1 After these events King Ahasuerus raised Haman, son of Hammedatha the Agagite, to high rank, seating him above all his fellow officials.
2 All the king's servants who were at the royal gate would kneel and bow down to Haman, for that is what the king had ordered in his regard. Mordecai, however, would not kneel and bow down.
3 The king's servants who were at the royal gate said to Mordecai, "Why do you disobey the king's order?"
4 When they had reminded him day after day and he would not listen to them, they informed Haman, to see whether Mordecai's explanation was acceptable, since he had told them that he was a Jew.
5 When Haman observed that Mordecai would not kneel and bow down to him, he was filled with anger.
6 Moreover, he thought it was not enough to lay hands on Mordecai alone. Since they had told Haman of Mordecai's nationality, he sought to destroy all the Jews, Mordecai's people, throughout the realm of King Ahasuerus.
7 In the first month, Nisan, in the twelfth year of King Ahasuerus, the pur, or lot, was cast in Haman's presence to determine the day and the month for the destruction of Mordecai's people on a single day, and the lot fell on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, Adar.
8 Then Haman said to King Ahasuerus: "Dispersed among the nations throughout the provinces of your kingdom, there is a certain people living apart, with laws differing from those of every other people. They do not obey the laws of the king, and so it is not proper for the king to tolerate them.
9 If it please the king, let a decree be issued to destroy them; and I will deliver to the procurators ten thousand silver talents for deposit in the royal treasury."
10 The king took the signet ring from his hand and gave it to Haman, son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the enemy of the Jews.
11 "The silver you may keep," the king said to Haman, "but as for this people, do with them whatever you please."
12 So the royal scribes were summoned; and on the thirteenth day of the first month they wrote, at the dictation of Haman, an order to the royal satraps, the governors of every province, and the officials of every people, to each province in its own script and to each people in its own language. It was written in the name of King Ahasuerus and sealed with the royal signet ring.
13 Letters were sent by couriers to all the royal provinces, that all the Jews, young and old, including women and children, should be killed, destroyed, wiped out in one day, the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, Adar, and that their goods should be seized as spoil.
Versículos relacionados com Esther, 3:
Esther 3 is the chapter in which the character Haman, one of the Persian king's advisers, elaborates a plan to exterminate all the Jews from the kingdom. He can convince the king to issue a decree authorizing the killing, generating great anguish and fear among the Jewish people. Following, five verses related to the topics covered in Esther 3:
Proverbs 29:2: "When the righteous are magnified, the people rejoice, but when the wicked dominates, the people moan." Esther's book clearly portrays this reality: the people suffers the consequences of Haman's wickedness and greed, an wicked man who has achieved great power in the kingdom.
Isaiah 10:1-2: "Woe to those who decree unfair laws, those who write laws of oppression to deny justice to the poor, to snatch the right of the afflicted of my people, to strip the widows and steal from orphans!" Haman's decree was an example of an unfair law that aimed to oppress and eliminate a specific group of people.
Psalm 37:7: "Rest in the Lord and wait for him with patience; do not irritate you because of the one who thrives in his way, because of the man who carries out his evil designs." This psalm brings a message of trust in God, even when the wicked prosper and promote injustice. This is an important message to the Jews of Esther 3, who had to trust that God would take care of them and that Haman would not have the last word.
Proverbs 26:27: "What makes a pit, it will fall into it; and who rolls a stone, for her to return." This proverb talks about the fact that the evil that a person eventually sows returns to him. This principle applies to Haman, who planned the extermination of the Jews, but was eventually hanged in the gallows he had prepared for the Jewish Mordecai leader.
Romans 12:19: "Beloved, never seek to take revenge, but leave with God the wrath, for it is written, 'My is revenge; I will return,' says the Lord." This verse highlights the importance of not seeking personal revenge, but trusting that God is just and will bring justice at the right time. This is a lesson that Esther 3 Jews needed to learn, as they were initially encouraged to fight their enemies, but were eventually told to trust that God would fight for them.
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