Esther 3

The man who would not bow

1After this, King Ahasuerus promoted Haman son of Hammedatha the Agagite. He raised him up and set his seat above all the officials who were with him. 2All the king’s servants at the king’s gate would kneel and bow low to Haman, for so the king had commanded concerning him. But Mordecai would not kneel and would not bow. 3The king’s servants at the king’s gate said to Mordecai, “Why do you disobey the king’s command?” 4Day after day they spoke to him, and he would not listen to them, so they told Haman, to see whether Mordecai’s words would stand — for he had told them that he was a Jew. 5When Haman saw that Mordecai would not kneel or bow to him, Haman was filled with fury. 6But he thought it beneath him to lay hands on Mordecai alone, for they had told him who Mordecai’s people were. So Haman set out to destroy all the Jews throughout the kingdom of Ahasuerus — the people of Mordecai. 7In the first month — the month of Nisan — in the twelfth year of King Ahasuerus, they cast Pur — that is, the lot — before Haman, from day to day and from month to month, to the twelfth month, that is, the month of Adar. 8Then Haman said to King Ahasuerus: “There is a certain people scattered and dispersed among the peoples in every province of your kingdom. Their laws are unlike those of every other people, and they do not keep the king’s laws; it is not worth the king’s while to leave them be. 9If it pleases the king, let it be written that they are to be destroyed, and I will weigh out ten thousand talents of silver into the hands of those who do the work, to be brought into the king’s treasuries.” 10The king took his signet ring off his hand and gave it to Haman son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the enemy of the Jews. 11The king said to Haman, “The silver is yours, and the people as well — do with them as you see fit.” 12Then the king’s secretaries were summoned, on the thirteenth day of the first month, and everything Haman commanded was written down: to the king’s satraps, to the governors over each province, and to the officials of each people — to each province in its own script and to each people in its own language. It was written in the name of King Ahasuerus and sealed with the king’s signet ring. 13Letters were sent by couriers to all the king’s provinces: to destroy, to kill and to annihilate all the Jews — young and old, children and women — on a single day, on the thirteenth of the twelfth month, that is, the month of Adar, and to plunder their goods. 14A copy of the document was to be issued as a decree in every province and published to all the peoples, so that they would be ready for that day. 15The couriers went out in haste at the king’s word, and the decree was issued in the citadel of Susa. The king and Haman sat down to drink; but the city of Susa was thrown into confusion.