Esther 5:1–10:3
5 On the third day Esther put on her royal robesj and stood in the inner court of the palace, in front of the king’sk hall. The king was sitting on his royal throne in the hall, facing the entrance. 2 When he saw Queen Esther standing in the court, he was pleased with her and held out to her the gold scepter that was in his hand. So Esther approached and touched the tip of the scepter.l
3 Then the king asked, “What is it, Queen Esther? What is your request? Even up to half the kingdom,m it will be given you.”
4 “If it pleases the king,” replied Esther, “let the king, together with Haman, come today to a banquet I have prepared for him.”
5 “Bring Haman at once,” the king said, “so that we may do what Esther asks.”
So the king and Haman went to the banquet Esther had prepared. 6 As they were drinking wine,n the king again asked Esther, “Now what is your petition? It will be given you. And what is your request? Even up to half the kingdom,o it will be granted.”p
7 Esther replied, “My petition and my request is this: 8 If the king regards me with favorq and if it pleases the king to grant my petition and fulfill my request, let the king and Haman come tomorrow to the banquetr I will prepare for them. Then I will answer the king’s question.”
9 Haman went out that day happy and in high spirits. But when he saw Mordecai at the king’s gate and observed that he neither rose nor showed fear in his presence, he was filled with rages against Mordecai.t 10 Nevertheless, Haman restrained himself and went home.
Calling together his friends and Zeresh,u his wife, 11 Haman boastedv to them about his vast wealth, his many sons,w and all the ways the king had honored him and how he had elevated him above the other nobles and officials. 12 “And that’s not all,” Haman added. “I’m the only personx Queen Esther invited to accompany the king to the banquet she gave. And she has invited me along with the king tomorrow. 13 But all this gives me no satisfaction as long as I see that Jew Mordecai sitting at the king’s gate.y”
14 His wife Zeresh and all his friends said to him, “Have a pole set up, reaching to a height of fifty cubits,a z and ask the king in the morning to have Mordecai impaleda on it. Then go with the king to the banquet and enjoy yourself.” This suggestion delighted Haman, and he had the pole set up.
6 That night the king could not sleep;b so he ordered the book of the chronicles,c the record of his reign, to be brought in and read to him. 2 It was found recorded there that Mordecai had exposed Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king’s officers who guarded the doorway, who had conspired to assassinate King Xerxes.d
3 “What honor and recognition has Mordecai received for this?” the king asked.
“Nothing has been done for him,”e his attendants answered.
4 The king said, “Who is in the court?” Now Haman had just entered the outer court of the palace to speak to the king about impaling Mordecai on the pole he had set up for him.
5 His attendants answered, “Haman is standing in the court.”
“Bring him in,” the king ordered.
6 When Haman entered, the king asked him, “What should be done for the man the king delights to honor?”
Now Haman thought to himself, “Who is there that the king would rather honor than me?” 7 So he answered the king, “For the man the king delights to honor, 8 have them bring a royal robef the king has worn and a horseg the king has ridden, one with a royal crest placed on its head. 9 Then let the robe and horse be entrusted to one of the king’s most noble princes. Let them robe the man the king delights to honor, and lead him on the horse through the city streets, proclaiming before him, ‘This is what is done for the man the king delights to honor!h’ ”
10 “Go at once,” the king commanded Haman. “Get the robe and the horse and do just as you have suggested for Mordecai the Jew, who sits at the king’s gate. Do not neglect anything you have recommended.”
11 So Haman goti the robe and the horse. He robed Mordecai, and led him on horseback through the city streets, proclaiming before him, “This is what is done for the man the king delights to honor!”
12 Afterward Mordecai returned to the king’s gate. But Haman rushed home, with his head coveredj in grief, 13 and told Zereshk his wife and all his friends everything that had happened to him.
His advisers and his wife Zeresh said to him, “Since Mordecai, before whom your downfalll has started, is of Jewish origin, you cannot stand against him—you will surely come to ruin!”m 14 While they were still talking with him, the king’s eunuchs arrived and hurried Haman away to the banquetn Esther had prepared.
