Old Testament

New Testament

Esther 3:4-8 International Children’s Bible (ICB)

4. And they said this to him every day. When he did not listen to them, they told Haman about it. They wanted to see if Haman would accept Mordecai’s behavior because Mordecai had told them that he was a Jew.

5. Then Haman saw that Mordecai would not bow down to him or kneel before him. And he became very angry.

6. He had been told who the people of Mordecai were. And he thought of himself as too important to try to kill only Mordecai. So he looked for a way to destroy all of Mordecai’s people, the Jews, in all of Xerxes’ kingdom.

7. It was in the first month of the twelfth year of King Xerxes’ rule. That is the month of Nisan. Pur (that is, the lot) was thrown before Haman. The lot was used to choose a day and a month. So the twelfth month, the month of Adar, was chosen.

8. Then Haman said to King Xerxes, “There is a certain group of people in all the areas of your kingdom. They are scattered among the other people. They keep themselves separate. Their customs are different from those of all the other people. And they do not obey the king’s laws. It is not right for you to allow them to continue living in your kingdom.

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