Esther 3

1 And after this king Artaxerxes highly honoured Aman [son] of Amadathes, the Bugæan, and exalted him, and set his seat above all his friends.

After these things King Ahasuerus promoted Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, and advanced him, and set his seat above all the princes who were with him.

2 And all in the palace did him obeisance, for so the king had given orders to do: but Mardochæus did not do him obeisance.

All the king’s servants who were in the king’s gate bowed down and paid homage to Haman, for the king had so commanded concerning him. But Mordecai didn’t bow down or pay him homage.

3 And they in the king’s palace said to Mardochæus, Mardochæus, why dost thou transgress the commands of the king?

Then the king’s servants who were in the king’s gate said to Mordecai, “Why do you disobey the king’s commandment?”

4 [Thus] they spoke daily to him, but he hearkened not unto them; so they represented to Aman that Mardochæus resisted the commands of the king: and Mardochæus had shewn to them that he was a Jew.

Now it came to pass, when they spoke daily to him, and he didn’t listen to them, that they told Haman, to see whether Mordecai’s reason would stand; for he had told them that he was a Jew.

5 And when Aman understood that Mardochæus did not obeisance to him, he was greatly enraged,

When Haman saw that Mordecai didn’t bow down nor pay him homage, Haman was full of wrath.

6 and took counsel to destroy utterly all the Jews who were under the rule of Artaxerxes.

But he scorned the thought of laying hands on Mordecai alone, for they had made known to him Mordecai’s people. Therefore Haman sought to destroy all the Jews who were throughout the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus, even Mordecai’s people.

7 And he made a decree in the twelfth year of the reign of Artaxerxes, and cast lots daily and monthly, to slay in one day the race of Mardochæus: and the lot fell on the fourteenth [day] of the month which is Adar.

In the first month, which is the month Nisan, in the twelfth year of King Ahasuerus, they cast Pur, that is, the lot, before Haman from day to day, and from month to month, and chose the twelfth month, which is the month Adar.

8 And he spoke to king Artaxerxes, saying, There is a nation scattered among the nations in all thy kingdom, and their laws differ from [those of] all the [other] nations; and they disobey the laws of the king; and it is not expedient for the king to let them alone.

Haman said to King Ahasuerus, “There is a certain people scattered abroad and dispersed among the peoples in all the provinces of your kingdom, and their laws are different from other people’s. They don’t keep the king’s laws. Therefore it is not for the king’s profit to allow them to remain.

9 If it seem good to the king, let him make a decree to destroy them: and I will remit into the king’s treasury ten thousand talents of silver.

If it pleases the king, let it be written that they be destroyed; and I will pay ten thousand talents of silver into the hands of those who are in charge of the king’s business, to bring it into the king’s treasuries.”

10 And the king took off his ring, and gave it into the hands of Aman, to seal the decrees against the Jews.

The king took his ring from his hand, and gave it to Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the Jews’ enemy.

11 And the king said to Aman, Keep the silver, and treat the nation as thou wilt.

The king said to Haman, “The silver is given to you, the people also, to do with them as it seems good to you.”

12 So the king’s recorders were called in the first month, on the thirteenth [day], and they wrote as Aman commanded to the captains and governors in every province, from India even to Ethiopia, to a hundred and twenty-seven provinces; and to the rulers of the nations according to their [several] languages, in the name of king Artaxerxes.

Then the king’s scribes were called in on the first month, on the thirteenth day of the month; and all that Haman commanded was written to the king’s local governors, and to the governors who were over every province, and to the princes of every people, to every province according to its writing, and to every people in their language. It was written in the name of King Ahasuerus, and it was sealed with the king’s ring.

13 And [the message] was sent by posts throughout the kingdom of Artaxerxes, to destroy utterly the race of the Jews on the first day of the twelfth month, which is Adar, and to plunder their goods.

Letters were sent by couriers into all the king’s provinces, to destroy, to kill, and to cause to perish, all Jews, both young and old, little children and women, in one day, even on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month Adar, and to plunder their possessions.

14 And the copies of the letters were published in every province; and an order was given to all the nations to be ready against that day.

A copy of the letter, that the decree should be given out in every province, was published to all the peoples, that they should be ready against that day.

15 And the business was hastened, and [that] at Susa: and the king and Aman began to drink; but the city was troubled.

The couriers went out in haste by the king’s commandment, and the decree was given out in the citadel of Susa. The king and Haman sat down to drink; but the city of Susa was perplexed.