Esther 3:7-4:3

New American Standard Bible

⁷ In the first month, which is the month Nisan, in the twelfth year of King Ahasuerus, ^[a]Pur, that is the lot, was ^(A)cast before Haman from day to day and from month to month, ^[b]until the twelfth month, that is ^(B)the month Adar. ⁸ Then Haman said to King Ahasuerus, “There is a certain people scattered and dispersed among the peoples in all the provinces of your kingdom; ^(C)their laws are different from those of all other people and they do not ^[c]comply with 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 ^[d]decreed that they be eliminated, and I will pay ^[e]ten thousand talents of silver into the hands of those who carry out the king’s business, to put into the king’s treasuries.” ¹⁰ Then ^(D)the king took his signet ring from his hand and gave it to Haman, the son of Hammedatha ^(E)the Agagite, ^(F)the enemy of the Jews. ¹¹ And the king said to Haman, “The silver is ^[f]yours, and the people also, to do with them as you please.”

^12 (G)Then the king’s scribes were summoned on the thirteenth day of the first month, and it was written just as Haman commanded to ^(H)the king’s satraps, to the governors who were over each province and to the officials of each people, each province according to its script, each people according to its language, being written ^(I)in the name of King Ahasuerus and sealed with the king’s signet ring. ¹³ Letters were sent by ^(J)couriers to all the king’s provinces ^(K)to annihilate, kill, and destroy all the Jews, both young and old, women and children, ^(L)in one day, the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month Adar, and to ^(M)seize their possessions as plunder. ^14 (N)A copy of the edict to be ^[g]issued as law in every province was published to all the peoples so that they would be ready for this day. ¹⁵ The couriers went out, speeded by the king’s ^[h]order while the decree was ^[i]issued at the citadel in Susa; and while the king and Haman sat down to drink, ^(O)the city of Susa was agitated.

Esther Learns of Haman’s Plot

4 When Mordecai learned of ^(P)everything that had been done, ^[j]he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and ashes, and went out into the midst of the city and wailed loudly and bitterly. ² And he came as far as the king’s gate, for no one was to enter the king’s gate clothed in sackcloth. ³ In each and every province where the command and decree of the king came, there was great mourning among the Jews, with ^(Q)fasting, weeping, and mourning rites; and many had sackcloth and ashes spread out as a bed.