Esther 3

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

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 in the palace did him obeisance, for so the king had given orders to do: but Mardochaeus did not do him 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 they in the king's palace said to Mardochaeus, Mardochaeus, why do you transgress the commands of the king?

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

4 [Thus] they spoke daily to him, but he listened not to them; so they represented to Aman that Mardochaeus resisted the commands of the king: and Mardochaeus had shown to them that he was 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 when Aman understood that Mardochaeus did not obeisance to him, he was greatly enraged,

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

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

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 And he made a decree in the twelfth year of the reign of Artaxerxes, and cast lots daily and monthly, to kill in one day the race of Mardochaeus: and the lot fell on the fourteenth [day] of the month which is 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 he spoke to king Artaxerxes, saying, There is a nation scattered amongst the nations in all your 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 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 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 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 took off his ring, and gave it into the hands of Aman, to seal the decrees against 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 said to Aman, Keep the silver, and treat the nation as you will.

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

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.

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

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.