U-Esta 10

1 Inkosi uAhasuwerusi yasibeka umthelo elizweni lezihlengeni zolwandle.

King Xerxes required that all the people in his empire pay taxes. Even the people who lived on the islands [in the Mediterranean Sea] (OR, in coastal areas) were required to pay taxes.

2 Zonke-ke izenzo zamandla ayo lawengalo zayo, lomlando wobukhulu bukaModekhayi, inkosi eyamkhulisayo, kakubhalwanga yini egwalweni lwemilando yamakhosi eMede lePerisiya?

And all the great and powerful things that Xerxes did were written in the scroll called/entitled ‘The record of the things done by the kings of Media and Persia’. In this book were also written [the things done] by Mordecai, the man whom the king had greatly honored.

3 Ngoba uModekhayi umJuda wayengowesibili enkosini uAhasuwerusi, emkhulu phakathi kwamaJuda, ethandeka kulo inengi labafowabo, edingela isizwe sakibo okuhle, ekhuluma ukuthula kuyo yonke inzalo yakhe.

Mordecai, who was a Jew, became the king’s most important official, and [all] the Jews also considered him to be a very great man. They [all] respected him, because he did many good things for the Jews, and he often asked [the king] to do good things for them.