Esther 6–8

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.

CHAPTER 8

Esther Saves the Jews

¹On that day King Ahasuerus gave the house of Haman, ^athe adversary of the Jews, to Queen Esther; and Mordecai came before the king, for Esther had told ^bwhat he was to her.

^2aAnd the king removed his signet ring, which he had taken away from Haman, and gave it to Mordecai. And Esther set Mordecai over the house of Haman.

³Then Esther spoke again to the king, fell at his feet, wept, and implored him to ¹repeal the evil scheme of Haman the Agagite and his scheme which he had devised against the Jews.

^4aAnd the king extended the golden scepter to Esther. So Esther arose and stood before the king.

⁵Then she said, “^aIf it seems good to the king, and if I have found favor before him and the matter seems proper to the king and I am good in his eyes, let it be written to turn back the ^bletters devised by Haman, the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, which he wrote to cause the Jews who are in all the king’s provinces to perish.

⁶“For ^ahow can I endure to see the calamity which will befall my people, and how can I endure to see the perishing of my kinsmen?”

The King’s Decree Avenges the Jews

⁷So King Ahasuerus said to Queen Esther and to Mordecai the Jew, “Behold, ^aI have given the house of Haman to Esther, and him they have hanged on the ¹gallows because he had sent forth his hand against the Jews.

⁸“Now you write to the Jews, according to what is good in your eyes, in the king’s name, and ^aseal it with the king’s signet ring; for a written decree which is written in the name of the king and sealed with the king’s signet ring ^bmay not be turned back.”

^9aSo the king’s scribes were called at that time in the third month (that is, the month Sivan), on the twenty-third ¹day; and it was written according to all that Mordecai commanded to the Jews, the satraps, the governors, and the princes of the provinces which extended ^bfrom India to ²Ethiopia, 127 provinces, to ^cevery province according to its script, and to every people according to their tongue as well as to the Jews according to their script and their tongue.

¹⁰And he wrote in the name of King Ahasuerus and sealed it with the king’s signet ring and sent letters by the hand of couriers on ^ahorses, riding on steeds sired by the ¹royal stud.

¹¹¹In them the king gave the Jews who were in each and every city the right ^ato assemble and to make a stand for their lives, ^bto destroy, to kill, and to cause to perish the entire military force of any people or province which would act as their adversaries, including little ones and women, and ^cto plunder their spoil,

¹²on ^aone day in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, the thirteenth day of the twelfth month (that is, the month Adar).

^13aA copy of that which was written down to be given as law in each and every province was revealed to all the peoples, so that the Jews would be ready for this day to avenge themselves on their enemies.

¹⁴The couriers, hurried and hastened by the king’s word, went out, riding on the royal steeds; and the law was given out at the citadel in Susa.

¹⁵Then Mordecai went out from the presence of the king ^ain royal robes of ¹blue and fine white, with a large crown of gold and ^ba garment of fine linen and purple; and ^cthe city of Susa cried aloud and was glad.

¹⁶For the Jews there was ^alight and gladness and joy and honor.

¹⁷And in each and every province and in each and every city, wherever the king’s word and his law reached, there was gladness and joy for the Jews, a feast and a ^1aholiday. And ^bmany among the peoples of the land became Jews, for the dread of the Jews had fallen on them.