Esther 3

1After these things has King Ahasuerus exalted Haman son of Hammedatha the Agagite, and lifts him up, and sets his throne above all the heads who [are] with him,

2and all servants of the king, who [are] in the gate of the king, are bowing and doing homage to Haman, for so the king has commanded for him; and Mordecai does not bow nor pay respect.

3And the servants of the king, who [are] in the gate of the king, say to Mordecai, “Why [are] you transgressing the command of the king?”

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

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

6and 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 seeks to destroy all the Jews who [are] in all the kingdom of Ahasuerus—the people of Mordecai.

7In the first month—it [is] the month of Nisan—in the twelfth year of King Ahasuerus, has 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.

8And Haman says to King Ahasuerus, “There is one people scattered and separated among the peoples, in all provinces of your 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 permit them;

9if 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] into the treasuries of the king.”

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

11and the king says to Haman, “The silver is given to you, and the people, to do with it as [it is] good in your eyes.”

12And 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 has commanded, to lieutenants of the king, and to the governors who [are] over province and province, and to 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 King Ahasuerus it has been written and sealed with the signet of the king,

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

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

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