⁷ In the twelfth year of King Xerxes, in the first month, the month of Nisan, the pur^(A) (that is, the lot^(B)) was cast in the presence of Haman to select a day and month. And the lot fell on^[a] the twelfth month, the month of Adar.^(C)

²⁴ For Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite,^(A) the enemy of all the Jews, had plotted against the Jews to destroy them and had cast the pur^(B) (that is, the lot^(C)) for their ruin and destruction.^(D)