Ehetere 3
1 I muri i enei mea ka whakanuia e Kingi Ahahueruha a Hamana tama a Hamerata Akaki, hapainga ana ia ki runga, whakanekehia ake ana tona torona ki runga ake i o nga rangatira katoa e noho ana i a ia.
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 Na kei te tuohu, kei te koropiko ki a Hamana nga tangata katoa a te kingi i te kuwaha o te kingi; ko ta te kingi whakahau hoki tena mona. Ko Mororekai ia kihai i tuohu, kihai i piko.
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 Katahi ka mea nga tangata a te kingi i te kuwaha o te kingi ki a Mororekai, He aha koe i takahi ai i ta te kingi whakahau?
The [other] officials [saw that, and they] asked Mordecai, “Why do you disobey what the king commanded?”
4 Korero noa ratou ki a ia i ia ra, i ia ra, heoi kihai ia i rongo ki a ratou. Na korerotia ana e ratou ki a Hamana, kia kitea ai e u ranei nga mea a Mororekai; kua whakaaturia hoki e ia ki a ratou he Hurai ia.
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 A, no te kitenga o Hamana kihai a Mororekai i tuohu, kihai i piko ki a ia, na ki tonu a Hamana i te riri.
When Haman saw that Mordecai would not bow down to him, he became extremely angry.
6 Otiia i whakahawea tona whakaaro ki te whakapa ringa ki a Mororekai anake, kua oti hoki te korero ki a ia te iwi o Mororekai; na reira i whai ai a Hamana kia whakangaromia nga Hurai katoa i te kingitanga katoa o Ahahueruha, ara te iwi o Mororekai.
[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 I te marama tuatahi, ara i te marama Nihana, i te tekau ma rua o nga tau o Kingi Ahahueruha, ka maka te Puri, ara te rota ki te aroaro o Hamana i tenei ra, i tenei ra, i tenei marama, i tenei marama a te tekau ma rua ra ano, ara te marama Arara.
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 Na ka mea a Hamana ki a Kingi Ahahueruha, Tenei tetahi iwi kei te tohatoha haere, kei te marara noa atu i roto i nga iwi o nga kawanatanga katoa o tou kingitanga; a ko a ratou ture he rere ke i a nga iwi katoa; kahore hoki ratou e mahi i a te kin gi ture. Na ehara i te mea pai mo te kingi kia tukua ta ratou.
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 Ki te pai te kingi, me tuhituhi kia whakangaromia ratou: a maku e pauna atu kia tekau mano taranata hiriwa ki nga ringa o te hunga mahi i ta te kingi mahi, kia kawea ki nga whare taonga o te kingi.
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 Na ka unuhia e te kingi tona mowhiti i tona ringa, a hoatu ana ki a Hamana tama a Hamerata Akaki, ki te hoariri o nga Hurai.
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 A ka mea te kingi ki a Hamana, ka hoatu te hiriwa ki a koe, te iwi ano hoki, kia meatia ki a ratou tau e pai ai.
The king told Haman, “Keep your money, but do what you want to with those people [whom you talked about]!”
12 Katahi ka karangatia nga karaipi a te kingi i te marama tuatahi, i te tekau ma toru o nga ra o taua marama, a ka tuhituhia nga mea katoa i whakahaua e Hamana ki nga kawana a te kingi, ratou ko nga kawana iti o tenei kawanatanga, o tenei kawanata nga, ki nga rangatira hoki o tenei iwi, o tenei iwi; ki tenei kawanatanga, ki tenei kawanatanga, he mea whakarite ki to reira reo; i tuhituhia i runga i te ingoa o Kingi Ahahueruha, hiri rawa ki te mowhiti o te kingi.
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 Na ka tukua nga pukapuka kia kawea e nga kaikawe pukapuka ki nga kawanatanga katoa a te kingi, kia whakangaromia, kia patua, kia huna nga Hurai katoa, te taitama, me te koroheke, nga kohungahunga, me nga wahine, kia kotahi tonu te ra, i te tekau ma toru o nga ra i te tekau ma rua o nga marama, ara o te marama Arara; kia pahuatia hoki o ratou taonga.
14 Ko nga korero i tuhituhia, mo te ture kia hoatu ki nga kawanatanga katoa, i whakakitea nuitia ki nga iwi katoa, kia tatanga ai ratou i taua ra.
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 Haere ana nga kaikawe pukapuka, he mea whakahohoro e te kupu a te kingi, i hoatu ano te ture i Huhana, i te whare kingi. Na noho ana te kingi raua ko Hamana ki te inu; raruraru tonu ia te pa, a Huhana.
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].
