Haman’s Conspiracy Against the Jews

3 After these things King Ahasuerus promoted Haman, the son of Hammedatha the ^(A)Agagite, and ^(B)advanced him and set his seat above all the princes who were with him. ² And all the king’s servants who were ^(C)within the king’s gate bowed and paid homage to Haman, for so the king had commanded concerning him. But Mordecai ^(D)would not bow or pay homage. ³ Then the king’s servants who were within the king’s gate said to Mordecai, “Why do you transgress the ^(E)king’s command?” ⁴ Now it happened, when they spoke to him daily and he would not listen to them, that they told it to Haman, to see whether Mordecai’s words would stand; for Mordecai had told them that he was a Jew. ⁵ When Haman saw that Mordecai ^(F)did not bow or pay him homage, Haman was ^(G)filled with wrath. ⁶ But he disdained to lay hands on Mordecai alone, for they had told him of the people of Mordecai. Instead, Haman ^(H)sought to destroy all the Jews who were throughout the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus—the people of Mordecai.

⁷ In the first month, which is the month of Nisan, in the twelfth year of King Ahasuerus, ^(I)they cast Pur (that is, the lot), before Haman ^[a]to determine the day and the ^[b]month, ^[c]until it fell on the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar.

⁸ Then Haman said to King Ahasuerus, “There is a certain people scattered and dispersed among the people in all the provinces of your kingdom; ^(J)their laws are different from all other people’s, and they do not keep the king’s laws. Therefore it is not fitting for the king to let them remain. ⁹ If it pleases the king, let a decree be written that they be destroyed, and I will pay ten thousand talents of silver into the hands of those who do the work, to bring it into the king’s treasuries.”

¹⁰ So the king ^(K)took ^(L)his signet ring from his hand and gave it to Haman, the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the ^(M)enemy of the Jews. ¹¹ And the king said to Haman, “The money and the people are given to you, to do with them as seems good to you.”

^12 (N)Then the king’s scribes were called on the thirteenth day of the first month, and a decree was written according to all that Haman commanded—to the king’s satraps, to the governors who were over each province, to the officials of all people, to every province ^(O)according to its script, and to every people in their language. ^(P)In the name of King Ahasuerus it was written, and sealed with the king’s signet ring. ¹³ And the letters were ^(Q)sent by couriers into all the king’s provinces, to destroy, to kill, and to annihilate all the Jews, both young and old, little children and women, ^(R)in one day, on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar, and ^(S)to plunder their ^[d]possessions. ^14 (T)A copy of the document was to be issued as law in every province, being published for all people, that they should be ready for that day. ¹⁵ The couriers went out, hastened by the king’s command; and the decree was proclaimed in ^[e]Shushan the ^[f]citadel. So the king and Haman sat down to drink, but ^(U)the city of Shushan was ^[g]perplexed.

Haman Hanged Instead of Mordecai

7 So the king and Haman went to dine with Queen Esther. ² And on the second day, ^(A)at the banquet of wine, the king again said to Esther, “What is your petition, Queen Esther? It shall be granted you. And what is your request, up to half the kingdom? It shall be done!”

³ Then Queen Esther answered and said, “If I have found favor in your sight, O king, and if it pleases the king, let my life be given me at my petition, and my people at my request. ⁴ For we have been ^(B)sold, my people and I, to be destroyed, to be killed, and to be annihilated. Had we been sold as ^(C)male and female slaves, I would have held my tongue, although the enemy could never compensate for the king’s loss.”

⁵ So King Ahasuerus answered and said to Queen Esther, “Who is he, and where is he, who would dare presume in his heart to do such a thing?”

⁶ And Esther said, “The adversary and ^(D)enemy is this wicked Haman!”

So Haman was terrified before the king and queen.

⁷ Then the king arose in his wrath from the banquet of wine and went into the palace garden; but Haman stood before Queen Esther, pleading for his life, for he saw that evil was determined against him by the king. ⁸ When the king returned from the palace garden to the place of the banquet of wine, Haman had fallen across ^(E)the couch where Esther was. Then the king said, “Will he also assault the queen while I am in the house?”

As the word left the king’s mouth, they ^(F)covered Haman’s face. ⁹ Now ^(G)Harbonah, one of the eunuchs, said to the king, “Look! ^(H)The ^[a]gallows, fifty cubits high, which Haman made for Mordecai, who spoke ^(I)good on the king’s behalf, is standing at the house of Haman.”

Then the king said, “Hang him on it!”

¹⁰ So ^(J)they ^(K)hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then the king’s wrath subsided.

Esther Saves the Jews

8 On that day King Ahasuerus gave Queen Esther the house of Haman, the ^(A)enemy of the Jews. And Mordecai came before the king, for Esther had told ^(B)how he was related to her. ² So the king took off ^(C)his signet ring, which he had taken from Haman, and gave it to Mordecai; and Esther appointed Mordecai over the house of Haman.

³ Now Esther spoke again to the king, fell down at his feet, and implored him with tears to counteract the evil of Haman the Agagite, and the scheme which he had devised against the Jews. ⁴ And ^(D)the king held out the golden scepter toward Esther. So Esther arose and stood before the king, ⁵ and said, “If it pleases the king, and if I have found favor in his sight and the thing seems right to the king and I am pleasing in his eyes, let it be written to revoke the ^(E)letters devised by Haman, the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, which he wrote to annihilate the Jews who are in all the king’s provinces. ⁶ For how can I endure to see ^(F)the evil that will come to my people? Or how can I endure to see the destruction of my countrymen?”

⁷ Then King Ahasuerus said to Queen Esther and Mordecai the Jew, “Indeed, ^(G)I have given Esther the house of Haman, and they have hanged him on the gallows because he tried to lay his hand on the Jews. ⁸ You yourselves write a decree concerning the Jews, ^[a]as you please, in the king’s name, and seal it with the king’s signet ring; for whatever is written in the king’s name and sealed with the king’s signet ring ^(H)no one can revoke.”

^9 (I)So the king’s scribes were called at that time, in the third month, which is the month of Sivan, on the twenty-third day; and it was written, according to all that Mordecai commanded, to the Jews, the satraps, the governors, and the princes of the provinces ^(J)from India to Ethiopia, one hundred and twenty-seven provinces in all, to every province ^(K)in its own script, to every people in their own language, and to the Jews in their own script and language. ^10 (L)And he wrote in the name of King Ahasuerus, sealed it with the king’s signet ring, and sent letters by couriers on horseback, riding on royal horses ^[b]bred from swift steeds.

¹¹ By these letters the king permitted the Jews who were in every city to ^(M)gather together and protect their lives—to ^(N)destroy, kill, and annihilate all the forces of any people or province that would assault them, both little children and women, and to plunder their possessions, ^12 (O)on one day in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month of ^[c]Adar. ^13 (P)A copy of the document was to be issued as a decree in every province and published for all people, so that the Jews would be ready on that day to avenge themselves on their enemies. ¹⁴ The couriers who rode on royal horses went out, hastened and pressed on by the king’s command. And the decree was issued in ^[d]Shushan the ^[e]citadel.

¹⁵ So Mordecai went out from the presence of the king in royal apparel of ^[f]blue and white, with a great crown of gold and a garment of fine linen and purple; and ^(Q)the city of ^[g]Shushan rejoiced and was glad. ¹⁶ The Jews had ^(R)light and gladness, joy and honor. ¹⁷ And in every province and city, wherever the king’s command and decree came, the Jews had joy and gladness, a feast ^(S)and a holiday. Then many of the people of the land ^(T)became Jews, because ^(U)fear of the Jews fell upon them.