Esther 3

Haman’s Plan to Kill the Jews

3After all this took place, King Ahasuerus honored Haman, son of Hammedatha the Agagite. ^wHe promoted him in rank and gave him a higher position than all the other officials. ^x2The entire royal staff at the King’s Gate ^ybowed down and paid homage to Haman, because the king had commanded this to be done for him. But Mordecai would not bow down or pay homage. ^z3The members of the royal staff at the King’s Gate asked Mordecai, “Why are you disobeying the king’s command?” ⁴When they had warned him day after day ^aand he still would not listen to them, they told Haman to see if Mordecai’s actions would be tolerated, since he had told them he was a Jew.

⁵When Haman saw that Mordecai was not bowing down or paying him homage, he was filled with rage. ^b6And when he learned of Mordecai’s ethnic identity, Haman decided not to do away with ^cMordecai alone. He planned to destroy all of Mordecai’s people, the Jews, ^dthroughout Ahasuerus’s kingdom. ^e

⁷In the first month, the month of Nisan, ^fin King Ahasuerus’s twelfth year, ^ghPur (that is, the lot) was cast before Haman for each day in each month, and it fell on the twelfth month, ⁱthe month Adar. ^jk8Then Haman informed King Ahasuerus, “There is one ethnic group, scattered throughout the peoples in every province of your kingdom, ^lyet living in isolation. Their laws are different from everyone else’s and they do not obey the king’s laws. ^mIt is not in the king’s best interest to tolerate them. ⁿ⁹If the king approves, let an order be drawn up authorizing their destruction, and I will pay 375 tons of silver to ^othe accountants for deposit in the royal treasury.” ^p

¹⁰The king removed his signet ring ^qfrom his finger and gave it to Haman son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the enemy of the Jewish people. ^r11Then the king told Haman, “The money and people are given to you to do with as you see fit.”

¹²The royal scribes were summoned ^son the thirteenth day of the first month, and the order was written exactly as Haman commanded. It was intended for the royal satraps, ^tthe 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. ^uIt was written in the name of King Ahasuerus ^vand sealed with the royal signet ring. ^w13Letters were sent by couriers ^xto 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, ^ythe thirteenth day of Adar, the twelfth month. ^z

¹⁴A 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. ¹⁵The couriers left, spurred on by royal command, and the law was issued in the fortress of Susa. ^aThe king and Haman sat down to drink, while the city of Susa was in confusion. ^b