Esther 6–8

Mordecai Honored

6That 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. ²It 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.

⁴The 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.

⁵His attendants answered, “Haman is standing in the court.”

“Bring him in,” the king ordered.

⁶When 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?” ⁷So he answered the king, “For the man the king delights to honor, ⁸have them bring a royal robe^f the king has worn and a horse^g the king has ridden, one with a royal crest placed on its head. ⁹Then 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.”

¹¹So 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!”

¹²Afterward Mordecai returned to the king’s gate. But Haman rushed home, with his head covered^j in grief, ¹³and told Zeresh^k 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 downfall^l 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.

Haman Impaled

7So the king and Haman went to Queen Esther’s banquet,^{o 2}and as they were drinking wine^p 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”

³Then Queen Esther answered, “If I have found favor^s 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. ⁴For 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”

⁵King Xerxes asked Queen Esther, “Who is he? Where is he—the man who has dared to do such a thing?”

⁶Esther said, “An adversary and enemy! This vile Haman!”

Then Haman was terrified before the king and queen. ⁷The 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.

⁸Just as the king returned from the palace garden to the banquet hall, Haman was falling on the couch^x 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 cubits^bc 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 impaled^e Haman^f on the pole^g he had set up for Mordecai.^h Then the king’s fury subsided.ⁱ

The King’s Edict in Behalf of the Jews

8That 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. ²The 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

³Esther 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. ⁴Then 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 favor^o 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. ⁶For how can I bear to see disaster fall on my people? How can I bear to see the destruction of my family?”^p

⁷King 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 impaled^q him on the pole he set up. ⁸Now write another decree^r in the king’s name in behalf of the Jews as seems best to you, and seal^s it with the king’s signet ring^t—for no document written in the king’s name and sealed with his ring can be revoked.”^u

⁹At 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.^av 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.

¹¹The 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 plunder^x the property of their enemies. ¹²The 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 day^z to avenge themselves on their enemies.

¹⁴The 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

The Triumph of the Jews

¹⁵When Mordecai^b left the king’s presence, he was wearing royal garments of blue and white, a large crown of gold^c 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 joy^h 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