Esther 3:12

3:12 So the royal scribes ¹  were summoned in the first month, on the thirteenth day of the month. Everything Haman commanded was written to the king’s satraps ²  and governors who were in every province and to the officials of every people, province by province according to its script and people by people according to its language. In the name of King Ahasuerus it was written and sealed with the king’s signet ring.

Esther 8:9

8:9 The king’s scribes were quickly ³  summoned – in the third month (that is, the month of Sivan), on the twenty-third day. ⁴  They wrote out ⁵  everything that Mordecai instructed to the Jews and to the satraps and the governors and the officials of the provinces all the way from India to Ethiopia ⁶  – a hundred and twenty-seven provinces in all – to each province in its own script and to each people in their own language, and to the Jews according to their own script and their own language.

Daniel 3:29

3:29 I hereby decree ⁷  that any people, nation, or language group that blasphemes ⁸  the god of Shadrach, Meshach, or Abednego will be dismembered and his home reduced to rubble! For there exists no other god who can deliver in this way.”

Daniel 4:1

4:1 (3:31) ⁹  “King Nebuchadnezzar, to all peoples, nations, and language groups that live in all the land: Peace and prosperity! ¹⁰ 

[3:12]  ¹ tn Or “secretaries” (so NIV, NRSV, NLT).

[3:12]  ² tn Or “princes” (so NLT); CEV “highest officials.”

[8:9]  ³ tn Heb “in that time”; NIV “At once.”

[8:9]  ⁴ sn Cf. 3:12. Two months and ten days have passed since Haman’s edict to wipe out the Jews.

[8:9]  ⁵ tn Heb “it was written”; this passive construction has been converted to an active one in the translation for clarity and for stylistic reasons.

[8:9]  ⁶ tn Heb “Cush” (so NIV), referring to the region of the upper Nile in Africa. Cf. KJV and most other English versions “Ethiopia.”

[3:29]  ⁷ tn Aram “from me is placed an edict.”

[3:29]  ⁸ tn Aram “speaks negligence.”

[4:1]  ⁹ sn Beginning with 4:1, the verse numbers through 4:37 in the English Bible differ from the verse numbers in the Aramaic text (BHS), with 4:1 ET = 3:31 AT, 4:2 ET = 3:32 AT, 4:3 ET = 3:33 AT, 4:4 ET = 4:1 AT, etc., through 4:37 ET = 4:34 AT. Thus Dan 3:31-33 of the Aramaic text appears as Dan 4:1-3 in the English Bible, and the corresponding verses of ch. 4 differ accordingly. In spite of the division of the Aramaic text, a good case can be made that 3:31-33 AT (= 4:1-3 ET) is actually the introduction to ch. 4.

[4:1]  ¹⁰ tn Aram “May your peace increase!”