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Esther 3

New International Reader’s Version



1 After those events, King Xerxes honoured Haman. Haman was the son of Hammedatha. He was from the family line of Agag. The king gave Haman a higher position than he had before. He gave him a seat of honour. It was higher than the positions any of the other nobles had. 2 All the royal officials at the palace gate got down on their knees. They gave honour to Haman. That’s because the king had commanded them to do it. But Mordecai refused to get down on his knees. He wouldn’t give Haman any honour at all. 3 The royal officials at the palace gate asked Mordecai a question. They said, ‘Why don’t you obey the king’s command?’ 4 Day after day they spoke to him. But he still refused to obey. So they told Haman about it. They wanted to see whether he would let Mordecai get away with what he was doing. Mordecai had told them he was a Jew. 5 Haman noticed that Mordecai wouldn’t get down on his knees. He wouldn’t give Haman any honour. So Haman was very angry. 6 But he had found out who Mordecai’s people were. So he didn’t want to kill only Mordecai. He also looked for a way to destroy all Mordecai’s people. They were Jews. He wanted to kill all of them everywhere in the kingdom of Xerxes. 7 The lot was cast in front of Haman. The lot was called Pur. It was cast in the first month of the 12th year that Xerxes was king. That month was called Nisan. The lot was cast to choose a day and a month. The month chosen was the 12th month. That month was called Adar. 8 Then Haman said to King Xerxes, ‘Certain people are scattered among the nations. They live in all the territories in your kingdom. They keep themselves separate from everyone else. Their practices are different from the practices of all other people. They don’t obey your laws. It really isn’t good for you to put up with them. 9 If it pleases you, give the order to destroy them. I’ll even add 360 tonnes of silver to the king’s officials for the royal treasures.’ 10 So the king took his ring off his finger. The ring had his royal seal on it. He gave the ring to Haman. Haman was the son of Hammedatha, the Agagite. Haman was the enemy of the Jews. 11 ‘Keep the money,’ the king said to Haman. ‘Do what you want to with those people.’ 12 The king sent for the royal secretaries. It was the 13th day of the first month. The secretaries wrote down all Haman’s orders. They wrote them down in the writing of each territory in the kingdom. They also wrote them in the language of each nation. The orders were sent to the royal officials and to the governors of the territories. And the orders were also sent to the nobles of the nations. The orders were written in the name of King Xerxes himself. And they were stamped with his own official mark. 13 They were carried by messengers. They were sent to all the king’s territories. The orders commanded people to destroy, kill and wipe out all the Jews. That included young people and old people alike. It included women and children. All the Jews were supposed to be killed on a single day. That day was the 13th day of the 12th month. It was the month of Adar. The orders also commanded people to take everything that belonged to the Jews. 14 A copy of the order had to be sent out as law. It had to be sent to every territory in the kingdom. It had to be announced to the people of every nation. Then they would be ready for that day. 15 The king commanded the messengers to go out. So they did. The order was sent out from the fort of Susa. Then the king and Haman sat down to drink wine. But the people in the city were bewildered. 

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Esther 3

English Standard Version



1 After these things King Ahasuerus promoted Haman the Agagite, the son of Hammedatha, and advanced him and set his throne above all the officials who were with him. (Es 3:10; Es 5:11; Es 8:3; Es 8:5; Es 9:24) 2 And all the king’s servants who were at the king’s gate bowed down and paid homage to Haman, for the king had so commanded concerning him. But Mordecai did not bow down or pay homage. (Es 5:9) 3 Then the king’s servants who were at the king’s gate said to Mordecai, “Why do you transgress the king’s command?” (Es 2:19; Es 3:2) 4 And when they spoke to him day after day and he would not listen to them, they told Haman, in order to see whether Mordecai’s words would stand, for he had told them that he was a Jew. 5 And when Haman saw that Mordecai did not bow down or pay homage to him, Haman was filled with fury. (Es 3:2; Da 3:19) 6 But he disdained[1] to lay hands on Mordecai alone. So, as they had made known to him the people of Mordecai, Haman sought to destroy[2] all the Jews, the people of Mordecai, throughout the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus. 7 In the first month, which is the month of Nisan, in the twelfth year of King Ahasuerus, they cast Pur (that is, they cast lots) before Haman day after day; and they cast it month after month till the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar. (Ezr 6:15; Es 9:24; Es 9:26) 8 Then Haman said to King Ahasuerus, “There is a certain people scattered abroad and dispersed among the peoples in all the provinces of your kingdom. Their laws are different from those of every other people, and they do not keep the king’s laws, so that it is not to the king’s profit to tolerate them. (Ezr 4:12; Ac 16:20) 9 If it please the king, let it be decreed that they be destroyed, and I will pay 10,000 talents[3] of silver into the hands of those who have charge of the king’s business, that they may put it into the king’s treasuries.” 10 So the king took his signet ring from his hand and gave it to Haman the Agagite, the son of Hammedatha, the enemy of the Jews. (Ge 41:42; Es 3:1; Es 7:6; Es 8:1; Es 8:2; Es 9:10; Es 9:24) 11 And the king said to Haman, “The money is given to you, the people also, to do with them as it seems good to you.” 12 Then the king’s scribes were summoned on the thirteenth day of the first month, and an edict, according to all that Haman commanded, was written to the king’s satraps and to the governors over all the provinces and to the officials of all the peoples, to every province in its own script and every people in its own language. It was written in the name of King Ahasuerus and sealed with the king’s signet ring. (1Ki 21:8; Ezr 8:36; Es 1:22; Es 8:8; Es 8:9; Es 8:10) 13 Letters were sent by couriers to all the king’s provinces with instruction to destroy, to kill, and to annihilate all Jews, young and old, women and children, in one day, the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar, and to plunder their goods. (2Ch 30:6; Es 7:4; Es 8:10; Es 8:11; Es 8:12; Es 9:1) 14 A copy of the document was to be issued as a decree in every province by proclamation to all the peoples to be ready for that day. (Es 8:13) 15 The couriers went out hurriedly by order of the king, and the decree was issued in Susa the citadel. And the king and Haman sat down to drink, but the city of Susa was thrown into confusion. (Es 3:13; Es 8:15) 

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