Mordecai Discovers a Plot

¹⁹ When virgins were gathered together a second time, Mordecai sat within the king’s gate. ^20 (A)Now Esther had not revealed her family and her people, just as Mordecai had charged her, for Esther obeyed the command of Mordecai as when she was brought up by him.

²¹ In those days, while Mordecai sat within the king’s gate, two of the king’s eunuchs, ^[a]Bigthan and Teresh, doorkeepers, became furious and sought to lay hands on King Ahasuerus. ²² So the matter became known to Mordecai, ^(B)who told Queen Esther, and Esther informed the king in Mordecai’s name. ²³ And when an inquiry was made into the matter, it was confirmed, and both were hanged on a gallows; and it was written in ^(C)the book of the chronicles in the presence of the king.

Haman’s Conspiracy Against the Jews

3 After these things King Ahasuerus promoted Haman, the son of Hammedatha the ^(D)Agagite, and ^(E)advanced him and set his seat above all the princes who were with him. ² And all the king’s servants who were ^(F)within the king’s gate bowed and paid homage to Haman, for so the king had commanded concerning him. But Mordecai ^(G)would not bow or pay homage. ³ Then the king’s servants who were within the king’s gate said to Mordecai, “Why do you transgress the ^(H)king’s command?” ⁴ Now it happened, when they spoke to him daily and he would not listen to them, that they told it to Haman, to see whether Mordecai’s words would stand; for Mordecai had told them that he was a Jew. ⁵ When Haman saw that Mordecai ^(I)did not bow or pay him homage, Haman was ^(J)filled with wrath. ⁶ But he disdained to lay hands on Mordecai alone, for they had told him of the people of Mordecai. Instead, Haman ^(K)sought to destroy all the Jews who were throughout the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus—the people of Mordecai.

⁷ In the first month, which is the month of Nisan, in the twelfth year of King Ahasuerus, ^(L)they cast Pur (that is, the lot), before Haman ^[b]to determine the day and the ^[c]month, ^[d]until it fell on the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar.

⁸ Then Haman said to King Ahasuerus, “There is a certain people scattered and dispersed among the people in all the provinces of your kingdom; ^(M)their laws are different from all other people’s, and they do not keep the king’s laws. Therefore it is not fitting for the king to let them remain. ⁹ If it pleases the king, let a decree be written that they be destroyed, and I will pay ten thousand talents of silver into the hands of those who do the work, to bring it into the king’s treasuries.”

¹⁰ So the king ^(N)took ^(O)his signet ring from his hand and gave it to Haman, the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the ^(P)enemy of the Jews. ¹¹ And the king said to Haman, “The money and the people are given to you, to do with them as seems good to you.”

^12 (Q)Then the king’s scribes were called on the thirteenth day of the first month, and a decree was written according to all that Haman commanded—to the king’s satraps, to the governors who were over each province, to the officials of all people, to every province ^(R)according to its script, and to every people in their language. ^(S)In the name of King Ahasuerus it was written, and sealed with the king’s signet ring. ¹³ And the letters were ^(T)sent by couriers into all the king’s provinces, to destroy, to kill, and to annihilate all the Jews, both young and old, little children and women, ^(U)in one day, on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar, and ^(V)to plunder their ^[e]possessions. ^14 (W)A copy of the document was to be issued as law in every province, being published for all people, that they should be ready for that day. ¹⁵ The couriers went out, hastened by the king’s command; and the decree was proclaimed in ^[f]Shushan the ^[g]citadel. So the king and Haman sat down to drink, but ^(X)the city of Shushan was ^[h]perplexed.

God the Refuge of the Righteous