Esther 3

1 After these things hath the king Ahasuerus exalted Haman son of Hammedatha the Agagite, and lifteth him up, and setteth his throne above all the heads who [are] with him,

Some time after this, King Xerxes honored Haman, son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, giving him a position higher than all his fellow officials.

2 and all servants of the king, who [are] in the gate of the king, are bowing and doing obeisance to Haman, for so hath the king commanded for him; and Mordecai doth not bow nor do obeisance.

All the officials in royal employment bowed down and showed respect to Haman, for this is what the king had commanded. But Mordecai would not bow down and show respect to him.

3 And the servants of the king, who [are] in the gate of the king, say to Mordecai, 'Wherefore [art] thou transgressing the command of the king?'

The king's officials asked Mordecai, “Why are you disobeying the king's command?”

4 And it cometh to pass, in their speaking unto him, day by day, and he hath not hearkened unto them, that they declare [it] to Haman, to see whether the words of Mordecai do stand, for he hath declared to them that he [is] a Jew.

They talked to him about it day after day, but he refused to listen. So they told Haman about it to see if he would put up with what Mordecai was doing, for Mordecai had told them he was a Jew.

5 And Haman seeth that Mordecai is not bowing and doing obeisance to him, and Haman is full of fury,

Haman was furious when he saw that Mordecai did not bow down and show respect to him.

6 and it is contemptible in his eyes to put forth a hand on Mordecai by himself, for they have declared to him the people of Mordecai, and Haman seeketh to destroy all the Jews who [are] in all the kingdom of Ahasuerus — the people of Mordecai.

Having found out who Mordecai's people were, he dismissed the idea of just killing Mordecai. He decided to kill every Jew in the whole Persian Empire—all of Mordecai's people!

7 In the first month — it [is] the month of Nisan — in the twelfth year of the king Ahasuerus, hath one caused to fall Pur (that [is] the lot) before Haman, from day to day, and from month to month, [to] the twelfth, it [is] the month of Adar.

In the twelfth year of King Xerxes, in the first month, the month of Nisan, “pur” (meaning a “lot”) was cast in Haman's presence to choose a day and month, taking each day and each month one at a time. The lot fell on the twelfth month, the month of Adar.

8 And Haman saith to the king Ahasuerus, 'There is one people scattered and separated among the peoples, in all provinces of thy kingdom, and their laws [are] diverse from all people, and the laws of the king they are not doing, and for the king it is not profitable to suffer them;

Haman went to King Xerxes and said, “There's a particular people living among others in many different places throughout the provinces of your empire who cut themselves off from everybody else. They have their own laws which are different to those of any other people, and what's more, they don't obey the king's laws. So it's not a good idea for Your Majesty to ignore them.

9 if to the king [it be] good, let it be written to destroy them, and ten thousand talents of silver I weigh into the hands of those doing the work, to bring [it] in unto the treasuries of the king.'

If it please Your Majesty, issue a decree to destroy them, and I will personally contribute 10,000 silver talents to those who carry out the king's business to be placed in the royal treasury.”

10 And the king turneth aside his signet from off his hand, and giveth it to Haman son of Hammedatha the Agagite, adversary of the Jews;

The king took off his signet ring and handed it to Haman, son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, the enemy of the Jews.

11 and the king saith to Haman, 'The silver is given to thee, and the people, to do with it as [it is] good in thine eyes.'

The king told Haman, “You can have the money, and do to the people whatever you want.”

12 And scribes of the king are called, on the first month, on the thirteenth day of it, and it is written according to all that Haman hath commanded, unto lieutenants of the king, and unto the governors who [are] over province and province, and unto the heads of people and people, province and province, according to its writing, and people and people according to its tongue, in the name of the king Ahasuerus it hath been written and sealed with the signet of the king,

On the thirteenth day of the first month the king's secretaries were summoned. A decree was issued in accordance with everything Haman demanded and sent to the king's chief officers, the governors of the different provinces and the nobles of the various peoples in the provinces. It was sent in the script of each province and in the language of every people, with the authorization of King Xerxes and sealed with his signet ring.

13 and letters to be sent by the hand of the runners unto all provinces of the king, to cut off, to slay, and to destroy all the Jews, from young even unto old, infant and women, on one day, on the thirteenth of the twelfth month — it [is] the month of Adar — and their spoil to seize,

Letters were sent by messenger to all the provinces in the king's empire with orders to destroy, kill, and annihilate all Jews, young and old, women and children, and confiscate their possessions, all in one day—the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the month of Adar.

14 a copy of the writing to be made law in every province and province is revealed to all the peoples, to be ready for this day.

A copy of the decree was to be issued as law in every province and publicized to the people so that they would be ready for the day.

15 The runners have gone forth, hastened by the word of the king, and the law hath been given in Shushan the palace, and the king and Haman have sat down to drink, and the city Shushan is perplexed.

By order of the king the messengers hurried on their way. The decree was also issued in the fortress of Susa. The king and Haman sat down for a drink while the people in city of Susa were very disturbed.