Ester 3

BIBBIA TINTORI	NEW JERUSALEM
1 Dopo queste cose, il re Assuero esaltò Aman, figlio di Amatati, della stirpe di Agag, e pose il trono di lui sopra tutti i principi che aveva dintorno.	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,
2 Tutti i servi del re che erano alla porta del palazzo piegavano le ginocchia e adoravano Aman, perchè aveva così comandato il loro imperatore. Siccome soltanto Mardocheo non piegava le ginocchia ad adorarlo,	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.
3 i servi del re che custodivano la porta del palazzo gli dissero: « Perchè non osservi l'ordine del re come tutti gli altri? »	3 'Why do you flout the royal command?' the officials of the Chancel ery asked Mordecai.
4 Dopo averglielo ripetuto molte volte, senza che egli ascoltasse, lo dissero ad Aman, per vedere se perseverava nella sua risoluzione Mardocheo, che aveva detto d'essere Giudeo.	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.
5 Aman, dopo aver sentita questa cosa, quando alla prova vide che Mardocheo non piegava le ginocchia davanti a lui e non lo adorava, ne concepì grande sdegno,	5 Haman could see for himself that Mordecai did not bow or prostrate himself in his presence; he becamefuriously angry.
6 e, sembrandogli un nulla punire soltanto Mardocheo, che aveva saputo Giudeo di nazione, volle sterminare anche tutta la nazione dei Giudei che erano nel regno di Assuero.	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.
7 Nel primo mese chiamato Nisan, l'anno duodecimo del regno d'Assuero, la sorte (detta in ebraico Pur) fu gettata nell'urna davanti ad Aman, per saper in qual giorno e in qual mese dovesse esser trucidata la nazione dei Giudei: uscì fuori il duodecimo mese, detto Adar.	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,
8 Allora Aman andò a dire al re Assuero: « Vi è un popolo disperso in tutte le provincie del tuo regno, che vive appartato dagli altri, ha leggi e cerimonie nuove, e di più disprezza gli ordini del re. Or sai benissimo che non giova al tuo regno lasciarlo insolentire.	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.
9 Se così ti piace, comanda che sia sterminato, e io peserò dieci mila talenti ai cassieri del tuo tesoro ».	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.'
10 Il re, toltosi di mano l'anello di cui si serviva, lo diede ad Aman, figlio di Amadati della stirpe di Agag, nemico dei Giudei,	10 The king then took his signet ring off his hand and gave it to Haman son of Hammedatha, thepersecutor of the Jews.
11 dicendogli: « L'argento da te promesso sia tuo, e di quel popolo fanne quel che ti piace ».	11 'Keep the money,' he said, 'and you can have the people too; do what you like with them.'
12 Il primo mese, detto Nisan, ai tredici dello stesso mese, chiamati gli scrivani del re, sotto gli ordini di Aman fu scritto, a nome di Assuero, a tutti i satrapi del re, ai giudici delle provincie e delle diverse nazioni, in modo che ciascuna nazione potesse leggere e intendere secondo la sua lingua particolare. La lettera fu sigillata col sigillo reale,	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,
13 e fu spedita, per mezzo dei corrieri del re, a tutte le provincie, per far uccidere e sterminare tutti i Giudei, ragazzi, vecchi, fanciulli e donne, in un sol giorno, cioè il giorno tredici del duodecimo mese, detto Adar, e predarne tutti i beni.	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.'
14 Questa la sostanza della lettera a tutte le provincie, affinchè, informate, si preparassero pel giorno stabilito.	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.
15 I corrieri mandati si affrettarono ad eseguire il comando reale. L'editto fu subito affisso in Susa, mentre il re ed Aman, se ne stavano a banchettare, e i Giudei che erano nella città piangevano.	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.