Ester 3
La Biblia de las Américas
Conspiración de Amán
3 Después de esto el rey Asuero engrandeció a Amán, hijo de Hamedata agagueo(A), y lo ensalzó y estableció su autoridad[a] sobre todos los príncipes que estaban con él(B). 2 Y todos los siervos del rey que estaban a la puerta del rey se inclinaban y se postraban ante Amán, porque así había ordenado el rey en cuanto a él; pero Mardoqueo ni se inclinaba ni se postraba(C). 3 Entonces los siervos del rey, que estaban a la puerta del rey(D), dijeron a Mardoqueo: ¿Por qué traspasas el mandato del rey(E)? 4 Y sucedió que después que ellos le habían hablado día tras día y él se había negado a escucharlos, se lo informaron a Amán para ver si la palabra de Mardoqueo era firme; porque él les había declarado que era judío. 5 Cuando Amán vio que Mardoqueo no se inclinaba ni se postraba ante él, Amán se llenó de furor(F). 6 Y él no se contentó con[b] echar mano solo a Mardoqueo, pues le habían informado cuál era el pueblo de Mardoqueo; por tanto Amán procuró destruir a todos los judíos(G), el pueblo de Mardoqueo, que estaban por todo el reino de Asuero.
7 En el mes primero, que es el mes de Nisán, el año doce del rey Asuero, se echó el Pur, es decir la suerte, delante de Amán(H) para cada día y cada mes hasta el[c] mes doce, que es el mes de Adar(I). 8 Y Amán dijo al rey Asuero: Hay un pueblo esparcido y diseminado entre los pueblos en todas las provincias de tu reino; sus leyes son diferentes de las de todos los demás pueblos, y no guardan las leyes del rey, así que no conviene al rey dejarlos vivos(J). 9 Si al rey le parece bien, decrétese[d] que sean destruidos, y yo pagaré diez mil talentos[e] de plata en manos de los que manejan los negocios del rey, para que los pongan en los tesoros del rey. 10 El rey tomó de su mano el anillo de sellar y se lo dio a Amán(K), hijo de Hamedata agagueo(L), enemigo de los judíos(M). 11 Y el rey dijo a Amán: Quédate con[f] la plata, y también con el pueblo, para que hagas con él lo que te parezca bien. 12 Entonces fueron llamados los escribas del rey(N) el día trece del mes primero, y conforme a todo lo que Amán había ordenado, fue escrito a los sátrapas del rey(O), a los gobernadores que estaban sobre cada provincia y a los príncipes de cada pueblo, a cada provincia conforme a su escritura, a cada pueblo conforme a su lengua, escrito en el nombre del rey Asuero y sellado con el anillo del rey(P). 13 Y se enviaron cartas por medio[g] de los correos(Q) a todas las provincias del rey para destruir, matar y exterminar a todos los judíos(R), jóvenes y ancianos, niños y mujeres, en un solo día, el día trece del mes doce, que es el mes de Adar(S), y sus posesiones dadas al saqueo(T). 14 La copia del edicto que sería promulgada[h] ley en cada provincia fue publicada a todos los pueblos para que estuvieran preparados para ese día(U). 15 Salieron los correos apremiados por la orden del rey. El decreto fue promulgado[i] en la fortaleza de Susa, y mientras el rey y Amán se sentaron a beber, la ciudad de Susa estaba consternada(V).
Footnotes
- Ester 3:1 Lit., puso su asiento
- Ester 3:6 Lit., despreció en sus ojos
- Ester 3:7 La versión gr. (sept.) dice: y la suerte cayó en el día trece del
- Ester 3:9 Lit., escríbase
- Ester 3:9 Un talento equivale aprox. a 34 kg.
- Ester 3:11 Lit., Te es dada
- Ester 3:13 Lit., mano
- Ester 3:14 Lit., dada
- Ester 3:15 Lit., dado
Esther 3
The Message
3 1-2 Some time later, King Xerxes promoted Haman son of Hammedatha the Agagite, making him the highest-ranking official in the government. All the king’s servants at the King’s Gate used to honor him by bowing down and kneeling before Haman—that’s what the king had commanded.
2-4 Except Mordecai. Mordecai wouldn’t do it, wouldn’t bow down and kneel. The king’s servants at the King’s Gate asked Mordecai about it: “Why do you cross the king’s command?” Day after day they spoke to him about this but he wouldn’t listen, so they went to Haman to see whether something shouldn’t be done about it. Mordecai had told them that he was a Jew.
