Eseza 3
1 Oluvannyuma lw’ebyo Kabaka Akaswero n’akuza Kamani mutabani wa Kammedasa, Omwagaagi era n’amusukkiriza n’amuwa n’entebe ey’ekitiibwa okusinga abakungu abalala bonna.
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.]
2 Era abaddu ba Kabaka bonna abaabeeranga ku wankaaki wa Kabaka baamufukaamiriranga ne bamuwa ekitiibwa, kubanga kyali kiragiro ekyava eri Kabaka. Naye Moluddekaayi teyamufukaamirira wadde okumussaamu ekitiibwa.
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.
3 Awo abagalagala ba Kabaka ab’oku wankaaki ne babuuza Moluddekaayi nti, “Nsonga ki ekulobera okugondera ekiragiro kya Kabaka?”
The [other] officials [saw that, and they] asked Mordecai, “Why do you disobey what the king commanded?”
4 Buli lunaku baayogeranga naye ku nsonga eyo naye ye n’agaana okubawuliriza. Ekyavaamu kwe kubuulira Kamani ku nsonga y’emu, balabe oba Moluddekaayi anaakyusa ku nneeyisa ye, kubanga yali yabategeezaako nti Muyudaaya.
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.
5 Awo Kamani bwe yalaba nga Moluddekaayi tamufukaamirira wadde okumussaamu ekitiibwa, Kamani n’asunguwala nnyo.
When Haman saw that Mordecai would not bow down to him, he became extremely angry.
6 Bwe yategeera abantu ba Moluddekaayi kye bali, Kamani n’alaba ng’okumutta yekka tekigasa. Kamani n’anoonya engeri gy’ayinza okuzikiriza abantu ba Moluddekaayi, Abayudaaya bonna mu bwakabaka bwonna obwa Akaswero.
[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.
7 Awo mu mwezi ogw’olubereberye ogwa Nisani, mu mwaka ogw’ekkumi n’ebiri ogwa kabaka Akaswero, ne bakuba Puli, ke kalulu, mu maaso ga Kamani okufuna olunaku n’omwezi, era omwezi ogw’ekkumi n’ebiri ogwa Adali ne gulondebwa.
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].
8 Awo Kamani n’agamba Kabaka Akaswero nti, “Waliwo abantu abasaasaanye ate nga beeyawudde ku mawanga mu bitundu byonna eby’obwakabaka bwo; n’amateeka gaabwe ga njawulo ku g’abantu abalala bonna, era tebakuuma mateeka ga Kabaka. Noolwekyo tekigasa Kabaka kubagumiikiriza.
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.
9 Kabaka bw’anasiima, kiwandiikibwe era kiyisibwe, n’okuzikirizibwa bazikirizibwe: nange ndisasula ttalanta eza ttani ebikumi bisatu mu nsavu mu ttaano ebya ffeeza mu ggwanika lya Kabaka.”
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.”
10 Awo kabaka n’aggya empeta ye ku ngalo ye n’agiwa Kamani mutabani wa Kammedasa Omwagaagi omulabe w’Abayudaaya.
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.
11 Ate era Kabaka n’agamba Kamani nti, “Ensimbi zikuweereddwa n’abantu bakole nga bw’osiima.”
The king told Haman, “Keep your money, but do what you want to with those people [whom you talked about]!”
12 Ne bayita abawandiisi ba Kabaka ku lunaku olw’ekkumi n’essatu mu mwezi ogw’olubereberye, ne bawandiika byonna nga Kamani bwe yalagira, ne bawandiikira abaamasaza ne bagavana ba buli kitundu, n’abakungu ba buli ggwanga; era n’eri buli kitundu ng’empandiika yaakyo bwe yali, n’eri buli ggwanga ng’olulimi lwabwe bwe lwali; byawandiikibwa mu linnya lya Kabaka Akaswero era ne biteekebwako akabonero n’empeta ya Kabaka.
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,
13 Ebbaluwa zaatwalibwa ababaka mu bitundu byonna ebya Kabaka n’ekiragiro, eky’okuzikiriza, n’okutta n’okumalawo Abayudaaya bonna, abato n’abakadde, abaana abato n’abakazi mu lunaku lumu olw’ekkumi n’essatu mu mwezi ogw’ekkumi n’ebiri ogwa Adali, awamu n’okunyaga ebyabwe byonna.
14 Ebyaggyibwa mu kiwandiike ne biraalikibwa eri amawanga gonna, ekiragiro ne kirangirirwa mu buli kitundu, balyoke beeteekereteekere olunaku olwo.
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].
15 Awo ababaka ne banguwa okugenda olw’ekiragiro kya Kabaka, etteeka ne libuulirwa mu lubiri lw’e Susani. Awo Kabaka ne Kamani ne batuula okunywa; naye ekibuga kya Susani ne kisasamala.
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].
