Esther 7

HAMAN IS EXECUTED

7The king and Haman came to feast^Ak with Esther the queen. ²Once again, on the second day while drinking wine,^l the king asked Esther, “Queen Esther, whatever you ask will be given to you. Whatever you seek, even to half the kingdom, will be done.”^m

³Queen Esther answered, “If I have found favor with you, Your Majesty, and if the king is pleased,ⁿ spare my life; this is my request. And spare my people; this is my desire.^{o 4}For my people and I have been sold^p to destruction, death, and annihilation.^q If we had merely been sold as male and female slaves,^r I would have kept silent. Indeed, the trouble wouldn’t be worth burdening the king.”

⁵King Ahasuerus spoke up and asked Queen Esther, “Who is this, and where is the one who would devise such a scheme?”^Bs

⁶Esther answered, “The adversary and enemy^t is this evil Haman.”

Haman stood terrified^u before the king and queen. ⁷The king arose in anger^v and went from where they were drinking wine to the palace garden.^w Haman remained to beg Queen Esther for his life because he realized the king was planning something terrible for him.^{x 8}Just as the king returned from the palace garden to the banquet hall,^D Haman was falling on the couch^y where Esther was reclining. The king exclaimed, “Would he actually violate the queen while I am in the house?” As soon as the statement left the king’s mouth, they covered Haman’s face.^z

⁹Harbona, one of the king’s eunuchs,^aa said, “There is a gallows seventy-five feet^E tall at Haman’s house that he made for Mordecai,^ab who gave the report that saved^F the king.”^ac

The king said, “Hang him on it.”

¹⁰They hanged Haman on the gallows he had prepared for Mordecai.^ad Then the king’s anger subsided.^ae