Esther 3:5-9

New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

⁵ When Haman saw that Mordecai did not bow down or do obeisance to him, Haman was infuriated.^{(A) 6} But he thought it beneath him to kill^[a] only Mordecai. So, having been told who Mordecai’s people were, Haman plotted to destroy all the Jews, the people of Mordecai, throughout the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus.^(B)

⁷ In the first month, which is the month of Nisan, in the twelfth year of King Ahasuerus, they cast Pur—which means “the lot”—before Haman for the day and for the month, and the lot fell on the thirteenth day of^[b] the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar.^{(C) 8} Then Haman said to King Ahasuerus, “There is a certain people scattered and separated among the peoples in all the provinces of your kingdom; their laws are different from those of every other people, and they do not keep the king’s laws, so that it is not appropriate for the king to tolerate them.^{(D) 9} If it pleases the king, let a decree be issued for their destruction, and I will pay ten thousand talents of silver into the hands of those who have charge of the king’s business, so that they may put it into the king’s treasuries.”