Esther 5–6

Chapter 5

Esther Plans a Banquet

¹Now it came about ^aon the third day that Esther put on her royal robes and stood ^bin the inner court of the king’s palace in front of the king’s ¹rooms, and the king was sitting on his royal throne in the ²throne room, opposite the entrance to the palace.

²When the king saw Esther the queen standing in the court, ^ashe obtained favor in his sight; and ^bthe king extended to Esther the golden scepter which was in his hand. So Esther came near and touched the top of the scepter.

³Then the king said to her, “What is troubling you, Queen Esther? And what is your request? ^aEven to half of the kingdom it shall be given to you.”

⁴Esther said, “If it pleases the king, may the king and Haman come this day to the banquet that I have prepared for him.”

⁵Then the king said, “^aBring Haman quickly that we may do ¹as Esther desires.” So the king and Haman came to the banquet which Esther had prepared.

⁶¹As they drank their wine at the banquet, ^athe king said to Esther, “^bWhat is your petition, for it shall be granted to you. And what is your request? Even to half of the kingdom it shall be done.”

⁷So Esther replied, “My petition and my request is:

^8aif I have found favor in the sight of the king, and if it pleases the king to grant my petition and do ¹what I request, may the king and Haman come to ^bthe banquet which I will prepare for them, and tomorrow I will do ²as the king says.”

Haman’s Pride

⁹Then Haman went out that day glad and pleased of heart; but when Haman saw Mordecai ^ain the king’s gate and ^bthat he did not stand up or ¹tremble before him, Haman was filled with anger against Mordecai.

¹⁰Haman controlled himself, however, went to his house and ¹sent for his friends and his wife ^aZeresh.

¹¹Then Haman recounted to them the glory of his riches, and the ^1anumber of his sons, and every instance where the king had magnified him and how he had ^2bpromoted him above the princes and servants of the king.

¹²Haman also said, “Even Esther the queen let no one but me come with the king to the banquet which she had prepared; and ^atomorrow also I am ¹invited by her with the king.

¹³“Yet all of this ¹does not satisfy me every time I see Mordecai the Jew sitting at ^athe king’s gate.”

¹⁴Then Zeresh his wife and all his friends said to him, “^aHave a ¹gallows fifty cubits high made and in the morning ask the king to have Mordecai hanged on it; then go joyfully with the king to the banquet.” And the ²advice pleased Haman, so he had the gallows made.

Chapter 6

The King Plans to Honor Mordecai

¹During that night ¹the king ^acould not sleep so he gave an order to bring ^bthe book of records, the chronicles, and they were read before the king.

²It was found written what ^aMordecai had reported concerning Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king’s eunuchs who were doorkeepers, that they had sought to lay hands on King Ahasuerus.

³The king said, “What honor or dignity has been bestowed on Mordecai for this?” Then the king’s servants who attended him said, “Nothing has been done for him.”

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

⁵The king’s servants 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 desires to honor?” And Haman said ¹to himself, “Whom would the king desire to honor more than me?”

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

⁸let them bring a royal robe which the king has worn, 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 handed over to one of the king’s most noble princes and let them array the man whom the king desires to honor and lead him on horseback through the city square, ^aand proclaim before him, ‘Thus it shall be done to the man whom the king desires to honor.’ ”

Haman Must Honor Mordecai

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 said.”

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

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

¹³Haman 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 ¹of Jewish origin, you will not overcome him, but will surely fall before him.”

¹⁴While they were still talking with him, the king’s eunuchs arrived and hastily ^abrought Haman to the banquet which Esther had prepared.