Esther 3

NEW JERUSALEM	Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition
1 Shortly afterwards, King Ahasuerus singled out Haman son of Hammedatha, a native of Agag, forpromotion. He raised him in rank, granting him precedence over all his col eagues, the other officers-of-state,	1 After these things King Ahasuerus promoted Haman the Agagite, the son of Hammedatha, and advanced him and set his seat above all the princes who were with him.
2 and al the royal officials employed at the Chancel ery used to bow low and prostrate themselveswhenever Haman appeared -- such was the king's command. Mordecai refused either to bow or to prostratehimself.	2 And all the king's servants who were at the king's gate bowed down and did obeisance to Haman; for the king had so commanded concerning him. But Mordecai did not bow down or do obeisance.
3 'Why do you flout the royal command?' the officials of the Chancel ery asked Mordecai.	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 Day after day they asked him this, but he took no notice of them. In the end they reported the matter toHaman, to see whether Mordecai would persist in his attitude, since he had told them that he was a Jew.	4 And when they spoke to him day after day and he would not listen to them, they told Haman, in order to see whether Mordecai's words would avail; for he had told them that he was a Jew.
5 Haman could see for himself that Mordecai did not bow or prostrate himself in his presence; he becamefuriously angry.	5 And when Haman saw that Mordecai did not bow down or do obeisance to him, Haman was filled with fury.
6 And, on being told what race Mordecai belonged to, he thought it beneath him merely to get rid ofMordecai, but made up his mind to wipe out all the members of Mordecai's race, the Jews, living in Ahasuerus'entire empire.	6 But he disdained to lay hands on Mordecai alone. So, as they had made known to him the people of Mordecai, Haman sought to destroy all the Jews, the people of Mordecai, throughout the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus.
7 In the first month, that is the month of Nisan, of the twelfth year of King Ahasuerus, the pur (that is, thelot) was cast in Haman's presence, to determine the day and the month. The lot falling on the twelfth month,which is Adar,	7 In the first month, which is the month of Nisan, in the twelfth year of King Ahasuerus, they cast Pur, that is the lot, before Haman day after day; and they cast it month after month till the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar.
8 Haman said to King Ahasuerus, 'There is a certain unassimilated nation scattered among the othernations throughout the provinces of your realm; their laws are different from those of al the other nations, andthe royal laws they ignore; hence it is not in the king's interests to tolerate them.	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 those of every other people, and they do not keep the king's laws, so that it is not for the king's profit to tolerate them.
9 If their destruction be signed, so please the king, I am ready to pay ten thousand talents of silver to theking's receivers, to be credited to the royal treasury.'	9 If it please the king, let it be decreed that they be destroyed, and I will pay ten thousand talents of silver into the hands of those who have charge of the king's business, that they may put it into the king's treasuries."
10 The king then took his signet ring off his hand and gave it to Haman son of Hammedatha, thepersecutor of the Jews.	10 So the king took his signet ring from his hand and gave it to Haman the Agagite, the son of Hammedatha, the enemy of the Jews.
11 'Keep the money,' he said, 'and you can have the people too; do what you like with them.'	11 And the king said to Haman, "The money is given to you, the people also, to do with them as it seems good to you."
12 The royal scribes were therefore summoned for the thirteenth day of the first month, when they wroteout the orders addressed by Haman to the king's satraps, to the governors ruling each province and to theprincipal officials of each people, to each province in its own script and to each people in its own language. Theedict was signed in the name of King Ahasuerus and sealed with his ring,	12 Then the king's secretaries were summoned on the thirteenth day of the first month, and an edict, according to all that Haman commanded, was written to the king's satraps and to the governors over all the provinces and to the princes of all the peoples, to every province in its own script and every people in its own language; it was written in the name of King Ahasuerus and sealed with the king's ring.
13 and letters were sent by runners to every province of the realm, ordering the destruction, slaughter andannihilation of al Jews, young and old, including women and children, on the same day -- the thirteenth day ofthe twelfth month, which is Adar -- and the seizing of their possessions. (a) The text of the letter was as fol ows:'The Great King, Ahasuerus, to the governors of the hundred and twenty-seven provinces stretching from Indiato Ethiopia, and to their subordinate district commissioners: (b) 'Being placed in authority over many nations andruling the whole world, I have resolved never to be carried away by the insolence of power, but always to rulewith moderation and clemency, so as to assure for my subjects a life ever free from storms and, offering mykingdom the benefits of civilisation and free transit from end to end, to restore that peace which al men desire.(c) In consultation with our advisers as to how this aim is to be effected, we have been informed by one of them,eminent among us for prudence and wel proved for his unfailing devotion and unshakeable trustworthiness, andin rank second only to our majesty, Haman by name, (d) that there is, mingled among all the tribes of the earth, acertain ill-disposed people, opposed by its laws to every other nation and continually defying the royalordinances, in such a way as to obstruct that form of government assured by us to the general good. (e)'Considering therefore that this people, unique of its kind, is in complete opposition to al humanity from which itdiffers by its outlandish laws, that it is hostile to our interests and that it commits the most heinous crimes, to thepoint of endangering the stability of the realm: (f) 'We command that those persons designated to you in theletters written by Haman, who was appointed to watch over our interests and is a second father to us, be alldestroyed, root and branch, including women and children, by the swords of their enemies, without any pity ormercy, on the fourteenth day of the twelfth month, Adar, of the present year, (g) so that, these past and presentmalcontents being in one day forcibly thrown down to Hades, our government may henceforward enjoy perpetualstability and peace.'	13 Letters were sent by couriers to all the king's provinces, to destroy, to slay, and to annihilate all Jews, young and old, women and children, in one day, the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar, and to plunder their goods.
14 Copies of this decree, to be promulgated as law in each province, were published to the variouspeoples, so that each might be ready for the day aforementioned.	14 A copy of the document was to be issued as a decree in every province by proclamation to all the peoples to be ready for that day.
15 At the king's command, the runners set out with all speed; the decree was first promulgated in thecitadel of Susa. While the king and Haman gave themselves up to feasting and drinking, consternation reigned inthe city of Susa.	15 The couriers went in haste by order of the king, and the decree was issued in Susa the capital. And the king and Haman sat down to drink; but the city of Susa was perplexed.