Esther 3: Haman’s Plot against the Jews – Clear & Engaging Audio Bible Reading | The Evil Counsel, Mordecai’s Refusal, and the King’s Edict

Experience the dramatic events of Esther 3 with this clear and engaging audio recording. Follow Haman’s plan to exterminate the Jews, the evil counsel he gave to the king, Mordecai’s refusal to bow down to Haman, and the king’s edict to kill all the Jews. Perfect for study, reflection, or meditation, immerse yourself in this powerful chapter and let the Scriptures come alive.

ESTHER 3 (NIV)

1 After these events, King Xerxes honored Haman son of Hammedatha, the
Agagite, elevating him and giving him a seat of honor higher than that of all
the other nobles.

2 All the royal officials at the king’s gate knelt down and
paid honor to Haman, for the king had commanded this concerning him. But
Mordecai would not kneel down or pay him honor.

3 Then the royal officials at the king’s gate asked Mordecai, “Why do you
disobey the king’s command?”

4 Day after day they spoke to him but he refused
to comply. Therefore they told Haman about it to see whether Mordecai’s
behavior would be tolerated, for he had told them he was a Jew.

5 When Haman saw that Mordecai would not kneel down or pay him honor, he was
enraged.

6 Yet having learned who Mordecai’s people were, he scorned the idea
of killing only Mordecai. Instead Haman looked for a way to destroy all
Mordecai’s people, the Jews, throughout the whole kingdom of Xerxes.

7 In the twelfth year of King Xerxes, in the first month, the month of Nisan,
the _pur_ (that is, the lot) was cast in the presence of Haman to select a day
and month. And the lot fell on the twelfth month, the month of Adar.

8 Then Haman said to King Xerxes, “There is a certain people dispersed among
the peoples in all the provinces of your kingdom who keep themselves separate.
Their customs are different from those of all other people, and they do not
obey the king’s laws; it is not in the king’s best interest to tolerate them.

9 If it pleases the king, let a decree be issued to destroy them, and I will
give ten thousand talents of silver to the king’s administrators for the royal
treasury.”

10 So the king took his signet ring from his finger and gave it to Haman son
of Hammedatha, the Agagite, the enemy of the Jews.

11 “Keep the money,” the
king said to Haman, “and do with the people as you please.”

12 Then on the thirteenth day of the first month the royal secretaries were
summoned. They wrote out in the script of each province and in the language of
each people all Haman’s orders to the king’s satraps, the governors of the
various provinces and the nobles of the various peoples. These were written in
the name of King Xerxes himself and sealed with his own ring.

13 Dispatches
were sent by couriers to all the king’s provinces with the order to destroy,
kill and annihilate all the Jews—young and old, women and children—on a single
day, the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the month of Adar, and to
plunder their goods.

14 A copy of the text of the edict was to be issued as
law in every province and made known to the people of every nationality so
they would be ready for that day.

15 The couriers went out, spurred on by the king’s command, and the edict was
issued in the citadel of Susa. The king and Haman sat down to drink, but the
city of Susa was bewildered.