6That same night the king could not sleep. So he gave an order for the daily court record to be brought in and read to him. ²It was found recorded that Mordecai had warned the king about Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king’s officers who guarded the doorway and who had planned to kill the king.

³The king asked, “What honor and reward have been given to Mordecai for this?”

The king’s personal servants answered, “Nothing has been done for Mordecai.”

⁴The king said, “Who is in the courtyard?” Now Haman had just entered the outer court of the king’s palace. He had come to ask the king about hanging Mordecai on the platform he had prepared.

⁵The king’s personal servants said, “Haman is standing in the courtyard.”

The king said, “Bring him in.”

⁶So Haman came in. And the king asked him, “What should be done for a man whom the king wants very much to honor?”

And Haman thought to himself, “Whom would the king want to honor more than me?” ⁷So he answered the king, “This is what you could do for the man you want very much to honor. ⁸Have the servants bring a royal robe that the king himself has worn. And also bring a horse with a royal crown on its head, a horse that the king himself has ridden. ⁹Let the robe and the horse be given to one of the king’s most important men. Let the servants put the robe on the man the king wants to honor, and let them lead him on the horse through the city streets. As they are leading him, let them announce: ‘This is what is done for the man whom the king wants to honor!’ ”

¹⁰The king commanded Haman, “Go quickly. Take the robe and the horse just as you have said, and do all this for Mordecai the Jew who sits at the king’s gate. Do not leave out anything you have suggested.”

¹¹So Haman took the robe and the horse, and he put the robe on Mordecai. Then he led him on horseback through the city streets, announcing before Mordecai: “This is what is done for the man whom the king wants to honor!”

¹²Then Mordecai returned to the king’s gate, but Haman hurried home with his head covered, because he was embarrassed and ashamed. ¹³He told his wife, Zeresh, and all his friends everything that had happened to him.

Haman’s wife and the men who gave him advice said, “You are starting to lose power to Mordecai. Since he is a Jew, you cannot win against him. You will surely be ruined.” ¹⁴While they were still talking, the king’s eunuchs came to Haman’s house and made him hurry to the banquet Esther had prepared.

Haman Is Hanged

7So the king and Haman went in to eat with Queen Esther. ²As they were drinking wine on the second day, the king asked Esther again, “What are you asking for? I will give it to you. What is it you want? I will give you as much as half of my kingdom.”

³Then Queen Esther answered, “My king, if you are pleased with me, and if it pleases you, let me live. This is what I ask. And let my people live, too. This is what I want. ⁴My people and I have been sold to be destroyed, to be killed and completely wiped out. If we had been sold as male and female slaves, I would have kept quiet, because that would not be enough of a problem to bother the king.”

⁵Then King Xerxes asked Queen Esther, “Who is he, and where is he? Who has done such a thing?”

⁶Esther said, “Our enemy and foe is this wicked Haman!”

Then Haman was filled with terror before the king and queen. ⁷The king was very angry, so he got up, left his wine, and went out into the palace garden. But Haman stayed inside to beg Queen Esther to save his life. He could see that the king had already decided to kill him.

⁸When the king returned from the palace garden to the banquet hall, he saw Haman falling on the couch where Esther was lying. The king said, “Will he even attack the queen while I am in the house?”

As soon as the king said that, servants came in and covered Haman’s face. ⁹Harbona, one of the eunuchs there serving the king, said, “Look, a seventy-five foot platform stands near Haman’s house. This is the one Haman had prepared for Mordecai, who gave the warning that saved the king.”

The king said, “Hang Haman on it!” ¹⁰So they hanged Haman on the platform he had prepared for Mordecai. Then the king was not so angry anymore.

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