---
title: "Esther 3 – Catholic Bible (CPDV) & Latin Vulgate · Bless"
url: https://blessbible.app/bible/esther/3/
description: "Aman, advanced by the king, is offended at Mardochai, and therefore procureth the… Esther 3 in the Catholic Public Domain Version, with the Latin Vulgate."
---

# Esther 3

Esther 3 is chapter 3 of 16 in the Book of Esther. Here are all 15 verses in the Catholic Public Domain Version, with the Latin of the Clementine Vulgate beside them.

> Aman, advanced by the king, is offended at Mardochai, and therefore procureth the king's decree to destroy the whole nation of the Jews.
>
> — Bp. Richard Challoner, chapter summary

## Esther 3 (Catholic Public Domain Version)

1. After this, king Artaxerxes exalted Haman, the son of Hammedatha, who was of Agag lineage, and he set his throne above all the rulers whom he had.
2. And all the king’s servants, who passed by the doors of the palace, bent their knees and adored Haman, for so the ruler had instructed them. Only Mordecai did not bend his knee, nor adore him.
3. The king’s servants, who presided over the doors of the palace, said to him, “Why do you, more than the others, not observe the king’s command?”
4. And when they were saying this frequently, and he would not listen to them, they reported it to Haman, desiring to know whether he would continue in his resolution, for he had told them that he was a Jew.
5. Now when Haman had heard this, and had proved by a test that Mordecai did not bend his knee to him, nor adore him, he was very angry.
6. And he considered it pointless to lay his hands on Mordecai alone, for he had heard that he was part of the Jewish people. And so he wanted more: to destroy the entire nation of the Jews, who were in the kingdom of Artaxerxes.
7. In the first month, which is called Nisan, in the twelfth year of the reign of Artaxerxes, the lot was cast into an urn, which in Hebrew is called Pur, in the presence of Haman, to determine on what day and in which month the Jewish people should be destroyed. And it turned out to be the twelfth month, which is called Adar.
8. And Haman said to king Artaxerxes, “There is a people dispersed throughout all the provinces of your kingdom and separated one from another, who make use of unusual laws and ceremonies, and who, in addition, show contempt for the king’s ordinances. And you know very well that it is not expedient for your kingdom that they should become insolent through independence.
9. If it pleases you, declare that they may be destroyed, and I will weigh out ten thousand talents to the keepers of your treasury.”
10. And so the king took the ring that he used, from his own hand, and gave it to Haman, the son of Hammedatha, of Agag lineage, enemy of the Jews.
11. And he said to him, “Let the silver, which you promise, be for yourself. As for the people, do with them as it pleases you.”
12. And the scribes of the king were summoned, in the first month Nisan, on the thirteenth day of the same month. And it was written, as Haman had commanded, to all the king’s governors, and to the judges of the provinces, and to various peoples, so that each people could read and hear according to their various languages, in the name of king Artaxerxes. And the letters were sealed with his ring.
13. These were sent by the king’s messengers to all the provinces, so as to kill and destroy all the Jews, from children all the way to the elderly, even little children and women, on one day, that is, on the thirteenth of the twelfth month, which is called Adar, and to plunder their goods, even their necessities.
14. And the effect of the letters was this: that all provinces would know and prepare for the prescribed day.
15. The couriers, who had been sent, hurried to complete the king’s command, but the edict was hung up in Susa immediately. And the king and Haman celebrated a feast, while all the Jews in the city were weeping.

## Esther 3 in Latin (Clementine Vulgate, 1592)

1. Post hæc rex Assuerus exaltavit Aman filium Amadathi, qui erat de stirpe Agag: et posuit solium ejus super omnes principes quos habebat.
2. Cunctique servi regis, qui in foribus palatii versabantur, flectebant genua, et adorabant Aman: sic enim præceperat eis imperator: solus Mardochæus non flectebat genu, neque adorabat eum.
3. Cui dixerunt pueri regis, qui ad fores palatii præsidebant: Cur præter ceteros non observas mandatum regis?
4. Cumque hoc crebrius dicerent, et ille nollet audire, nuntiaverunt Aman, scire cupientes utrum perseveraret in sententia: dixerat enim eis se esse Judæum.
5. Quod cum audisset Aman, et experimento probasset quod Mardochæus non flecteret sibi genu, nec se adoraret, iratus est valde,
6. et pro nihilo duxit in unum Mardochæum mittere manus suas: audierat enim quod esset gentis Judææ; magisque voluit omnem Judæorum, qui erant in regno Assueri, perdere nationem.
7. Mense primo (cujus vocabulum est Nisan), anno duodecimo regni Assueri, missa est sors in urnam, quæ hebraice dicitur phur, coram Aman, quo die et quo mense gens Judæorum deberet interfici: et exivit mensis duodecimus, qui vocatur Adar.
8. Dixitque Aman regi Assuero: Est populus per omnes provincias regni tui dispersus, et a se mutuo separatus, novis utens legibus et cæremoniis, insuper et regis scita contemnens: et optime nosti quod non expediat regno tuo ut insolescat per licentiam.
9. Si tibi placet, decerne, ut pereat, et decem millia talentorum appendam arcariis gazæ tuæ.
10. Tulit ergo rex annulum, quo utebatur, de manu sua, et dedit eum Aman filio Amadathi de progenie Agag, hosti Judæorum,
11. dixitque ad eum: Argentum, quod tu polliceris, tuum sit; de populo age quod tibi placet.
12. Vocatique sunt scribæ regis mense primo Nisan, tertiadecima die ejusdem mensis: et scriptum est, ut jusserat Aman, ad omnes satrapas regis, et judices provinciarum, diversarumque gentium, ut quæque gens legere poterat et audire pro varietate linguarum ex nomine regis Assueri: et litteræ signatæ ipsius annulo
13. missæ sunt per cursores regis ad universas provincias, ut occiderent atque delerent omnes Judæos, a puero usque ad senem, parvulos et mulieres, uno die, hoc est tertiodecimo mensis duodecimi, qui vocatur Adar; et bona eorum diriperent.
14. Summa autem epistolarum hæc fuit, ut omnes provinciæ scirent, et pararent se ad prædictam diem.
15. Festinabant cursores, qui missi erant, regis imperium explere. Statimque in Susan pependit edictum, rege et Aman celebrante convivium, et cunctis Judæis, qui in urbe erant, flentibus.

Source: Catholic Public Domain Version (Ronald L. Conte Jr., 2009), public domain; Latin: Clementine Vulgate (1592).