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

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

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^(G) are different from those of all other people, and they do not obey^(H) the king’s laws; it is not in the king’s best interest to tolerate them.^(I)