Haman

1That same day, King Ahasuerus gave Queen Esther everything Haman owned. Haman had been the enemy of the Jews. Then Mordecai came in to see the king. That was because Esther had told the king what Mordecai was to her.

On that day did the king Ahasuerus give the house of Haman the Jews’ enemy unto Esther the queen. And Mordecai came before the king; for Esther had told what he was unto her.

NoteThe Jews were God's people. Their families came from the land of Israel. Long ago armies took many of them far away. Now they lived all over this king's lands. Earlier in this book, Mordecai was Esther's cousin, and he had raised her like his own daughter.

2The king took off his special ring. He had taken that ring back from Haman. He gave it to Mordecai. Esther put Mordecai in charge of all Haman's things.

And the king took off his ring, which he had taken from Haman, and gave it unto Mordecai. And Esther set Mordecai over the house of Haman.

NoteThe king's ring was like a stamp. It pressed his mark into soft wax. That mark showed an order really came from the king. Giving the ring away meant giving someone huge power.

3Esther spoke to the king again. She fell down at his feet and cried. She begged him to stop the cruel plan of Haman the Agagite. Haman had made that plan to hurt the Jews.

And Esther spake yet again before the king, and fell down at his feet, and besought him with tears to put away the mischief of Haman the Agagite, and his device that he had devised against the Jews.

Note"Agagite" tells us Haman's family. They came from a people who had fought the Jews long ago. So Haman hated the Jews before he ever met them.

4The king held out his gold staff toward Esther. So Esther got up and stood in front of the king.

Then the king held out the golden sceptre toward Esther. So Esther arose, and stood before the king,

NoteA king held a long gold rod called a scepter. Nobody could walk up to this king without being called. If the king held out his scepter, it meant you were safe.

5She said, "If it makes the king happy, and if he likes me, and if this seems right to him, please write a new order. Cancel the letters that Haman wrote. Haman was the son of Hammedatha the Agagite. His letters said to kill the Jews in every part of your kingdom.

And said, If it please the king, and if I have found favour in his sight, and the thing seem right before the king, and I be pleasing in his eyes, let it be written to reverse the letters devised by Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, which he wrote to destroy the Jews which are in all the king’s provinces:

NoteA province is one part of a big kingdom, a little like a state. This king ruled many of them.

6How could I stand to watch this trouble come to my people? How could I stand to watch my own family be killed?"

For how can I endure to see the evil that shall come unto my people? or how can I endure to see the destruction of my kindred?

7Then King Ahasuerus said to Queen Esther and to Mordecai the Jew, "Look, I gave Haman's things to Esther. And Haman was hanged, because he tried to hurt the Jews.

Then the king Ahasuerus said unto Esther the queen and to Mordecai the Jew, Behold, I have given Esther the house of Haman, and him they have hanged upon the gallows, because he laid his hand upon the Jews.

NoteThe gallows was a tall wooden pole. People were killed on it where everyone could see. Haman had built this one to kill Mordecai.

8Now you may write whatever you want about the Jews. Write it in my name. Seal it with my ring. No one can cancel an order written in the king's name and sealed with his ring."

Write ye also for the Jews, as it liketh you, in the king’s name, and seal it with the king’s ring: for the writing which is written in the king’s name, and sealed with the king’s ring, may no man reverse.

NoteIn Persia this was the rule: once an order was sealed with the king's ring, nobody could take it back. Not even the king. So Haman's first order still stood. They had to write a second order instead.

6In the strong walled city of Susa, the Jews killed five hundred men.

And in Shushan the palace the Jews slew and destroyed five hundred men.

NoteSusa was the city where the king lived. It had thick, strong walls around it to keep enemies out.

7They also killed Parshandatha, Dalphon, and Aspatha.

And Parshandatha, and Dalphon, and Aspatha,

8Also Poratha, Adalia, and Aridatha.

And Poratha, and Adalia, and Aridatha,

9Also Parmashta, Arisai, Aridai, and Vaizatha.

And Parmashta, and Arisai, and Aridai, and Vajezatha,

10These ten men were the sons of Haman, who was the son of Hammedatha. Haman had been the enemy of the Jews. The Jews killed his ten sons. But they did not take any of their things.

The ten sons of Haman the son of Hammedatha, the enemy of the Jews, slew they; but on the spoil laid they not their hand.

