Esther 3–5

Haman is Promoted

3After these things King Ahasuerus promoted Haman son of Hammedatha the Agagite, and he exalted him and set his position^a above all the officials who were with him. ²And all of the king’s servants who were at the gate of the king were kneeling and bowing down to Haman; for so the king had commanded concerning him, but Mordecai did not kneel and bow down. ³And the king’s servants who were at the gate of the king said to Mordecai, “Why are you transgressing the command of the king?” ⁴They spoke to him day after day, but he did not listen to them, and they informed Haman to see if Mordecai’s resolve would prevail;^b for he had told them that he was a Jew. ⁵And Haman saw that Mordecai was not kneeling and bowing down to him, and he was filled with wrath. ⁶But he considered it beneath him^c to lay hands on Mordecai only, for they told him of Mordecai’s people, and Haman sought to destroy all the Jews, the people of Mordecai, who were in the kingdom of Ahasuerus.

⁷In the first month, that is, the month of Nisan, in the twelfth year of King Ahasurus, he cast pur—that is, the lot—before the presence of Haman for the day and for the month,^d until^e the twelfth month, that is, the month of Adar. ⁸And Haman said to King Ahasuerus, “There is a certain people scattered and separated among the peoples in all of the provinces of your kingdom; their laws are different from every other people, and they do not observe^f the laws of the king; it is not appropriate for the king to tolerate them. ⁹If it pleases the king, let a decree be issued to destroy them, and I will pay^g ten thousand talents^h of silver to those who do the job, to bring to the treasury of the king.” ¹⁰So the king removed his signet ring from his hand and gave it to Haman son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the enemy of the Jews. ¹¹And the king said to Haman, “The money is given to you and to the people to do with it as you see fit.ⁱ

¹²And the king’s secretaries were called in the first month on the thirteenth day, and a decree was issued, according to all that Haman commanded, to the satraps of the king and to the governors who were over all the provinces, and to the officials of all the people, to each province according to its own script and to all people according to their own language; it was written in the name of King Ahasuerus and was sealed with the king’s ring. ¹³Letters were sent by couriers^j to all the provinces of the king to destroy, to kill, and to annihilate all the Jews, both young and old,^k women and children, on one day, the thirteenth day of the month, that is Adar, and to plunder their goods. ¹⁴A copy of the edict was presented as law in every province making it known to all the people to be ready for that day. ¹⁵The couriers went out quickly by order of the king, and the law was issued in the citadel of Susa. The king and Haman sat down to drink; and the city of Susa was bewildered.^l

Mordecai Tells Esther of Haman’s Plot

4Mordecai learned all that had been done and he tore his clothes and put on sackcloth and ashes. And he went through the middle of the city and cried out a loud and bitter cry; ²he went up to the entrance of the gate of the king, for he could not go to the gate of the king in sackcloth. ³In every province each place where the king’s edict and his law came, there was great mourning for the Jews with fasting, crying, wailing, and sackcloth; and ashes were spread out as a bed for them.

⁴And Esther’s maids and her eunuchs came and they told her, and the queen was deeply distressed; she sent garments to clothe Mordecai so that he might remove his sackcloth—but he did not accept them. ⁵Then Esther called Hathach from the king’s eunuchs who regularly attended to her,^a and she ordered him to go to Mordecai to learn what was happening and why. ⁶So Hathach went out to Mordecai, to the public square of the city, which was in front of the gate of the king, ⁷and Mordecai told him all that had happened to him, and the exact amount of money that Haman has promised to pay to the treasury of the king for the destruction of the Jews. ⁸And he gave him a copy of the edict of the law that had been issued in Susa for their destruction to show Esther, and to inform her, and to charge her to go to the king and make supplication to him and entreat before him for her people.

⁹And Hathach went back and told Esther the words of Mordecai. ¹⁰And Esther spoke to Hathach and she gave him a message for Mordecai:^{b 11}“All the king’s servants and the people of the king’s provinces know that if any man or woman who goes to the king to the inner courtyard, who is not called, he has one law, to be killed, except if the king extends to him the gold scepter so that he may live. I have not been called to come to the king for thirty days.”^{c 12}And they told Mordecai the words of Esther. ¹³Then Mordecai told them to reply to Esther: “Do not think that your life will be saved in the palace of the king more than all the Jews. ¹⁴For if indeed you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place, and you and the family of your father will perish. Who knows? Perhaps you have come to a royal position for a time such as this.” ¹⁵Esther replied to Mordecai: ¹⁶“Go, gather all the Jews that are found in Susa and fast for me; do not eat or drink for three days, both night and day. I and my young girls will fast likewise, and then I will go to the king, which is not according to the law; if I perish, I perish. ¹⁷And Mordecai went away and he did everything that Esther commanded him.

Esther’s Banquet

5And it happened, on the third day, and Esther put on royal clothes, and she stood in the inner courtyard of the king’s palace,^a opposite the king’s palace;^b the king was sitting on his royal throne in the throne room^c opposite the doorway of the palace. ²When the king saw Queen Esther standing in the courtyard she found favor in his eyes, and the king held out the gold scepter that was in his hand to Esther, and Esther approached and touched the top of the scepter. ³And the king said to her, “What is it, Queen Esther? What is your request? It will be given to you—even half the kingdom.” ⁴And Esther said, “If it is good to the king, let the king and Haman come today to the banquet that I have prepared for him.” ⁵And the king said, “Bring Haman quickly to fulfill^d the request of Esther.” So the king and Haman came to the banquet that Esther had prepared. ⁶And the king said to Esther while they were drinking wine,^e “What is your petition? It will be given to you. What is your request? Even half the kingdom, it will done. ⁷And Esther answered and said, “This is my petition and my request. ⁸If I have found favor in the eyes of the king,^f and if it is good to the king to grant my petition and fulfill my request, let the king and Haman come to the banquet that I will prepare for them tomorrow, and I will do according to the word of the king.

⁹And Haman went out on that day rejoicing and feeling good.^g But when Haman saw Mordecai at the gate of the king, and he did not rise or tremble before him, Haman was filled with rage toward^h Mordecai. ¹⁰But Haman controlled himself and went to his house, and he sent for and brought his friends and Zeresh his wife. ¹¹And Haman recounted to them the splendor of his wealth and the number of his sons and all the ways that the king had honored him and promoted him above the officials and king’s servants. ¹²And Haman added,ⁱ “Esther the Queen did not let just anyone come to the banquet that she prepared with the king except me, and I am also invited tomorrow to her banquet with the king. ¹³But all this fails to satisfy me^j when^k I see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the gate of the king.” ¹⁴And Zeresh his wife and all of his friends said to him, “Let them make a gallows fifty cubits^l high, and in the morning tell the king, “Let them hang Mordecai on it; then go with the king to the banquet happily.” The advice pleased Haman, so he had the gallows made.