Esther 3–4

Chapter 3

Haman’s Plot against the Jews

¹After these events King Ahasuerus ^apromoted Haman, the son of Hammedatha ^bthe Agagite, and advanced him and ¹established his authority over all the princes who were with him.

²All the king’s servants who were at the king’s gate bowed down ¹and paid homage to Haman; for so the king had commanded concerning him. But ^aMordecai neither bowed down nor paid homage.

³Then the king’s servants who were at ^athe king’s gate said to Mordecai, “^bWhy are you transgressing the king’s command?”

⁴Now it was when they had spoken daily to him and he would not listen to them, that they told Haman to see whether Mordecai’s reason would stand; for he had told them that he was a Jew.

⁵When Haman saw that ^aMordecai neither bowed down nor paid homage to him, Haman was filled with rage.

⁶But he ¹disdained to ²lay hands on Mordecai alone, for they had told him who the people of Mordecai were; therefore Haman ^asought to destroy all the Jews, the people of Mordecai, who were throughout the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus.

⁷In the first month, which is the month Nisan, in the twelfth year of King Ahasuerus, ¹Pur, that is the lot, was ^acast before Haman from day to day and from month to month, ²until the twelfth month, that is ^bthe month Adar.

⁸Then Haman said to King Ahasuerus, “There is a certain people scattered and dispersed among the peoples in all the provinces of your kingdom; ^atheir laws are different from those of all other people and they do not observe the king’s laws, so it is not in the king’s interest to let them remain.

⁹“If it is pleasing to the king, let it be ¹decreed that they be destroyed, and I will pay ten thousand talents of silver into the hands of those who carry on the king’s business, to put into the king’s treasuries.”

¹⁰Then ^athe king took his signet ring from his hand and gave it to Haman, the son of Hammedatha ^bthe Agagite, ^cthe enemy of the Jews.

¹¹The king said to Haman, “The silver is ¹yours, and the people also, to do with them as you please.”

^12aThen the king’s scribes were summoned on the thirteenth day of the first month, and it was written just as Haman commanded to ^bthe king’s satraps, to the governors who were over each province and to the princes of each people, each province according to its script, each people according to its language, being written ^cin the name of King Ahasuerus and sealed with the king’s signet ring.

¹³Letters were sent by ^acouriers to all the king’s provinces ^bto destroy, to kill and to annihilate all the Jews, both young and old, women and children, ^cin one day, the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month Adar, and to ^dseize their possessions as plunder.

^14aA copy of the edict to be ¹issued as law in every province was published to all the peoples so that they should be ready for this day.

¹⁵The couriers went out impelled by the king’s command while the decree was ¹issued at the citadel in Susa; and while the king and Haman sat down to drink, ^athe city of Susa was in confusion.

Chapter 4

Esther Learns of Haman’s Plot

¹When Mordecai learned ^aall that had been done, ¹he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and ashes, and went out into the midst of the city and wailed loudly and bitterly.

²He went as far as the king’s gate, for no one was to enter the king’s gate clothed in sackcloth.

³In each and every province where the command and decree of the king came, there was great mourning among the Jews, with ^afasting, weeping and wailing; and many lay on sackcloth and ashes.

⁴Then Esther’s maidens and her eunuchs came and told her, and the queen writhed in great anguish. And she sent garments to clothe Mordecai that he might remove his sackcloth from him, but he did not accept them.

⁵Then Esther summoned Hathach from the king’s eunuchs, whom ¹the king had appointed to attend her, and ordered him to go to Mordecai to learn what this was and why it was.

⁶So Hathach went out to Mordecai to the city square in front of the king’s gate.

⁷Mordecai told him all that had happened to him, and ^athe exact amount of money that Haman had promised to pay to the king’s treasuries for the destruction of the Jews.

⁸He also gave him ^aa copy of the text of the edict which had been issued in Susa for their destruction, that he might show Esther and inform her, and to order her to go in to the king to implore his favor and to plead with him for her people.

⁹Hathach came back and related Mordecai’s words to Esther.

¹⁰Then Esther spoke to Hathach and ordered him to reply to Mordecai:

¹¹“All the king’s servants and the people of the king’s provinces know that for any man or woman who ^acomes to the king to the inner court who is not summoned, ^bhe has but one law, that he be put to death, unless the king holds out ^cto him the golden scepter so that he may live. And I have not been summoned to come to the king for these thirty days.”

¹²They related Esther’s words to Mordecai.

¹³Then Mordecai told them to reply to Esther, “Do not imagine that you in the king’s palace can escape any more than all the Jews.

¹⁴“For if you remain silent at this time, relief and ^adeliverance will arise for the Jews from another place and you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows whether you have not attained royalty for such a time as this?”

Esther Plans to Intercede

¹⁵Then Esther told them to reply to Mordecai,

¹⁶“Go, assemble all the Jews who are found in Susa, and fast for me; ^ado not eat or drink for ^bthree days, night or day. I and my maidens also will fast in the same way. And thus I will go in to the king, which is not according to the law; and if I perish, I perish.”

¹⁷So Mordecai went away and did just as Esther had commanded him.