7 So the king and Haman went to Queen Esther’s banquet,o 2 and as they were drinking winep on the second day, the king again asked, “Queen Esther, what is your petition? It will be given you. What is your request? Even up to half the kingdom,q it will be granted.r”
3 Then Queen Esther answered, “If I have found favors with you, Your Majesty, and if it pleases you, grant me my life—this is my petition. And spare my people—this is my request. 4 For I and my people have been sold to be destroyed, killed and annihilated.t If we had merely been sold as male and female slaves, I would have kept quiet, because no such distress would justify disturbing the king.a”
5 King Xerxes asked Queen Esther, “Who is he? Where is he—the man who has dared to do such a thing?”
6 Esther said, “An adversary and enemy! This vile Haman!”
Then Haman was terrified before the king and queen. 7 The king got up in a rage,u left his wine and went out into the palace garden.v But Haman, realizing that the king had already decided his fate,w stayed behind to beg Queen Esther for his life.
8 Just as the king returned from the palace garden to the banquet hall, Haman was falling on the couchx where Esther was reclining.y
The king exclaimed, “Will he even molest the queen while she is with me in the house?”z
As soon as the word left the king’s mouth, they covered Haman’s face.a 9 Then Harbona,b one of the eunuchs attending the king, said, “A pole reaching to a height of fifty cubitsb c stands by Haman’s house. He had it set up for Mordecai, who spoke up to help the king.”
The king said, “Impale him on it!”d 10 So they impalede Hamanf on the poleg he had set up for Mordecai.h Then the king’s fury subsided.i
The King’s Edict in Behalf of the Jews
8 That same day King Xerxes gave Queen Esther the estate of Haman,j the enemy of the Jews. And Mordecai came into the presence of the king, for Esther had told how he was related to her. 2 The king took off his signet ring,k which he had reclaimed from Haman, and presented it to Mordecai. And Esther appointed him over Haman’s estate.l
3 Esther again pleaded with the king, falling at his feet and weeping. She begged him to put an end to the evil plan of Haman the Agagite,m which he had devised against the Jews. 4 Then the king extended the gold sceptern to Esther and she arose and stood before him.
5 “If it pleases the king,” she said, “and if he regards me with favoro and thinks it the right thing to do, and if he is pleased with me, let an order be written overruling the dispatches that Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, devised and wrote to destroy the Jews in all the king’s provinces. 6 For how can I bear to see disaster fall on my people? How can I bear to see the destruction of my family?”p
7 King Xerxes replied to Queen Esther and to Mordecai the Jew, “Because Haman attacked the Jews, I have given his estate to Esther, and they have impaledq him on the pole he set up. 8 Now write another decreer in the king’s name in behalf of the Jews as seems best to you, and seals it with the king’s signet ringt—for no document written in the king’s name and sealed with his ring can be revoked.”u
9 At once the royal secretaries were summoned—on the twenty-third day of the third month, the month of Sivan. They wrote out all Mordecai’s orders to the Jews, and to the satraps, governors and nobles of the 127 provinces stretching from India to Cush.a v These orders were written in the script of each province and the language of each people and also to the Jews in their own script and language.w 10 Mordecai wrote in the name of King Xerxes, sealed the dispatches with the king’s signet ring, and sent them by mounted couriers, who rode fast horses especially bred for the king.
11 The king’s edict granted the Jews in every city the right to assemble and protect themselves; to destroy, kill and annihilate the armed men of any nationality or province who might attack them and their women and children,b and to plunderx the property of their enemies. 12 The day appointed for the Jews to do this in all the provinces of King Xerxes was the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the month of Adar.y 13 A copy of the text of the edict was to be issued as law in every province and made known to the people of every nationality so that the Jews would be ready on that dayz to avenge themselves on their enemies.
14 The couriers, riding the royal horses, went out, spurred on by the king’s command, and the edict was issued in the citadel of Susa.a
15 When Mordecaib left the king’s presence, he was wearing royal garments of blue and white, a large crown of goldc and a purple robe of fine linen.d And the city of Susa held a joyous celebration.e 16 For the Jews it was a time of happiness and joy,f gladness and honor.g 17 In every province and in every city to which the edict of the king came, there was joyh and gladness among the Jews, with feasting and celebrating. And many people of other nationalities became Jews because feari of the Jews had seized them.j
9 On the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the month of Adar,k the edict commanded by the king was to be carried out. On this day the enemies of the Jews had hoped to overpower them, but now the tables were turned and the Jews got the…