¹After these words, King Ahasuerus made great Haman, son of Hammedatha the Agagite, lifted him up, and set his seat above all the officials who were with him.

²All the servants of the king who were at the gate of the king were kneeling and bowing down to Haman, for so the king had commanded concerning him; but Mordecai would not kneel, and would not bow down.

³The servants of the king who were at the gate of the king said to Mordecai: Why are you overstepping the command of the king?

⁴It happened, as they said to him day and day, and he did not listen to them, that they told to Haman, to see whether the words of Mordecai will stand; for he told to them which he was a Jew.

⁵Haman saw that Mordecai was not kneeling or bowing down to him, and Haman was filled with burning anger.

⁶In his eyes it was contemptible to stretch out a hand against Mordecai alone, for they had told him the people of Mordecai; so Haman sought to wipe out all the Jews who were in all the kingdom of Ahasuerus, the people of Mordecai.

⁷In the first month — that is the month of Nisan — in the twelfth year of King Ahasuerus, one cast the pur — that is, the lot — before Haman, from day to day and from month to month; and the lot fell on the thirteenth day of the month, the twelfth — that is, the month of Adar.

⁸Haman said to King Ahasuerus: There is one people, scattered and separated among the peoples in all the provinces of your kingdom; their laws differ from those of every people, and they do not do the laws of the king; so for the king it is not fitting to leave them be.

⁹If it is good to the king, let it be written to destroy them; and ten thousand talents of silver I will weigh out into the hands of those who do the work, to bring it into the treasuries of the king.

¹⁰The king removed his signet-ring from his hand and gave it to Haman, the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, who pressed hard upon the Jews.

¹¹The king said to Haman: The silver is given to you, and the people too, to do with it as is good in your eyes.

¹²The scribes of the king were summoned in the first month, on the thirteenth day of it; and it was written according to all that Haman commanded, to the satraps of the king, to the governors who were over each province, and to the officials of each people — to each province in its own writing, and to each people in its own language — in the name of King Ahasuerus it was written and sealed with the signet-ring of the king.

¹³Documents were sent by the hand of the runners to all the provinces of the king, to wipe out, to kill, and to destroy all the Jews, from boy to old man, children and women, on one day, on the thirteenth of the twelfth month — that is the month of Adar — and to plunder their spoil.

¹⁴A copy of the writing, to be given as law in every province, was revealed to all the peoples, so that they would be ready for that day.

¹⁵The runners went out, hurried by the word of the king, and the law was given in Susa the citadel; and the king and Haman sat down to drink, while the city of Susa was in confusion.