Esther 3

akhar haddevarim ha'elleh giddal hammelekh akhashverosh et-haman ben-hammedata ha'agagi vayenasse'ehu vayyasem et-kiso me'al kol-hassarim asher itto

Some time afterward, King Ahasuerus promoted Haman son of Hammedatha the Agagite; he advanced him and seated him higher than any of his fellow officials.

vekhol-avde hammelekh asher-besha'ar hammelekh kore'im umishtakhavim lehaman ki-khen tsivvah-lo hammelekh umordokhay lo yikhra velo yishtakhaveh

All the king’s courtiers in the palace gate knelt and bowed low to Haman, for such was the king’s order concerning him; but Mordecai would not kneel or bow low.

vayyomeru avde hammelekh asher-besha'ar hammelekh lemordokhay maddua attah over et mitsvat hammelekh

Then the king’s courtiers who were in the palace gate said to Mordecai, “Why do you disobey the king’s order?”

vayehi (vmrm) [ke'omram] elayw yom vayom velo shama alehem vayyaggidu lehaman lirot haya'amdu divre mordokhay ki-higgid lahem asher-hu yehudi

When they spoke to him day after day and he would not listen to them, they told Haman, in order to see whether Mordecai’s resolve would prevail; for he had explained to them that he was a Jew.

vayyar haman ki-en mordokhay korea umishtakhaveh lo vayyimmale haman khemah

When Haman saw that Mordecai would not kneel or bow low to him, Haman was filled with rage.

vayyivez be'enayw lishloakh yad bemordokhay levaddo ki-higgidu lo et-am mordokhay vayevaqqesh haman lehashmid et-kol-hayyehudim asher bekhol-malkhut akhashverosh am mordokhay

But he disdained to lay hands on Mordecai alone; having been told who Mordecai’s people were, Haman plotted to do away with all the Jews, Mordecai’s people, throughout the kingdom of Ahasuerus.

bakhodesh harishon hu-khodesh nisan bishnat shetem esreh lammelekh akhashverosh hippil pur hu haggoral lifne haman miyyom leyom umekhodesh lekhodesh shenem-asar hu-khodesh adar

In the first month, that is, the month of Nisan, in the twelfth year of King Ahasuerus, pur—which means “the lot”—was cast before Haman concerning every day and every month, [until it fell on] the twelfth month, that is, the month of Adar.

vayyomer haman lammelekh akhashverosh yeshno am-ekhad mefuzzar umeforad ben ha'ammim bekhol medinot malkhutekha vedatehem shonot mikkol-am ve'et-date hammelekh enam osim velammelekh en-shoveh lehannikham

Haman then said to King Ahasuerus, “There is a certain people, scattered and dispersed among the other peoples in all the provinces of your realm, whose laws are different from those of any other people and who do not obey the king’s laws; and it is not in Your Majesty’s interest to tolerate them.

im-al-hammelekh tov yikkatev le'abbedam va'aseret alafim kikkar-kesef eshqol al-yede ose hammelakhah lehavi el-ginze hammelekh

If it please Your Majesty, let an edict be drawn for their destruction, and I will pay ten thousand talents of silver to the stewards for deposit in the royal treasury.”

vayyasar hammelekh et-tabbato me'al yado vayyittenah lehaman ben-hammedata ha'agagi tsorer hayyehudim

Thereupon the king removed his signet ring from his hand and gave it to Haman son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the foe of the Jews.

vayyomer hammelekh lehaman hakkesef natun lakh veha'am la'asot bo kattov be'enekha

And the king said, “The money and the people are yours to do with as you see fit.”

vayyiqqare'u sofere hammelekh bakhodesh harishon bishloshah asar yom bo vayyikkatev kekhol-asher-tsivvah haman el akhashdarpene-hammelekh ve'el-happakhot asher al-medinah umedinah ve'el-sare am va'am medinah umedinah kikhtavah ve'am va'am kilshono beshem hammelekh akhashverosh nikhtav venekhtam betabba'at hammelekh

On the thirteenth day of the first month, the king’s scribes were summoned and a decree was issued, as Haman directed, to the king’s satraps, to the governors of every province, and to the officials of every people, to every province in its own script and to every people in its own language. The orders were issued in the name of King Ahasuerus and sealed with the king’s signet.

venishloakh sefarim beyad haratsim el-kol-medinot hammelekh lehashmid laharog ule'abbed et-kol-hayyehudim minna'ar ve'ad-zaqen taf venashim beyom ekhad bishloshah asar lekhodesh shenem-asar hu-khodesh adar ushelalam lavoz

Accordingly, written instructions were dispatched by couriers to all the king’s provinces to destroy, massacre, and exterminate all the Jews, young and old, children and women, on a single day, on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month—that is, the month of Adar—and to plunder their possessions.

patshegen hakketav lehinnaten dat bekhol-medinah umedinah galuy lekhol-ha'ammim lihyot atidim layyom hazzeh

The text of the document was to the effect that a law should be proclaimed in every single province; it was to be publicly displayed to all the peoples, so that they might be ready for that day.

haratsim yatse'u dekhufim bidvar hammelekh vehaddat nittenah beshushan habbirah vehammelekh vehaman yashevu lishtot veha'ir shushan navokhah

The couriers went out posthaste on the royal mission, and the decree was proclaimed in the fortress Shushan. The king and Haman sat down to feast, but the city of Shushan was dumfounded.