Esther 6–8

Mordecai Honored by the King

6That night sleep escaped ^rthe king, so he ordered the book recording daily events to be brought and read to the king. ²They found the written report of how Mordecai had informed on Bigthana and Teresh, two eunuchs who guarded the king’s entrance, when they planned to assassinate King Ahasuerus. ^s3The king inquired, “What honor and special recognition have been given to Mordecai for this act?” ^t

The king’s personal attendants replied, “Nothing has been done for him.”

⁴The king asked, “Who is in the court?” Now Haman was just entering the outer court of the palace to ask the king to hang Mordecai on the gallows he had prepared for him. ^u

⁵The king’s attendants answered him, “Haman is there, standing in the court.”

“Have him enter,” the king ordered.

⁶Haman entered, and the king asked him, “What should be done for the man the king wants to honor?” ^v

Haman thought to himself, “Who is it the king would want to honor more than me?” ⁷Haman told the king, “For the man the king wants to honor: ⁸Have them bring a royal garment that the king himself has worn ^wand a horse the king himself has ridden, ^xwhich has a royal diadem on its head. ⁹Put the garment and the horse under the charge of one of the king’s most noble officials. ^yHave them clothe the man the king wants to honor, parade him on the horse through the city square, and proclaim before him, ‘This is what is done for the man the king wants to honor.’ ”

¹⁰The king told Haman, “Hurry, and do just as you proposed. Take a garment and a horse for Mordecai the Jew, ^zwho is sitting at the King’s Gate. Do not leave out anything you have suggested.” ¹¹So Haman took the garment and the horse. He clothed Mordecai and paraded him through the city square, crying out before him, “This is what is done for the man the king wants to honor.”

¹²Then Mordecai returned to the King’s Gate, ^abut Haman, overwhelmed, ^bhurried off for home with his head covered. ^c13Haman told his wife Zeresh and all his friends ^deverything that had happened. His advisers and his wife Zeresh said to him, “Since Mordecai is Jewish, and you have begun to fall before him, you won’t overcome him, because your downfall is certain.” ^e14While they were still speaking with him, the eunuchs of the king ^farrived and rushed Haman to the banquet Esther had prepared. ^g

Haman Is Executed

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

³Queen Esther answered, “If I have obtained your approval, ^lmy king, and if the king is pleased, ^mspare my life—this is my request; and spare my people—this is my desire. ⁿ⁴For my people and I have been sold out ^oto destruction, death, and extermination. ^pIf we had merely been sold as male and female slaves, ^qI 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?” ^rs

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

Haman stood terrified ^ubefore the king and queen. ⁷Angered ^vby this, the king arose from where they were drinking wine and went to the palace garden. ^wHaman remained to beg Queen Esther for his life because he realized the king was planning something terrible for him. ^x8Just as the king returned from the palace garden to the house of wine drinking, Haman was falling on the couch ^ywhere Esther was reclining. The king exclaimed, “Would he actually violate the queen while I am in the palace?” As soon as the statement left the king’s mouth, Haman’s face was covered. ^z

⁹Harbona, one of the royal eunuchs, ^asaid: “There is a gallows 75 feet ^btall at Haman’s house that he made for Mordecai, ^cwho gave the report that saved ^dthe king.” ^e

The king commanded, “Hang him on it.”

¹⁰They hanged Haman on the gallows he had prepared for Mordecai. ^fThen the king’s anger subsided. ^g

Esther Intervenes for the Jews

8That same day King Ahasuerus awarded Queen Esther the estate ^hof Haman, the enemy of the Jews. ⁱMordecai entered the king’s presence because Esther had revealed her relationship to Mordecai. ^j2The king removed his signet ring he had recovered from Haman ^kand gave it to Mordecai, and Esther put him in charge of Haman’s estate.

³Then Esther addressed the king again. ^lShe fell at his feet, wept, and begged ^mhim to revoke the evil of Haman the Agagite, ⁿand his plot he had devised against the Jews. ^o4The king extended the gold scepter ^ptoward Esther, so she got up and stood before the king.

⁵She said, “If it pleases the king, and I have found approval before him, if the matter seems right to the king and I am pleasing in his sight, ^qlet a royal edict be written. Let it revoke the documents the scheming Haman son of Hammedatha the Agagite, wrote to destroy the Jews who are in all the king’s provinces. ^r6For how could I bear to see the disaster that would come on my people? ^sHow could I bear to see the destruction of my relatives?” ^t

⁷King Ahasuerus said to Esther the Queen and to Mordecai the Jew, “Look, I have given Haman’s estate to Esther, ^uand he was hanged on the gallows because he attacked ^vthe Jews. ^w8You may write in the king’s name whatever pleases you ^xconcerning the Jews, and seal it with the royal signet ring. ^yA document written in the king’s name and sealed with the royal signet ring cannot be revoked.” ^z

⁹On the twenty-third day of the third month ^a(that is, the month Sivan), ^bthe royal scribes were summoned. Everything was written exactly as Mordecai ^cordered for the Jews, to the satraps, ^dthe governors, and the officials of the 127 provinces from India ^eto Cush. ^fThe edict was written for each province in its own script, for each ethnic group in its own language, ^gand to the Jews in their own script and language.

¹⁰Mordecai wrote in King Ahasuerus’s name and sealed the edicts with the royal signet ring. He sent the documents by mounted couriers, ^hwho rode fast horses ⁱbred from the royal racing mares.

¹¹The king’s edict gave the Jews in each and every city the right to assemble and defend themselves, to destroy, kill, and annihilate every ethnic and provincial army hostile to them, including women and children, and to take their possessions as spoils of war. ^j12This would take place on a single day throughout all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the month Adar. ^kl

¹³A copy of the text, issued as law throughout every province, was distributed to all the peoples ^mso the Jews could be ready to avenge themselves against their enemies on that day. ¹⁴The couriers rode out in haste on their royal horses at the king’s urgent command. The law was also issued in the fortress of Susa. ⁿ

¹⁵Mordecai went from the king’s presence clothed in royal purple and white, with a great gold crown and a purple robe of fine linen. ^oThe city of Susa shouted and rejoiced, ^p16and the Jews celebrated ^qwith gladness, joy, and honor. ^r17In every province and every city, wherever the king’s command and his law reached, joy and rejoicing took place among the Jews. There was a celebration and a holiday. ^stAnd many of the ethnic groups of the land professed themselves to be Jews because fear of the Jews ^uhad overcome them.