3Some time later King Xerxes promoted Haman son of Hammedatha the Agagite over all the other nobles, making him the most powerful official in the empire.H310H1697H4428H325H1431H2001H1121H4099H91H5375H7760H3678H82692All the king's officials would bow down before Haman to show him respect whenever he passed by, for so the king had commanded. But Mordecai refused to bow down or show him respect.H4428H5650H4428H8179H3766H7812H2001H4428H6680H4782H3766H78123Then the palace officials at the king's gate asked Mordecai, "Why are you disobeying the king's command?"H4428H5650H4428H8179H559H4782H5674H4428H46874They spoke to him day after day, but still he refused to comply with the order. So they spoke to Haman about this to see if he would tolerate Mordecai's conduct, since Mordecai had told them he was a Jew.H559H3117H3117H8085H5046H2001H7200H4782H1697H5975H5046H30645When Haman saw that Mordecai would not bow down or show him respect, he was filled with rage.H2001H7200H4782H3766H7812H2001H4390H25346He had learned of Mordecai's nationality, so he decided it was not enough to lay hands on Mordecai alone. Instead, he looked for a way to destroy all the Jews throughout the entire empire of Xerxes.H5869H959H7971H3027H4782H5046H5971H4782H2001H1245H8045H3064H4438H325H5971H47827So in the month of April, during the twelfth year of King Xerxes' reign, lots were cast in Haman's presence (the lots were called purim) to determine the best day and month to take action. And the day selected was March 7, nearly a year later.H7223H2320H2320H5212H8147H6240H8141H4428H325H5307H6332H1486H6440H2001H3117H3117H2320H2320H8147H6240H2320H1438Then Haman approached King Xerxes and said, "There is a certain race of people scattered through all the provinces of your empire who keep themselves separate from everyone else. Their laws are different from those of any other people, and they refuse to obey the laws of the king. So it is not in the king's interest to let them live.H2001H559H4428H325H3426H259H5971H6340H6504H5971H4082H4438H1881H8138H5971H6213H4428H1881H4428H7737H32409If it please the king, issue a decree that they be destroyed, and I will give 10,000 large sacks of silver to the government administrators to be deposited in the royal treasury."H2895H4428H3789H6H8254H6235H505H3603H3701H3027H6213H4399H935H4428H159510The king agreed, confirming his decision by removing his signet ring from his finger and giving it to Haman son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the enemy of the Jews.H4428H5493H2885H3027H5414H2001H1121H4099H91H3064H688711The king said, "The money and the people are both yours to do with as you see fit."H4428H559H2001H3701H5414H5971H6213H5869H289612So on April 17 the king's secretaries were summoned, and a decree was written exactly as Haman dictated. It was sent to the king's highest officers, the governors of the respective provinces, and the nobles of each province in their own scripts and languages. The decree was written in the name of King Xerxes and sealed with the king's signet ring.H4428H5608H7121H7969H6240H3117H7223H2320H3789H2001H6680H4428H323H6346H4082H8269H5971H4082H3791H5971H3956H8034H4428H325H3789H2856H4428H288513Dispatches were sent by swift messengers into all the provinces of the empire, giving the order that all Jews—young and old, including women and children—must be killed, slaughtered, and annihilated on a single day. This was scheduled to happen on March 7 of the next year. The property of the Jews would be given to those who killed them.H5612H7971H3027H7323H4428H4082H8045H2026H6H3064H5288H2205H2945H802H259H3117H7969H6240H8147H6240H2320H2320H143H7998H96214A copy of this decree was to be issued as law in every province and proclaimed to all peoples, so that they would be ready to do their duty on the appointed day.H6572H3791H1881H5414H4082H1540H5971H6264H311715At the king's command, the decree went out by swift messengers, and it was also proclaimed in the fortress of Susa. Then the king and Haman sat down to drink, but the city of Susa fell into confusion.H7323H3318H1765H4428H1697H1881H5414H7800H1002H4428H2001H3427H8354H5892H7800H943
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, during the twelfth year of King Xerxes' reign, lots were cast in Haman's presence (the lots were called purim) to determine the best day and month to take action. And the day selected was March 7, nearly a year later.H7223