NoteLong ago, people who won a fight usually took the losers' money and things. These Jews chose to take nothing at all.

11That same day, someone told the king how many were killed in Susa.

On that day the number of those that were slain in Shushan the palace was brought before the king.

12The king said to Queen Esther, "In Susa the Jews have killed five hundred men. They also killed Haman's ten sons. What must they have done in the rest of my lands? Now, what do you want? I will give it to you. Ask me for anything, and I will do it."

And the king said unto Esther the queen, The Jews have slain and destroyed five hundred men in Shushan the palace, and the ten sons of Haman; what have they done in the rest of the king’s provinces? now what is thy petition? and it shall be granted thee: or what is thy request further? and it shall be done.

13Esther answered, "If it pleases the king, let the Jews in Susa do tomorrow what they did today. And let the bodies of Haman's ten sons be hung on the tall wooden pole."

Then said Esther, If it please the king, let it be granted to the Jews which are in Shushan to do to morrow also according unto this day’s decree, and let Haman’s ten sons be hanged upon the gallows.

NoteThis was a tall wooden pole. A body was hung up high on it so everyone in the city could see.

14The king said it should be done. An order was given in Susa. And they hung the bodies of Haman's ten sons.

And the king commanded it so to be done: and the decree was given at Shushan; and they hanged Haman’s ten sons.

20Mordecai wrote down everything that had happened. He sent letters to all the Jews in all the king's lands, near and far.

And Mordecai wrote these things, and sent letters unto all the Jews that were in all the provinces of the king Ahasuerus, both nigh and far,

21The letters told them to keep two days every year. Those days were the fourteenth and fifteenth days of Adar.

To stablish this among them, that they should keep the fourteenth day of the month Adar, and the fifteenth day of the same, yearly,

22Those were the days when the Jews got peace from their enemies. That was the month when their sadness turned into joy. Their crying turned into a holiday. Mordecai told them to make these days happy, with big meals. They should send food to one another and give gifts to poor people.

As the days wherein the Jews rested from their enemies, and the month which was turned unto them from sorrow to joy, and from mourning into a good day: that they should make them days of feasting and joy, and of sending portions one to another, and gifts to the poor.

NoteSending food to a neighbor was a way to share the happy day. Giving gifts to poor people meant everyone could join in.

23The Jews agreed to keep doing what they had started. They did what Mordecai had written to them.

And the Jews undertook to do as they had begun, and as Mordecai had written unto them;

24They did this because of what Haman had done. Haman was the son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, and the enemy of all the Jews. He had made a plan to wipe them all out. He had thrown the Pur, which means the lot, to pick the day.

Because Haman the son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, the enemy of all the Jews, had devised against the Jews to destroy them, and had cast Pur, that is, the lot, to consume them, and to destroy them;

NoteAn Agagite came from a family that had fought the Jews long ago. A lot was a small stone or stick that people threw, a bit like rolling dice. Haman threw lots to pick the day.

25But when the king learned about it, he sent out letters. He ordered that Haman's evil plan should fall back on Haman himself. He said Haman and his sons should be hung on the tall wooden pole.

But when Esther came before the king, he commanded by letters that his wicked device, which he devised against the Jews, should return upon his own head, and that he and his sons should be hanged on the gallows.

Note"Fall back on his own head" is a way of saying the bad plan happened to Haman himself.

26So they called these days Purim, named after the word Pur. They did this because of everything written in that letter. They also did it because of all they had seen and lived through.

Wherefore they called these days Purim after the name of Pur. Therefore for all the words of this letter, and of that which they had seen concerning this matter, and which had come unto them,

NotePurim means "lots." The holiday is named after the lots Haman threw. Jewish people still keep Purim every year.

27So the Jews made a promise for themselves and their children. Anyone who joined them would keep it too. They would never fail to keep these two days every single year. They would keep them at the right time, just as it was written.

The Jews ordained, and took upon them, and upon their seed, and upon all such as joined themselves unto them, so as it should not fail, that they would keep these two days according to their writing, and according to their appointed time every year;

28These days were to be remembered and kept by every family. Every province and every city would keep them, in every time to come. The days of Purim should never stop among the Jews. Their children should never forget them.

And that these days should be remembered and kept throughout every generation, every family, every province, and every city; and that these days of Purim should not fail from among the Jews, nor the memorial of them perish from their seed.