Esther 3
EasyEnglish Bible
Haman is angry with Mordecai
3 After some time, King Xerxes gave one of his officers greater authority. The officer's name was Haman. He was the son of Hammedatha, a descendant of Agag. Haman became the most important officer who served the king. 2 The king commanded that all the royal officers at the king's gate must bend down low down to Haman. So they all gave Haman honour when he passed them. Only Mordecai would not bend down and give honour to Haman.[a]
3 The officers at the king's gate asked Mordecai, ‘Why do you not obey the king's command?’ 4 They warned Mordecai every day. But he would not agree to bend down low to Haman. So the officers told Haman about this. Mordecai had told them that he was a Jew. So they wanted to know if Haman would let Mordecai do this.
5 When Haman realized that Mordecai would not give him honour, he became very angry. 6 But he did not want to destroy only Mordecai. Now he knew that Mordecai was a Jew, he decided to destroy all the Jews who lived in Xerxes' whole kingdom.
Haman decides to kill all the Jews
7 Haman asked his advisors when would be the right time to make this happen. He asked them in the first month of the year (Nisan), during Xerxes' 12th year as king. Haman's advisors threw dice to decide the right time to destroy the Jews. The dice chose the 12th month of the year (Adar). The dice were called ‘Purim’.
8 Then Haman said to King Xerxes, ‘There is a group of people who live in many regions of your kingdom. They have different customs to all the other people. They refuse to obey the laws of your kingdom. It is not good for you to let them live among all the other people in your kingdom. 9 If you agree, we should send out a command to destroy them. Then I will give 350 tons of silver to the king, so that your officers can do this work.’[b]
10 The king took his special ring from his finger and he gave it to Hammedatha's son, Haman, the Jews' great enemy.[c] 11 He said to Haman, ‘Keep your money. You should do anything that you want with these people.’
12 On the 13th day of the first month, Haman asked the king's secretaries to come to him. They wrote Haman's commands in letters to the king's rulers and officers in every region. They wrote the letters in the languages that people spoke in the different regions. Haman used the authority of King Xerxes and he marked the letters with the king's special ring.[d]
13 Men delivered the letters to all the regions of the kingdom. Haman's command said that on the 13th day of the 12th month (Adar) people should completely destroy and kill all the Jews. They should kill old people and young people, women and children. Then they should take all the Jews' valuable things for themselves. 14 Haman sent copies of his command to every region, so that it would be read aloud to the people. Everyone would know what the law said, and everyone would be ready on the right day.
15 King Xerxes told his men to take the letters quickly to all the people. They also read the law to the people in Susa city. Then Haman and the king sat down to drink wine together. But the people in the city were very upset.
Footnotes
- 3:2 We do not know why Mordecai refused to give honour to Haman. Perhaps it was because Haman's father was a descendant of Amalek, through Agag. The Israelites and the Amalekites had been enemies for a long time. See Exodus 17:16.
- 3:9 This was a very large amount of silver. Haman probably expected to take it from the Jews when he had killed them all.
- 3:10 Any law with the mark of the king's special ring on it had the king's authority. When the king gave his special ring to Haman, he was giving Haman his royal authority.
- 3:12 Haman used the king's authority to send the letters to destroy the Jews. But the king did not know that it was the Jews that Haman wanted to destroy. And he did not know that Queen Esther was a Jew.
Esther 3
Good News Translation
Haman Plots to Destroy the Jews
3 Some time later King Xerxes promoted a man named Haman to the position of prime minister. Haman was the son of Hammedatha, a descendant of Agag.[a] 2 The king ordered all the officials in his service to show their respect for Haman by kneeling and bowing to him. They all did so, except for Mordecai, who refused to do it. 3 The other officials in the royal service asked him why he was disobeying the king's command; 4 day after day they urged him to give in, but he would not listen to them. “I am a Jew,” he explained, “and I cannot bow to Haman.” So they told Haman about this, wondering if he would tolerate Mordecai's conduct. 5 Haman was furious when he realized that Mordecai was not going to kneel and bow to him, 6 and when he learned that Mordecai was a Jew, he decided to do more than punish Mordecai alone. He made plans to kill every Jew in the whole Persian Empire.
7 In the twelfth year of King Xerxes' rule, in the first month, the month of Nisan, Haman ordered the lots to be cast (“purim,” they were called) to find out the right day and month to carry out his plot. The thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the month of Adar, was decided on.
8 (A)So Haman told the king, “There is a certain race of people scattered all over your empire and found in every province. They observe customs that are not like those of any other people. Moreover, they do not obey the laws of the empire, so it is not in your best interests to tolerate them. 9 If it please Your Majesty, issue a decree that they are to be put to death. If you do, I guarantee that I will be able to put 375 tons of silver into the royal treasury for the administration of the empire.”
10 The king took off his ring, which was used to stamp proclamations and make them official, and gave it to the enemy of the Jewish people, Haman son of Hammedatha, the descendant of Agag. 11 The king told him, “The people and their money are yours; do as you like with them.”
12 So on the thirteenth day of the first month Haman called the king's secretaries and dictated a proclamation to be translated into every language and system of writing used in the empire and to be sent to all the rulers, governors, and officials. It was issued in the name of King Xerxes and stamped with his ring. 13 Runners took this proclamation to every province of the empire. It contained the instructions that on a single day, the thirteenth day of Adar, all Jews—young and old, women and children—were to be killed. They were to be slaughtered without mercy and their belongings were to be taken. 14 The contents of the proclamation were to be made public in every province, so that everyone would be prepared when that day came.
15 At the king's command the decree was made public in the capital city of Susa, and runners carried the news to the provinces. The king and Haman sat down and had a drink while the city of Susa was being thrown into confusion.
Footnotes
- Esther 3:1 An Amalekite king; his people were traditional enemies of the people of Israel.
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