哈曼圖謀滅絕猶太人
1後來，亞哈隨魯王擢升亞甲人哈米大他的兒子哈曼，使他的權位高過他所有的同僚。 2王命令所有在宮門供職的臣僕都要向哈曼跪拜，但末底改不肯跪拜。 3在宮門供職的臣僕問末底改：「你為何違抗王的命令？」 4他們天天勸他，他卻不聽。他們便把這件事告訴哈曼，想看看末底改這樣做是否能站得住，因為末底改已告訴他們自己是猶太人。 5哈曼見末底改不肯向他跪拜，就怒氣填胸。 6他得知末底改是猶太人後，便不屑於只害末底改一人，而是要剷除亞哈隨魯王國內所有的猶太人，即末底改的同胞。
7亞哈隨魯王十二年一月，即尼散月，有人在哈曼面前抽普珥，也就是抽籤，來決定哪月哪日下手，結果抽中十二月，即亞達月。
8哈曼對亞哈隨魯王說：「有一個民族散居在王境內各省的眾民族中，他們的律例與各族的律例不同，他們不遵守王的律例，所以容忍他們對王不利。 9王若願意，就請降旨消滅他們。我願捐三百四十五噸銀子交給管理國事的人，納入王的庫房。」 10於是，王摘下手上的戒指，交給猶太人的仇敵——亞甲人哈米大他的兒子哈曼， 11對他說：「這些銀子歸你，這個民族也交給你，隨你處置。」
12一月十三日，王的書記被召來，他們以亞哈隨魯王的名義，照哈曼的吩咐，用各省的文字和各族的語言寫諭旨，用王的戒指蓋印，送交各總督、各省省長和各族首領。 13諭旨由信差送到王的各省，限令在一天之內，即十二月，也就是亞達月十三日，把猶太人的男女老少全部剷除、殺光、滅盡，並奪取他們的財物。 14諭旨的抄本作為法令頒佈到各省，通知各族為那天做好準備。 15信差奉王的命令急忙上路，諭旨也在書珊城裡頒佈了。王和哈曼坐下飲酒，書珊城一片慌亂。
Haman Plans to Destroy the Jews
1After those events, King Xerxes honored Haman. Haman was the son of Hammedatha. He was from the family line of Agag. The king gave Haman a higher position than he had before. He gave him a seat of honor. It was higher than the positions any of the other nobles had. 2All the royal officials at the palace gate got down on their knees. They gave honor to Haman. That’s because the king had commanded them to do it. But Mordecai refused to get down on his knees. He wouldn’t give Haman any honor at all.
3The royal officials at the palace gate asked Mordecai a question. They said, “Why don’t you obey the king’s command?” 4Day after day they spoke to him. But he still refused to obey. So they told Haman about it. They wanted to see whether he would let Mordecai get away with what he was doing. Mordecai had told them he was a Jew.
5Haman noticed that Mordecai wouldn’t get down on his knees. He wouldn’t give Haman any honor. So Haman was very angry. 6But he had found out who Mordecai’s people were. So he didn’t want to kill only Mordecai. He also looked for a way to destroy all Mordecai’s people. They were Jews. He wanted to kill all of them everywhere in the kingdom of Xerxes.
7The lot was cast in front of Haman. The lot was called Pur. It was cast in the first month of the 12th year that Xerxes was king. That month was called Nisan. The lot was cast to choose a day and a month. The month chosen was the 12th month. That month was called Adar.
8Then Haman said to King Xerxes, “Certain people are scattered among the nations. They live in all the territories in your kingdom. They keep themselves separate from everyone else. Their practices are different from the practices of all other people. They don’t obey your laws. It really isn’t good for you to put up with them. 9If it pleases you, give the order to destroy them. I’ll even add 375 tons of silver to the king’s officials for the royal treasures.”
10So the king took his ring off his finger. The ring had his royal seal on it. He gave the ring to Haman. Haman was the son of Hammedatha, the Agagite. Haman was the enemy of the Jews. 11“Keep the money,” the king said to Haman. “Do what you want to with those people.”
12The king sent for the royal secretaries. It was the 13th day of the first month. The secretaries wrote down all Haman’s orders. They wrote them down in the writing of each territory in the kingdom. They also wrote them in the language of each nation. The orders were sent to the royal officials and to the governors of the territories. And the orders were also sent to the nobles of the nations. The orders were written in the name of King Xerxes himself. And they were stamped with his own official mark. 13They were carried by messengers. They were sent to all the king’s territories. The orders commanded people to destroy, kill and wipe out all the Jews. That included young people and old people alike. It included women and children. All the Jews were supposed to be killed on a single day. That day was the 13th day of the 12th month. It was the month of Adar. The orders also commanded people to take everything that belonged to the Jews. 14A copy of the order had to be sent out as law. It had to be sent to every territory in the kingdom. It had to be announced to the people of every nation. Then they would be ready for that day.
15The king commanded the messengers to go out. So they did. The order was sent out from the fort of Susa. Then the king and Haman sat down to drink wine. But the people in the city were bewildered.
