ESTHER Chapter 3 (GNB)
SERAPHIM
Home … BIBLE Page … OLD Testament
(GNB) … NEW Testament
(GNB)
http://bibletools.org/index.cfm/fuseaction/Bible.show/sVerseID/1/eVerseID/1/version/GNB
|
3:1 Some time later King Xerxes promoted a man named Haman to
the position of prime minister. Haman was the son of Hammedatha,
a descendant of Agag. |
|
3:2 The king
ordered all the officials in his service to show their respect for Haman by
kneeling and bowing to him. They all did so, except for Mordecai, who refused
to do it. |
|
3:3 The other
officials in the royal service asked him why he was disobeying the king's
command; |
|
3:4 day after day
they urged him to give in, but he would not listen to them. "I am a
Jew," he explained, "and I cannot bow to Haman." So they told
Haman about this, wondering if he would tolerate Mordecai's conduct. |
|
3:5 Haman was
furious when he realized that Mordecai was not going to kneel and bow to him,
|
|
3:6 and when he
learned that Mordecai was a Jew, he decided to do more than punish Mordecai
alone. He made plans to kill every Jew in the whole Persian Empire. |
|
3:7 In the twelfth
year of King Xerxes' rule, in the first month, the month of Nisan, Haman
ordered the lots to be cast ("purim,"
they were called) to find out the right day and month to carry out his plot.
The thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the month of Adar, was decided on. |
|
3:8
So Haman
told the king, "There is a certain race of people scattered all over
your empire and found in every province. They observe customs that are not
like those of any other people. Moreover, they do not obey the laws of the
empire, so it is not in your best interests to tolerate them. |
|
3:9 If it please Your Majesty, issue a decree that they are to be
put to death. If you do, I guarantee that I will be able to put 375 tons of
silver into the royal treasury for the administration of the empire." |
|
3:10 The king took
off his ring, which was used to stamp proclamations and make them official,
and gave it to the enemy of the Jewish people, Haman son of Hammedatha, the descendant of Agag.
|
|
3:11 The king told
him, "The people and their money are yours; do as you like with
them." |
|
3:12 So on the
thirteenth day of the first month Haman called the king's secretaries and
dictated a proclamation to be translated into every language and system of
writing used in the empire and to be sent to all the rulers, governors, and
officials. It was issued in the name of King Xerxes and stamped with his
ring. |
|
3:13 Runners took
this proclamation to every province of the empire. It contained the
instructions that on a single day, the thirteenth day of Adar, all
Jews---young and old, women and children---were to be killed. They were to be
slaughtered without mercy and their belongings were to be taken. |
|
3:14 The contents
of the proclamation were to be made public in every province, so that
everyone would be prepared when that day came. |
|
3:15 At the king's
command the decree was made public in the capital city of Susa,
and runners carried the news to the provinces. The king and Haman sat down
and had a drink while the city of Susa was being thrown into confusion. |
CHAPTER
ENDS
SERAPHIM
Home … BIBLE Page … OLD Testament
(GNB) … NEW Testament
(GNB)