Esther 3:5–4:7
5 When Haman saw that Mordecai was not bowing down or paying him homage, he was filled with rage.c 6 And when he learned of Mordecai’s ethnic identity, it seemed repugnant to Haman to do away withA Mordecai alone. He planned to destroy all of Mordecai’s people, the Jews,d throughout Ahasuerus’s kingdom.e
7 In the first month, the month of Nisan, in King Ahasuerus’s twelfth year,f the pur—that is, the lot—was cast before Haman for each day in each month, and it fell on the twelfth month,g the month Adar.h 8 Then Haman informed King Ahasuerus, “There is one ethnic group, scattered throughout the peoples in every province of your kingdom,i keeping themselves separate. Their laws are different from everyone else’s and they do not obey the king’s laws.j It is not in the king’s best interest to tolerate them.k 9 If the king approves, let an order be drawn up authorizing their destruction, and I will pay 375 tons of silver toB the officials for deposit in the royal treasury.”l
10 The king removed his signet ringm from his hand and gave it to Haman son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the enemy of the Jews.n 11 Then the king told Haman, “The money and people are given to you to do with as you see fit.”
12 The royal scribes were summonedo on the thirteenth day of the first month, and the order was written exactly as Haman commanded. It was intended for the royal satraps,p the governors of each of the provinces, and the officials of each ethnic group and written for each province in its own script and to each ethnic group in its own language.q It was written in the name of King Ahasuerusr and sealed with the royal signet ring.s 13 Letters were sent by courierst to each of the royal provinces telling the officials to destroy, kill, and annihilate all the Jewish people—young and old, women and children—and plunder their possessions on a single day,u the thirteenth day of Adar, the twelfth month.C
14 A copy of the text, issued as law throughout every province, was distributed to all the peoples so that they might get ready for that day. 15 The couriers left, spurred on by royal command, and the law was issued in the fortress of Susa.v The king and Haman sat down to drink, while the city of Susa was in confusion.w
4 When Mordecai learned all that had occurred,x he tore his clothes,y put on sackcloth and ashes,z went into the middle of the city, and cried loudly and bitterly.aa 2 He went only as far as the King’s Gate,ab since the law prohibited anyone wearing sackcloth from entering the King’s Gate. 3 There was great mourning among the Jewish people in every province where the king’s command and edictac reached. They fasted, wept, and lamented, and many lay in sackcloth and ashes.ad
4 Esther’s female servants and her eunuchs came and reported the news to her, and the queen was overcome with fear.ae She sent clothes for Mordecai to wear so that he would take off his sackcloth, but he did not accept them. 5 Esther summoned Hathach, one of the king’s eunuchs who attended her, and dispatched him to Mordecai to learn what he was doing and why.D 6 So Hathach went out to Mordecai in the city square in front of the King’s Gate. 7 Mordecai told him everything that had happened as well as the exact amount of money Haman had promised to pay the royal treasury for the slaughter of the Jews.af