Jew who wouldn’t bow
1Sometime later, King Xerxes promoted a man named Haman to serve as the empire’s top official. Haman was the son of Hammedatha, descended from King Agag. [1] 2Xerxes ordered all officials and servants stationed at the palace gate to bow to Haman whenever he walked by. Everyone did that except Mordecai. He refused to bow.3Other palace workers asked Mordecai, “Why aren’t you obeying the king’s orders?” 4Mordecai ignored them. But they kept asking day after nagging day. He had told them earlier he was a Jew. So, they finally reported him to Haman, to see if Haman would tolerate this disobedience.
Genocide: for one man’s insult
5When Haman saw for himself that Mordecai refused to bow, he exploded with murderous anger. 6Killing Mordecai alone seemed too little punishment for such a big crime. Haman knew Mordecai was a Jew, so he decided to kill Mordecai and all his people throughout the empire.7It was springtime, [2] during the twelfth year of King Xerxes’ reign. Haman wanted to find out the best time to kill the Jews. So, he rolled the dice. [3] It showed that the best day to kill Jews would be March 7 [4] almost a year away.
Before the massacre, a donation for the king
8Haman told King Xerxes, “I’ve discovered there’s a group of people among us who follow their own laws instead of yours. [5] You shouldn’t tolerate them. 9If you give me permission to get rid of them, I’ll donate 375 tons [6] of silver to the palace treasury. You can do whatever you want with the money."10The king took off his signet ring. [7] He handed it to Haman, son of Hammedatha and a descendant of Agag, who was an enemy of the Jews. 11The king told Haman, “Do whatever you want with the people and the money.” [8]
12On April 17, [9] almost a year before the scheduled slaughter, Haman dictated a decree on behalf of the king. He directed it to all province governors and other top leaders throughout the land. He had it translated into the languages of all the provinces. 13Messengers carried the royal decree throughout the empire, to each province:
“Kill all the Jews in a single day, on March 7. [10] Kill the old and the young. Kill the women and children. Destroy their property. Take whatever you want.”
14Haman sent directions with the decree. He instructed each province to post the king’s orders, spread the word, and get all patriotic Persians ready to kill Jews. 15Royal messengers did their job quickly. They issued the decree in the capital city of Susa, too. Haman and the king celebrated with drinks. But citizens of Susa were shocked out of their minds.
