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.]
Mmerɛ bi akyi, ɔhene Ahasweros pagyaa Agagni Hamedata babarima Haman diberɛ, yɛɛ no ɔsoafoɔ panin wɔ ahemman no mu ma ɔbɛyɛɛ ɔhene abadiakyire.
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.
Sɛ Haman retwam a, ɔhene mpanimfoɔ bɔ wɔn mu ase, de kyerɛ obuo ne anidie a wɔwɔ ma no, ɛfiri sɛ, saa na ɔhene ahyɛ. Nanso, Mordekai ammɔ ne mu ase da, na wankyerɛ obuo ne anidie nso da.
3 The [other] officials [saw that, and they] asked Mordecai, “Why do you disobey what the king commanded?”
Ahemfie mpanimfoɔ a wɔwɔ ɔhene ɛpono ano no bisaa Mordekai sɛ, “Adɛn enti na worebu ɔhene ɔhyɛ nsɛm so?”
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.
Adeɛ akye a ade asa yi, wɔkasa kyerɛɛ no nanso ɔkɔɔ so buu ɔhyɛ nsɛm no so. Enti, wɔbɔɔ Haman amaneɛ hwɛɛ sɛ ɔbɛpene Mordekai suban no so anaa, ɛfiri sɛ, na Mordekai aka akyerɛ wɔn sɛ ɔyɛ Yudani.
5 When Haman saw that Mordecai would not bow down to him, he became extremely angry.
Ɛberɛ a Haman hunuu sɛ Mordekai nkoto no, anaa ɔnnkyerɛ no obuo ne anidie no, ne bo fuiɛ.
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.
Enti, Haman yɛɛ nʼadwene sɛ, ɔremfa ne nsa nka Mordekai nko ara. Esiane sɛ na wate sɛ Mordekai yɛ Yudani no enti, ɔyɛɛ nʼadwene sɛ ɔbɛtɔre Yudafoɔ a wɔwɔ Ahasweros ahemman mu no nyinaa ase.
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].
Na ɔbosome Nisan (bɛyɛ Oforisuo) mu a ɛyɛ ɔhene Ahasweros adedie mfeɛ dumienu so no, wɔbɔɔ ntonto a wɔfrɛ no Pur de hwehwɛɛ ɛda pa ne bosome a ɛfata sɛ wɔdi dwuma no. Na da a wɔyiiɛ no yɛ Adar bosome (bɛyɛ Ɔbɛnem) da a ɛtɔ so nson a na ɛreyɛ akɔ ntontobɔ no akyi afe mu.
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.
Na Haman kɔɔ ɔhene Ahasweros nkyɛn kɔka kyerɛɛ no sɛ, “Nnipa bi wɔ hɔ a wɔabɔ apete amantam a ɛwɔ wʼahemman yi nyinaa so. Wɔn mmara ne ɔman foforɔ biara deɛ bɔ abira, na mpo, wɔbu ɔhene mmara so. Ɛno enti, ɛnyɛ mma ɔhene sɛ ɔbɛhwɛ ama wɔatena ase.
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.”
Sɛ ɛbɛtumi a, Ɔhene kɛseɛ, hyɛ mmara na wɔntɔre wɔn ase, na mɛma aban amammufoɔ dwetɛ tɔno 375, na wɔde agu adehyeɛ fotoɔ no mu.”
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.
Ɔhene no penee so, worɔɔ ne pɛtea de maa Agagni Hamedata babarima Haman a ɔyɛ Yudafoɔ ɔtamfoɔ no de sii asɛm no so dua.
11 The king told Haman, “Keep your money, but do what you want to with those people [whom you talked about]!”
Ɔhene no ka kyerɛɛ Haman sɛ, “Ma sika no ntena hɔ, nanso wo ne nnipa no nni no sɛdeɛ wopɛ no biara.”
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,
Nisan bosome (bɛyɛ Oforisuo) da a ɛtɔ so dunson no, Haman frɛɛ ɔhene atwerɛfoɔ ma ɔkaa deɛ ɔpɛ sɛ ɔtwerɛ de kɔma mmapɔmma, amantam amradofoɔ a wɔwɔ mmea nyinaa, adwumayɛfoɔ a wɔwɔ amantam no mu, ma wɔtwerɛɛ no wɔ wɔn ankasa kasa mu. Ɔhene Ahasweros na wɔde ne din hyɛɛ nkrataa no ase, na wɔde ne kawa no sosɔɔ ano,
na wɔde somaa abɔfoɔ maa wɔde kokɔɔ amantam a ɛwɔ ahemman no mu nyinaa. Nkrataa no hyɛɛ mmara sɛ, ɛsɛ sɛ wɔkunkum Yudafoɔ nyinaa, mmɔfra ne mpanin, a mmaa ne mmɔfra ka ho, tɔre wɔn ase ɛda koro. Wɔhyɛɛ sɛ, saa asɛm yi nsi wɔ Adar bosome (bɛyɛ Ɔbɛnem) da a ɛtɔ so nson, a ɛyɛ afe akyi a wɔhyɛɛ mmara no. Yudafoɔ agyapadeɛ no, wɔde bɛma wɔn akumfoɔ.
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].
Wɔde mmara no sɛso bi bɛkokɔ amantam no nyinaa so, na wɔbɛma ɔmanfoɔ nyinaa nso ate mu nsɛm, sɛdeɛ wɔbɛtumi adi dwuma no wɔ ɛda a wɔahyɛ no so.
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].
Ɔhene no hyɛ maa wɔde mmara no somaa abɔfoɔ a wɔn ho yɛ herɛ na wɔbɔɔ no dawuro wɔ Susa aban no mu. Afei, ɔhene no ne Haman tenaa ase nomm nsã; nanso Susa kuropɔn no mu yɛɛ basabasa.
