5 When Haman saw that Mordecai would not bow down to him, he became extremely angry.
Der Haman saa, at Mardokaj ikke knælede eller nedbøjede sig for ham, da blev Haman opfyldt med Harme.
6 [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.
Og han fandt det altfor lidet i sine Øjne, at lægge Haand paa Mardokaj alene (thi de havde givet ham til Kende, af hvad Folk Mardokaj var); og Haman søgte at ødelægge alle Jøderne, som vare udi Ahasverus's ganske Rige, Mardokajs Folk.
7 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].
I den første Maaned, det er Nisan Maaned, i Ahasverus's tolvte Aar, kastede man Pur, det er Lod, for Hamans Ansigt, fra Dag til Dag og fra Maaned til den tolvte Maaned, det er Adar Maaned.
8 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.
Og Haman sagde til Kong Ahasverus: Her er et Folk adspredt og fordelt iblandt Folkene i alle dit Riges Landskaber; og deres Love ere anderledes end alt Folkets, de gøre ikke heller efter Kongens Love, derfor er det ikke Kongen nyttigt at lade dem blive i Ro.
9 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.”
Dersom det synes godt for Kongen, saa lad der udstedes en Skrivelse om at udrydde dem: Saa vil jeg veje ti Tusinde Centner Sølv i Embedsmændenes Hænder, at de kunne føre dem i Kongens Skatkammer.
10 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.
Da tog Kongen sin Ring af sin Haand og gav den til Haman, Ham-Medathas Søn, Agagiten, Jødernes Fjende.
11 The king told Haman, “Keep your money, but do what you want to with those people [whom you talked about]!”
Og Kongen sagde til Haman: Det Sølv skal være dig skænket, og Folket tillige, at gøre med det, som det synes godt for dine Øjne.
12 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,
Da bleve Kongens Skrivere kaldte i den første Maaned, paa den trettende Dag i den, og der blev skrevet aldeles, som Haman havde befalet, til Kongens Statholdere og til Landshøvdingerne, som vare over hvert Landskab, og til hvert Folks Øverster, til hvert Landskab efter dets Skrift og til hvert Folk efter dets Tungemaal; i Kong Ahasverus's Navn blev der skrevet og beseglet med Kongens Ring.
Og Brevene bleve sendte ved Løbere til alle Kongens Landskaber om at ødelægge, at ihjelslaa og at omkomme alle Jøderne, baade unge og gamle, smaa Børn og Kvinder, paa en Dag, nemlig paa den tolvte Maaneds trettende Dag, det er Adar Maaned, og om at røve Bytte hos dem.
14 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].
En Genpart af Skrivelsen var, at der skulde gives en Lov i alle og ethvert Landskab, at det skal være vitterligt for alle Folk, at de skulde være rede til den Dag.
15 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].
Løberne gik ud og skyndte sig efter Kongens Ord, og den Lov blev given i Borgen Susan; og Kongen og Haman sade for at drikke, medens Staden Susan var i Forvirring.

< Esther 3 >