And she said to him: "I petition one small request from you. May you not confound my face." And the king said to her: "Ask, my mother. For it is not right that I turn away your face."
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.
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.