Haman Plans To Destroy the Jews

1Later, King Artaxerxes promoted Haman the son of Hammedatha to the highest position in his kingdom. 2The king ordered all of his officials to bow down to Haman, and all of them obeyed except Mordecai. 3The other officials went to Mordecai and asked, "Why are you ignoring what the king said?" 4They spoke to Mordecai like this for several days, but he told them he was a Jew and would not bow down to Haman. The other officials went to Haman and told him that Mordecai was Jewish and refused to do what the king said.

5Haman was furious when he learned that Mordecai refused to bow down to him, 6and he started planning how to get rid of all the Jews in the kingdom. 7It was now the twelfth year that Artaxerxes was king, and Haman decided to find out what would be the best month and day to kill Mordecai and the rest of the Jews. He found that the best date was Adar fourteenth.

8Then Haman went to King Artaxerxes and said, "Your Majesty, the people from a certain nation are scattered throughout your kingdom. Their customs are different from ours, and they refuse to obey your laws. You would be better off to get rid of them. 9If you give orders for all of them to be killed, I will pay over 340 tons of silver to your treasury."

10Artaxerxes handed his royal ring to Haman, so the law against the Jews could be made official. 11Then the king said, "Do what you want with those people! And you can keep their money."

12On the thirteenth day of the first month, Haman called in the king's secretaries and ordered them to write a letter and make copies in every language used in the kingdom. The letter was to be written in the name of King Artaxerxes and sent to the generals of his army and to the governors of his 127 provinces from India to Ethiopia. 13Then messengers would deliver the copies of the letter, which said that on a certain day in Adar, the twelfth month, the people were to get rid of all the Jews and take their property.

Addition B

13

A Copy of the Letter

14[1] This is a copy of the letter:

From Artaxerxes, the Great King, to the governors and officials of my 127 provinces from India to Ethiopia.

15[2] I rule many nations, and I am the most powerful king in the world. But I have never used my power in a proud or arrogant way. Instead, I have always been reasonable and kind to the people in my kingdom. I know they want peace, and so I have decided to make every part of my kingdom peaceful and safe for travel.

16-17[3-4] When I asked my advisors to tell me the best way to bring about peace and safety, Haman had an answer. He is the wisest man in my kingdom and is always loyal and kind, which is why I made him my highest official. He told us that the people from a certain nation are scattered throughout all the other nations of the world. These people are always causing trouble, and they have laws that make them disobey those of the nations where they live. And when I make laws in the hope of uniting the people in my kingdom, the people of this nation refuse to obey. 18[5] In fact, they seem to be the only people who always go against everyone else and insist on following their own strange customs. They don't like the way I rule, and they commit every horrible crime they can to keep my kingdom from being peaceful.

19[6] Haman, my highest and most honored official, has written letters telling what these people are like. So I have made a law that all of them--even the women and children--must be put to death without mercy on the fourteenth day of the month of Adar of this year. 20[7] They have worked against us for a long time, and so on this one day, we will use violence to send them down to the world of the dead. Then our kingdom will be peaceful and free from trouble forever.

End of Addition B

3

The Letters Are Displayed

21[14] Copies of this letter were displayed publicly in each province, so that every nation would be ready for that day. 22[15] Copies were quickly posted in Susa, but no one in the city could figure out what was going on. Meanwhile, Artaxerxes and Haman got drunk together.