Afterthesethings did kingAhasueruspromoteHaman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, and advanced him, and set his seatabove all the princesthatwerewith him.
And all the king’sservants, thatwere in the king’sgate, bowed, and reverencedHaman: for the king had so commandedconcerning him. But Mordecaibowed not, nor did him reverence.
Now it came to pass, whentheyspakedailyunto him, and he hearkened not untothem, thattheytoldHaman, to see whetherMordecai’smatterswouldstand: for he had toldthemthat he was a Jew.
And he thoughtscorn to lay hands on Mordecaialone; for they had shewed him the people of Mordecai: whereforeHamansought to destroy all the Jewsthatwerethroughout the wholekingdom of Ahasuerus, even the people of Mordecai.
In the firstmonth, that is, the monthNisan, in the twelfthyear of kingAhasuerus, theycast Pur, that is, the lot, beforeHamanfrom day to day, and frommonth to month, to the twelfthmonth, that is, the monthAdar.
And HamansaiduntokingAhasuerus, There is a certainpeoplescatteredabroad and dispersedamong the people in all the provinces of thy kingdom; and theirlaws are diversefrom all people; neitherkeepthey the king’slaws: therefore it is not for the king’sprofit to sufferthem.
If it please the king, let it be writtenthatthey may be destroyed: and I will pay ten thousandtalents of silver to the hands of thosethathave the charge of the business, to bring it into the king’streasuries.
Thenwere the king’sscribescalled on the thirteenth day of the firstmonth, and there was writtenaccording to all thatHaman had commandedunto the king’slieutenants, and to the governorsthatwereovereveryprovince, and to the rulers of everypeople of everyprovinceaccording to the writingthereof, and to everypeopleaftertheirlanguage; in the name of kingAhasuerus was it written, and sealedwith the king’sring.
And the lettersweresent by postsinto all the king’sprovinces, to destroy, to kill, and to cause to perish, all Jews, bothyoung and old, littlechildren and women, in one day, evenupon the thirteenth day of the twelfthmonth, which is the monthAdar, and to take the spoil of them for a prey.
The postswent out, beinghastened by the king’scommandment, and the decree was given in Shushan the palace. And the king and Haman sat down to drink; but the cityShushan was perplexed.