Haman’s Plot against the Jews 1 UDB After these things happened, King Ahasuerus promoted Haman the Agagite son of Hammedatha above all the other officials and he made it clear that Haman was over all others who served under him. 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 UDB All the other officials bowed down in front of Haman to honor him, and they gave him great honor, as the king commanded they should. But Mordecai refused to bow down to Haman or to give him that kind of honor. 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 UDB The other officials saw that, and they asked Mordecai, "Why do you disobey 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 UDB They spoke with him day after day and he would not do what they said, or answer them. So they reported to Haman to see if he would tolerate Mordecai's actions, for Mordecai had told them that 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 UDB When Haman learned that Mordecai refused to kneel down or prostrate himself to him, he became extremely angry. BSB BSB: When Haman saw that Mordecai would not bow down or pay him homage, he was filled with rage.
6 UDB He was too proud to want to punish only Mordecai. Because the king's servants had made it known that Mordecai was Jewish, Haman wanted all the Jews to be killed. So this matter became an opportunity to kill all the Jews everywhere in Ahasuerus's kingdom. 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 UDB In the first month (which is known as the month of Nisan), in the twelfth year of Ahasuerus's reign, they cast Pur (that is, they cast lots) in Haman's presence. They wanted to select a month and a day in which to set this plan in motion. They cast lots for each month and day until they decided on the twelfth month, the month of Adar. 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 UDB Then Haman went to the king and said to him, "Your Majesty, there is a certain group of people who live in many areas of your empire whose laws are different from ours. They even refuse to obey your laws. You should certainly not let them stay, but instead get rid of them. 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 UDB If it pleases you, command that they should all be killed. If you do that, I will give 330,000 kilograms of silver to be weighed out and given into the accounts of those who are in of your treasury." 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 UDB The king liked what Haman said, so, and to confirm what he decided, he gave the ring that had his official seal from his signet ring, and gave it to Haman, the Agagite, the one who hated 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 UDB The king told Haman, "I am giving the money back to you and your people. Do with it as you please." BSB BSB: “Keep your money,” said the king to Haman. “These people are given to you to do with them as you please.”
12 UDB Then the king's scribes were called together on the thirteenth day of the first month. On that day, an order was written that had everything Haman commanded. The order was sent out to the king's provincial governors—those who were over all the provinces, to the governors of all the various people who were living in the kingdom, and to the officials of all the people. The order was written in every language and in the writing of those languages so they could be read and understood. It was written in the name of King Ahasuerus and was sealed with the his own ring, which he had given to Haman to use. 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 UDB Couriers in every province in the kingdom spread the decree. The order was to kill every Jew, to kill them all, and to destroy the Jewish people, from young to old, children and women. This was to be done on one day—on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month (which is the month of Adar). When the Jews were dead, the rest of the people would be allowed to take all their possessions. 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 UDB A copy of the letter was made law, by order of the king, in every province. In every province all the people learned that they should get ready for that day. 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 UDB Then, according to what the king commanded, men riding horses took these letter quickly to every province in the kingdom. And one of the letters was read aloud to the people who lived and worked within the palace in Susa. Then the king and Haman sat down to drink together, but the people in the city of Susa were very perplexed. 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.
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