Esther 6–7

CHAPTER 6

The Man Whom the King Honors

¹During that night, sleep had ^afled from the king, so he said for them to bring ^bthe book of memoranda, the chronicles, and they were read before the king.

²And it was found written what ^aMordecai had told concerning Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king’s eunuchs from those who were doorkeepers, that they had sought to send forth their hand against King Ahasuerus.

³And the king said, “What honor or greatness has been done to Mordecai for this?” Then the king’s young men who attended him said, “Nothing has been done for him.”

⁴So the king said, “Who is in the court?” Now Haman had ^aentered the outer court of the king’s house in order to speak to the king about ^bhanging Mordecai on the gallows which he had set up for him.

⁵And the king’s young men said to him, “Behold, Haman is standing in the court.” And the king said, “Let him come in.”

⁶So Haman came in, and the king said to him, “What is to be done for the man ^awhom the king delights to honor?” And Haman said in his heart, “Whom would the king delight to honor more than me?”

⁷Then Haman said to the king, “For the man whom the king delights to honor,

⁸let them bring a royal robe which the king clothes himself in, and ^athe horse on which the king has ridden, and on whose head ^ba royal crown has been placed;

⁹and let the robe and the horse be given over to the hand of one of the king’s most noble princes, and let them clothe the man whom the king delights to honor and lead him on horseback through the city square ^aand call out before him, ‘Thus it shall be done to the man whom the king delights to honor.’”

Mordecai Is Honored

¹⁰Then the king said to Haman, “Take quickly the robes and the horse as you have said, and do so for Mordecai the Jew, who is sitting at the king’s gate; do not fall short in anything of all that you have spoken.”

¹¹So Haman took the robe and the horse and clothed Mordecai and led him on horseback through the city square and called out before him, “Thus it shall be done to the man whom the king delights to honor.”

¹²Then Mordecai returned to the king’s gate. But Haman hastened home, mourning, ^awith his head covered.

¹³And Haman recounted ^ato Zeresh his wife and all his friends everything that had happened to him. Then his wise men and Zeresh his wife said to him, “If Mordecai, before whom you have begun to fall, is of the seed of the Jews, you will not overcome him, but will surely fall before him.”

¹⁴While they were still speaking with him, the king’s eunuchs reached Haman’s home and hastily ^abrought Haman to the feast which Esther had prepared.

CHAPTER 7

Esther’s Petition to the King

¹Then the king and Haman came to drink wine with Esther the queen.

²And the king said to Esther on the second day also ¹as they drank their wine at the feast, “^aWhat is ²your petition, Queen Esther? It shall be given you. And what is ³your request? ^bEven to half of the kingdom it shall be done.”

³Then Queen Esther answered and said, “^aIf I have found favor in your eyes, O king, and if it seems good to the king, let my life be given to me as ¹my petition, and my people as ²my request;

⁴for ^awe have been sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, ^bto be killed, and to be caused to perish. Now if we had only been sold as slaves, men and women, I would have remained silent, for the ¹adversity would not be worth the ²annoyance to the king.”

⁵Then King Ahasuerus said—he said to Esther the Queen, “Who is this one, and where is this one, who fills his heart to do thus?”

⁶So Esther said, “^aAn adversary and an enemy is this evil Haman!” Then Haman became terrified before the king and queen.

Haman Is Hanged

⁷And the king arose ^ain his wrath from ¹drinking wine and went into ^bthe garden of his palace; but Haman stayed to seek for his life from Queen Esther, for he saw that calamity had been determined against him by the king.

⁸Now the king returned from the garden of his palace into the ¹place where they were drinking wine. And Haman was falling on ^athe couch where Esther was. So the king said, “Will he even assault the queen with me in the house?” As the word went out of the king’s mouth, they covered Haman’s face.

⁹Then Harbonah, one of the eunuchs who were before the king, said, “Behold indeed, ^athe gallows—which Haman made for Mordecai ^bwho spoke good on behalf of the king—are standing at Haman’s house fifty cubits high!” And the king said, “Hang him on it.”

^10aSo they hanged Haman on the ¹gallows which he had set up for Mordecai, ^band the king’s wrath subsided.