1 ARST Some time later, King Ahasuerus promoted{ one of his officials,} Haman, the son of Hammedatha, who was a descendant of Agag. The king gave Haman a very important position, more important than any of his other officials. BSB BSB: After these events, King Xerxes honored Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, elevating him to a position above all the princes who were with him.
2 ARST The king{ wanted to show that he had given Haman an important position. So he} commanded all of his other servants who were at the king’ s gate to bow down all the way to the ground to honor Haman{ whenever he walked by}. But Mordecai refused to bow down to Haman,{ because as a Jew he would not worship anyone except Yahweh}. BSB BSB: All the royal servants at the king’s gate bowed down and paid homage to Haman, because the king had commanded that this be done for him. But Mordecai would not bow down or pay homage.
3 ARST The other servants at the king’ s gate{ saw that Mordecai refused to bow down, and they} asked him,“Why are you disobeying the king’ s command?” BSB BSB: Then the royal servants at the king’s gate asked Mordecai, “Why do you disobey the command of the king?”
4 ARST Mordecai told them that he was a Jew,{ and that Jews only worship Yahweh}. The other servants warned Mordecai every day{ that he would be punished severely if he kept disobeying the king and not honoring his most important official}. But Mordecai still refused to bow down. So they told Haman about it to see if he would allow Mordecai to keep refusing to bow down{ because he was a Jew}. BSB BSB: Day after day they warned him, but he would not comply. So they reported it to Haman to see whether Mordecai’s behavior would be tolerated, since he had told them he was a Jew.
5 ARST When Haman saw that Mordecai would not bow down to him, he became furious. BSB BSB: When Haman saw that Mordecai would not bow down or pay him homage, he was filled with rage.
6 ARST The other servants told Haman that{ Mordecai was not bowing down to him because} Mordecai was a Jew. So Haman decided it would not be enough just to kill Mordecai alone. Haman decided that he would try to kill all the Jews in the entire empire of Ahasuerus. BSB BSB: And when he learned the identity of Mordecai’s people, he scorned the notion of laying hands on Mordecai alone. Instead, he sought to destroy all of Mordecai’s people, the Jews, throughout the kingdom of Xerxes.
7 ARST So Haman had his servants cast a Pur(that is, a lot) while he watched{ to determine the best month and the best day of the month to kill the Jews}. They did that in the first month, the month of Nisan, in the twelfth year that Ahasuerus reigned{ as king of Persia}. The lot selected the twelfth month of that year, the month of Adar,{ as the time for Haman to carry out his plan}. BSB BSB: In the twelfth year of King Xerxes, in the first month, the month of Nisan, the Pur (that is, the lot) was cast before Haman to determine a day and month. And the lot fell on the twelfth month, the month of Adar.
8 ARST Then Haman went to King Ahasuerus and said,“Your Majesty, there is a certain group of people who live among the other peoples in your empire. They are in every province. They have their own set of laws, and so they do not obey your laws. It is not good for you to allow them to live in your empire. BSB BSB: Then Haman informed King Xerxes, “There is a certain people scattered and dispersed among the peoples of every province of your kingdom. Their laws are different from everyone else’s, and they do not obey the king’s laws. So it is not in the king’s best interest to tolerate them.
9 ARST If you approve of this plan, O king, then write a decree saying that all of the Jews must die.{ When they are dead, we can take all of their goods, and from that} I will give 300 tons of silver to your administrators for them to put into your royal treasuries.” BSB BSB: If it pleases the king, let a decree be issued to destroy them, and I will deposit ten thousand talents of silver into the royal treasury to pay those who carry it out.”
10 ARST The king{ liked what Haman said. So he} gave Haman the ring that he wore that had his official seal on it.{ With that, Haman could make laws as if he were the king himself.} Haman, the son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, had become the enemy of the Jews. BSB BSB: So the king removed the signet ring from his finger and gave it to Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, the enemy of the Jews.
11 ARST The king told Haman,“You can keep the money for yourself, and you can do whatever you want to do with those people.” BSB BSB: “Keep your money,” said the king to Haman. “These people are given to you to do with them as you please.”
12 ARST On the thirteenth day of the first month of that same year, Haman called in the royal scribes, and he dictated a letter to them. He told them to send copies to the royal officials, the governors of each province, and the leaders of each people group. The scribes translated the letter so it could be sent to each province using its own alphabet and to each people group in its own language. To show that he was sending the letter under the king’ s own authority, Haman sealed each copy of the letter with the ring that had the king’ s official seal on it. BSB BSB: On the thirteenth day of the first month, the royal scribes were summoned and the order was written exactly as Haman commanded the royal satraps, the governors of each province, and the officials of each people, in the script of each province and the language of every people. It was written in the name of King Xerxes and sealed with the royal signet ring.
13 ARST Couriers delivered the letters to the officials in every province in the empire. The letters said to completely destroy all the Jews, including the children and women, on a single day. That was to be the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the month of Adar,{ in that same year}. The letters also said that those who killed the Jews could take everything that belonged to them. BSB BSB: And the letters were sent by couriers to each of the royal provinces with the order to destroy, kill, and annihilate all the Jews—young and old, women and children—and to plunder their possessions on a single day, the thirteenth day of Adar, the twelfth month.
14 ARST The letter told the officials to post copies where everyone could see them. That way all the people in every single province would know that the king had commanded this, and they would get ready{ to do what the letter said to do} when the day came. BSB BSB: A copy of the text of the edict was to be issued in every province and published to all the people, so that they would be ready on that day.
15 ARST As the king had commanded, couriers rushed{ with the letters to every province in the empire}. A herald also proclaimed what the letter said in the capital city of Susa. The king and Haman relaxed and drank together. But everyone who lived in Susa was very upset{ about what was going to happen}. BSB BSB: The couriers left, spurred on by the king’s command, and the edict was issued in the citadel of Susa. Then the king and Haman sat down to drink, but the city of Susa was in confusion.
Select verses for actions: Enter goes to them and Escape comes back.