5-6 When Haman saw for himself that Mordecai didn’t bow down and kneel before him, he was outraged. Meanwhile, having learned that Mordecai was a Jew, Haman hated to waste his fury on just one Jew; he looked for a way to eliminate not just Mordecai but all Jews throughout the whole kingdom of Xerxes.
7 In the first month, the month of Nisan, of the twelfth year of Xerxes, the pur—that is, the lot—was cast under Haman’s charge to determine the propitious day and month. The lot turned up the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar.
8-9 Haman then spoke with King Xerxes: “There is an odd set of people scattered through the provinces of your kingdom who don’t fit in. Their customs and ways are different from those of everybody else. Worse, they disregard the king’s laws. They’re an affront; the king shouldn’t put up with them. If it please the king, let orders be given that they be destroyed. I’ll pay for it myself. I’ll deposit 375 tons of silver in the royal bank to finance the operation.”
10 The king slipped his signet ring from his hand and gave it to Haman son of Hammedatha the Agagite, archenemy of the Jews.
11 “Go ahead,” the king said to Haman. “It’s your money—do whatever you want with those people.”
12 The king’s secretaries were brought in on the thirteenth day of the first month. The orders were written out word for word as Haman had addressed them to the king’s satraps, the governors of every province, and the officials of every people. They were written in the script of each province and the language of each people in the name of King Xerxes and sealed with the royal signet ring.
13-14 Bulletins were sent out by couriers to all the king’s provinces with orders to massacre, kill, and eliminate all the Jews—youngsters and old men, women and babies—on a single day, the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the month Adar, and to plunder their goods. Copies of the bulletin were to be posted in each province, publicly available to all peoples, to get them ready for that day.
15 At the king’s command, the couriers took off; the order was also posted in the palace complex of Susa. The king and Haman sat back and had a drink while the city of Susa reeled from the news.
Esther 3
Amplified Bible, Classic Edition
3 After these things, King [a]Ahasuerus promoted Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite and advanced him and set his seat above all the princes who were with him.
2 And all the king’s servants who were at the king’s gate bowed down and did reverence to Haman, for the king had so commanded concerning him. But Mordecai did not bow down or do him reverence.
3 Then the king’s servants who were at the king’s gate said to Mordecai, Why do you transgress the king’s command?
4 Now when they spoke to him day after day and he paid no attention to them, they told Haman to see whether Mordecai’s conduct would stand, for he had told them that he was a Jew.
5 And when Haman saw that Mordecai did not bow down or do him reverence, he was very angry.
6 But he scorned laying hands only on Mordecai. So since they had told him Mordecai’s nationality, Haman sought to destroy all the Jews, the people of Mordecai, throughout the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus.
7 In the first month, the month of Nisan, in the twelfth year of King Ahasuerus, Haman caused Pur, that is, lots, to be cast before him day after day [to find a lucky day for his venture], month after month, until the twelfth, the month of Adar.
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 every other people, neither do they keep the king’s laws. Therefore it is not for the king’s profit to tolerate them.
9 If it pleases the king, let it be decreed that they be destroyed, and I will pay 10,000 talents of silver into the hands of those who have charge of the king’s business, that it may be brought into the king’s treasuries.
10 And the king took his signet ring from his hand [with which to seal his letters by the king’s authority] and gave it to Haman son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the Jews’ enemy.
11 And the king said to Haman, The silver is given to you, the people also, to do with them as it seems good to you.
12 Then the king’s secretaries were called in on the thirteenth day of the first month, and all that Haman had commanded was written to the king’s chief rulers and to the governors who were over all the provinces and to the princes of each people, to every province in its own script and to each people in their own language; it was written in the name of King Ahasuerus and it was sealed with the king’s [signet] ring.
13 And letters were sent by special messengers to all the king’s provinces—to destroy, to slay, and to do away with all Jews, both young and old, little children and women, in one day, the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the month of Adar, and to seize their belongings as spoil.
14 A copy of the writing was to be published and given out as a decree in every province to all the peoples to be ready for that day.
15 The special messengers went out in haste by order of the king, and the decree was given out in Shushan, the capital. And the king and Haman sat down to drink, but the city of Shushan was perplexed [at the strange and alarming decree].
Footnotes
- Esther 3:1 There seems to be little doubt that King Ahasuerus is to be identified with the well-known Xerxes, who reigned from 486 to 465 b.c. The Zondervan Pictorial Bible Dictionary (Merrill C. Tenney, ed.) gives four close similarities between them which support this identification. Also, “the Ahasuerus of Ezra 4:6, to whom were written accusations against the Jews of Jerusalem, is in all probability the same Xerxes, although sometimes identified with Cambyses son of Cyrus.”
Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson
Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation
