< Asteer 3 >

1 Waan kanneen booddee Ahashweroos Mootichi Haamaan ilma Hamedaataa namicha biyya Agaag ol ol qabuudhaan teessoo qondaaltota kaanii hunda caalu kenneefii isa kabaje.
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 Qondaaltonni mootichaa warri karra eegan hundi jilbeenfatanii Haamaaniif ulfina kennan; mootichi waaʼee isaa waan kana ajajee tureetii. Mordekaayi garuu hin jilbeenfanne yookaan ulfina isaaf hin kennine.
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 Qondaaltonni mootichaa warri karra mootichaa dura turan, “Ati maaliif ajaja mootichaa eeguu didda?” jedhanii Mordekaayiin gaafatan.
The [other] officials [saw that, and they] asked Mordecai, “Why do you disobey what the king commanded?”
4 Isaan guyyuma guyyaadhaan isatti himaa turan; inni garuu isaan dhagaʼuu dide. Kanaafuu isaan sababii Mordekaayi akka nama gosa Yihuudaa taʼe isaanitti hime tureef dubbiin isaa kun akka maal taʼuu qabu beekuudhaaf waan kana Haamaanitti himan.
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 Haamaan akka Mordekaayi isaaf hin jilbeenfatin yookaan ulfina hin kenniniif arginaan akka malee aare.
When Haman saw that Mordecai would not bow down to him, he became extremely angry.
6 Haamaanis eenyummaa saba Mordekaayi beeknaan Mordekaayiin qofa ajjeesuu ni tuffate. Qooda kanaa Haamaan saba Mordekaayi hunda jechuunis Yihuudoota mootummaa Ahashweroos guutuu keessa jiraatan fixuuf karaa barbaadaa ture.
[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 Isaanis waggaa kudha lammaffaa bara Ahashweroos Mootichaa keessa jiʼa jalqabaa jiʼa Niisaan jedhamu keessa guyyaa fi jiʼa filachuudhaaf fuula Haamaan duratti Fuur jechuunis ixaa buusan. Ixaan sun jiʼa kudha lammaffaa jechuunis jiʼa Adaar irra buʼe.
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 Haamaanis Ahashweroos Mootichaan akkana jedhe; “Uummanni tokko saba kutaalee biyyaa mootummaa keetii keessa jiran hunda gidduu faffacaʼeera; duudhaan uummata kanaa duudhaa saba kaanii hundaan adda; isaan seera mootichaa hin kabajan; kanaafuu mootichi uummata kanaaf obsa qabaachuun hin malu.
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 Yoo wanni kun mooticha gammachiise saba kana balleessuudhaaf labsiin tokko haa baʼu; anis warra waan kana hojjetaniif meetii taalaantii kuma kudhan mankuusa qabeenya mootichaatti nan galcha.”
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 Kanaafuu mootichi qubeelaa chaappaa isaa quba ofii irraa baasee Haamaan ilma Hamedaataa namicha biyya Agaag, diina Yihuudootaa sanatti kenne.
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 Mootichis Haamaaniin, “Maallaqnis, sabni sunis sitti kennameeraatii akkuma feete godhi” jedhe.
The king told Haman, “Keep your money, but do what you want to with those people [whom you talked about]!”
12 Guyyaa kudha sadaffaa jiʼa jalqabaatti barreessitoonni mootichaa walitti waamaman. Isaanis waan Haamaan ajaje sana hunda arfii tokkoo tokkoo kutaa biyyaatiin, afaan saba hundaatiinis gara biyya bulchitoota mootichaatti, bulchitoota tokkoo tokkoo kutaalee biyyaatii fi gara gurguddoota saba adda addaatti barreessan. Wanni kunis maqaa Ahashweroos Mootichaatiin barreeffamee, qubeelaa chaappaa isaatiin mallatteeffame.
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 Xalayoonni akka Yihuudoonni hundi dargaggoonnii fi maanguddoonni, dubartoonnii fi ijoolleen xixinnoon guyyuma tokkotti jechuunis guyyaa kudha sadaffaa jiʼa kudha lammaffaatti, jiʼa Adaar jedhamu keessa ajjeefaman, akka barbadeeffamanii fi lafa irraa balleeffaman, akka qabeenyi isaaniis saamamu gara kutaalee biyya mootichaa hundaatti ajajaan ergamootaan ergaman.
14 Akka sabni hundi beekee guyyaa sanaaf qophaaʼuufis garagalchi barreeffama sanaas akka seeraatti kutaalee biyyaa hunda keessatti saba hundatti labsamuu qaba ture.
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 Ergamoonni sun ajaja mootichaatiin ariitiidhaan deeman; labsiin sunis Suusaa magaalaa guddittii keessatti labsame. Mootichi fi Haamaan waa dhuguudhaaf taaʼan; magaalaan Suusaa garuu ni jeeqamte.
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].

< Asteer 3 >