Esther 3
1 Post hæc rex Assuerus exaltavit Aman filium Amadathi, qui erat de stirpe Agag: et posuit solium ejus super omnes principes quos habebat.
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.
2 Cunctique servi regis, qui in foribus palatii versabantur, flectebant genua, et adorabant Aman: sic enim præceperat eis imperator: solus Mardochæus non flectebat genu, neque adorabat eum.
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.
3 Cui dixerunt pueri regis, qui ad fores palatii præsidebant: Cur præter ceteros non observas mandatum regis?
Then the king’s courtiers, who were in the king’s gate, said to Mordecai, “Why do you disobey the king’s command?”
4 Cumque hoc crebrius dicerent, et ille nollet audire, nuntiaverunt Aman, scire cupientes utrum perseveraret in sententia: dixerat enim eis se esse Judæum.
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.
5 Quod cum audisset Aman, et experimento probasset quod Mardochæus non flecteret sibi genu, nec se adoraret, iratus est valde,
When Haman saw that Mordecai did not bow down nor prostrate himself before him, he was furious.
6 et pro nihilo duxit in unum Mardochæum mittere manus suas: audierat enim quod esset gentis Judææ; magisque voluit omnem Judæorum, qui erant in regno Assueri, perdere nationem.
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.
7 Mense primo (cujus vocabulum est Nisan), anno duodecimo regni Assueri, missa est sors in urnam, quæ hebraice dicitur phur, coram Aman, quo die et quo mense gens Judæorum deberet interfici: et exivit mensis duodecimus, qui vocatur Adar.
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.
8 Dixitque Aman regi Assuero: Est populus per omnes provincias regni tui dispersus, et a se mutuo separatus, novis utens legibus et cæremoniis, insuper et regis scita contemnens: et optime nosti quod non expediat regno tuo ut insolescat per licentiam.
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.
9 Si tibi placet, decerne, ut pereat, et decem millia talentorum appendam arcariis gazæ tuæ.
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.”
10 Tulit ergo rex annulum, quo utebatur, de manu sua, et dedit eum Aman filio Amadathi de progenie Agag, hosti Judæorum,
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.
11 dixitque ad eum: Argentum, quod tu polliceris, tuum sit; de populo age quod tibi placet.
“The money is yours,” the king said to Haman, “and the people also to do with them as you wish.”
12 Vocatique sunt scribæ regis mense primo Nisan, tertiadecima die ejusdem mensis: et scriptum est, ut jusserat Aman, ad omnes satrapas regis, et judices provinciarum, diversarumque gentium, ut quæque gens legere poterat et audire pro varietate linguarum ex nomine regis Assueri: et litteræ signatæ ipsius annulo
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.
13 missæ sunt per cursores regis ad universas provincias, ut occiderent atque delerent omnes Judæos, a puero usque ad senem, parvulos et mulieres, uno die, hoc est tertiodecimo mensis duodecimi, qui vocatur Adar; et bona eorum diriperent.
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.
14 Summa autem epistolarum hæc fuit, ut omnes provinciæ scirent, et pararent se ad prædictam diem.
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.
15 Festinabant cursores, qui missi erant, regis imperium explere. Statimque in Susan pependit edictum, rege et Aman celebrante convivium, et cunctis Judæis, qui in urbe erant, flentibus.
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.
