Esther 3:1–5:14
Haman’s Plot to Destroy the Jews
3 After these events, King Xerxes honored Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite,x elevating him and giving him a seat of honor higher than that of all the other nobles. 2 All the royal officials at the king’s gate knelt down and paid honor to Haman, for the king had commanded this concerning him. But Mordecai would not kneel down or pay him honor.
3 Then the royal officials at the king’s gate asked Mordecai, “Why do you disobey the king’s command?”y 4 Day after day they spoke to him but he refused to comply.z Therefore they told Haman about it to see whether Mordecai’s behavior would be tolerated, for he had told them he was a Jew.
5 When Haman saw that Mordecai would not kneel down or pay him honor, he was enraged.a 6 Yet having learned who Mordecai’s people were, he scorned the idea of killing only Mordecai. Instead Haman looked for a wayb to destroyc all Mordecai’s people, the Jews,d throughout the whole kingdom of Xerxes.
7 In the twelfth year of King Xerxes, in the first month, the month of Nisan, the pure (that is, the lotf) was cast in the presence of Haman to select a day and month. And the lot fell ona the twelfth month, the month of Adar.g
8 Then Haman said to King Xerxes, “There is a certain people dispersed among the peoples in all the provinces of your kingdom who keep themselves separate. Their customsh are different from those of all other people, and they do not obeyi the king’s laws; it is not in the king’s best interest to tolerate them.j 9 If it pleases the king, let a decree be issued to destroy them, and I will give ten thousand talentsb of silver to the king’s administrators for the royal treasury.”k
10 So the king took his signet ringl from his finger and gave it to Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, the enemy of the Jews. 11 “Keep the money,” the king said to Haman, “and do with the people as you please.”
12 Then on the thirteenth day of the first month the royal secretaries were summoned. They wrote out in the script of each province and in the languagem of each people all Haman’s orders to the king’s satraps, the governors of the various provinces and the nobles of the various peoples. These were written in the name of King Xerxes himself and sealedn with his own ring. 13 Dispatches were sent by couriers to all the king’s provinces with the order to destroy, kill and annihilate all the Jewso—young and old, women and children—on a single day, the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the month of Adar,p and to plunderq their goods. 14 A copy of the text of the edict was to be issued as law in every province and made known to the people of every nationality so they would be ready for that day.r
15 The couriers went out, spurred on by the king’s command, and the edict was issued in the citadel of Susa.s The king and Haman sat down to drink,t but the city of Susa was bewildered.u
Mordecai Persuades Esther to Help
4 When Mordecai learned of all that had been done, he tore his clothes,v put on sackcloth and ashes,w and went out into the city, wailingx loudly and bitterly. 2 But he went only as far as the king’s gate,y because no one clothed in sackcloth was allowed to enter it. 3 In every province to which the edict and order of the king came, there was great mourning among the Jews, with fasting, weeping and wailing. Many lay in sackcloth and ashes.
4 When Esther’s eunuchs and female attendants came and told her about Mordecai, she was in great distress. She sent clothes for him to put on instead of his sackcloth, but he would not accept them. 5 Then Esther summoned Hathak, one of the king’s eunuchs assigned to attend her, and ordered him to find out what was troubling Mordecai and why.
6 So Hathak went out to Mordecai in the open square of the city in front of the king’s gate. 7 Mordecai told him everything that had happened to him, including the exact amount of money Haman had promised to pay into the royal treasury for the destruction of the Jews.z 8 He also gave him a copy of the text of the edict for their annihilation, which had been published in Susa, to show to Esther and explain it to her, and he told him to instruct her to go into the king’s presence to beg for mercy and plead with him for her people.
9 Hathak went back and reported to Esther what Mordecai had said. 10 Then she instructed him to say to Mordecai, 11 “All the king’s officials and the people of the royal provinces know that for any man or woman who approaches the king in the inner court without being summoneda the king has but one law:b that they be put to death unless the king extends the gold scepterc to them and spares their lives. But thirty days have passed since I was called to go to the king.”
12 When Esther’s words were reported to Mordecai, 13 he sent back this answer: “Do not think that because you are in the king’s house you alone of all the Jews will escape. 14 For if you remain silentd at this time, reliefe and deliverancef for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?”g
15 Then Esther sent this reply to Mordecai: 16 “Go, gather together all the Jews who are in Susa, and fasth for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my attendants will fast as you do. When this is done, I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish.”i
17 So Mordecai went away and carried out all of Esther’s instructions.
5 On the third day Esther put on her royal robesj and stood in the inner court of the palace, in front of the king’sk hall. The king was sitting on his royal throne in the hall, facing the entrance. 2 When he saw Queen Esther standing in the court, he was pleased with her and held out to her the gold scepter that was in his hand. So Esther approached and touched the tip of the scepter.l
3 Then the king asked, “What is it, Queen Esther? What is your request? Even up to half the kingdom,m it will be given you.”
4 “If it pleases the king,” replied Esther, “let the king, together with Haman, come today to a banquet I have prepared for him.”
5 “Bring Haman at once,” the king said, “so that we may do what Esther asks.”
So the king and Haman went to the banquet Esther had prepared. 6 As they were drinking wine,n the king again asked Esther, “Now what is your petition? It will be given you. And what is your request? Even up to half the kingdom,o it will be granted.”p
7 Esther replied, “My petition and my request is this: 8 If the king regards me with favorq and if it pleases the king to grant my petition and fulfill my request, let the king and Haman come tomorrow to the banquetr I will prepare for them. Then I will answer the king’s question.”
9 Haman went out that day happy and in high spirits. But when he saw Mordecai at the king’s gate and observed that he neither rose nor showed fear in his presence, he was filled with rages against Mordecai.t 10 Nevertheless, Haman restrained himself and went home.
Calling together his friends and Zeresh,u his wife, 11 Haman boastedv to them about his vast wealth, his many sons,w and all the ways the king had honored him and how he had elevated him above the other nobles and officials. 12 “And that’s not all,” Haman added. “I’m the only personx Queen Esther invited to accompany the king to the banquet she gave. And she has invited me along with the king tomorrow. 13 But all this gives me no satisfaction as long as I see that Jew Mordecai sitting at the king’s gate.y”
14 His wife Zeresh and all his friends said to him, “Have a pole set up, reaching to a height of fifty cubits,a z and ask the king in the morning to have Mordecai impaleda on it. Then go with the king to the banquet and enjoy yourself.” This suggestion delighted Haman, and he had the pole set up.