CHAPTER 3
After
these
events,
King
Xerxes
honored
Haman
son
of Hammedatha,
the Agagite,
elevating him
to a position
above
all
the princes
who
were with him.
All
the royal
servants
at the King’s
Gate
bowed down
and paid homage
to Haman,
because
the king
had commanded
this
for him.
But Mordecai
would not
bow down
or pay homage.
Then the royal
servants
at the King’s
Gate
asked
Mordecai,
“Why
do you
disobey
the command
of the king?”
Day
after day
they warned him,
but he would not
comply.
So they reported it
to Haman
to see
whether Mordecai's
behavior
would be tolerated,
since
he had told
them he
was a Jew.
And when
he learned the identity
of Mordecai’s
people,
he despised the notion
of laying
hands
on Mordecai
alone.
Instead, he
sought
to destroy
all
of Mordecai’s
people,
the Jews,
throughout
the kingdom
of Xerxes.
In the twelfth
year
of King
Xerxes,
in the first
month,
the month
of Nisan,
the pur
(that is,
the lot)
was cast
before
Haman
to determine a day
and month.
And the lot fell on the twelfth
month,
the month of Adar.
Then Haman
informed
King
Xerxes,
“There
is a certain
people
scattered
and dispersed
among
the peoples
of every
province
of your kingdom.
Their laws
are different
from everyone
else’s,
and they do not
obey
the king’s
laws;
it is not
in the king’s
best interest
to tolerate them.
If
the king
approves,
let a decree be issued
to destroy them,
and I will deposit
ten
thousand
talents
of silver
into
the royal
treasury
to pay
those who carry this out.”
So the king
removed
the signet ring
from
his finger
and gave
it to Haman
son
of Hammedatha,
the Agagite,
the enemy
of the Jews.
“Keep your money,”
said
the king
to Haman.
“These people
are given
to you
to do
with them
as you please.”
On the thirteenth
day
of the first
month,
the royal
scribes
were summoned
and the order was written
exactly as
Haman
commanded
the royal
satraps,
the governors
of each province,
and the officials
of each
people,
in the script
of each province
and the language
of every people.
It was written
in the name
of King
Xerxes
and sealed
with the royal
signet ring.
And the letters
were sent
by
couriers
to
each
of the royal
provinces
with the order to destroy,
kill,
and annihilate
all
the Jews—
young
and
old,
women
and children—
and to plunder
their possessions
on a single
day,
the thirteenth
day of Adar,
the twelfth
month.
A copy
of the text
of the edict
was to be issued
in every
province
and published
to all
the people,
so that they would be ready
for that
day.
The couriers
left,
spurred on
by the king's
command,
and the law
was issued
in the citadel
of Susa.
Then the king
and Haman
sat down
to drink,
but the city
of Susa
was in confusion.