Esther 5–6

Esther’s Banquet

5Now it happened ^aon the third day that Esther put on her royal robes and stood in ^bthe inner court of the king’s palace, across from the king’s house, while the king sat on his royal throne in the royal house, facing the entrance of the ¹house. ²So it was, when the king saw Queen Esther standing in the court, that ^cshe found favor in his sight, and ^dthe king held out to Esther the golden scepter that was in his hand. Then Esther went near and touched the top of the scepter.

³And the king said to her, “What do you wish, Queen Esther? What is your request? ^eIt shall be given to you—up to half the kingdom!”

⁴So Esther answered, “If it pleases the king, let the king and Haman come today to the banquet that I have prepared for him.”

⁵Then the king said, “Bring Haman quickly, that he may do as Esther has said.” So the king and Haman went to the banquet that Esther had prepared.

⁶At the banquet of wine ^fthe king said to Esther, ^g“What is your petition? It shall be granted you. What is your request, up to half the kingdom? It shall be done!”

⁷Then Esther answered and said, “My petition and request is this: ⁸If I have found favor in the sight of the king, and if it pleases the king to grant my petition and ²fulfill my request, then let the king and Haman come to the ^hbanquet which I will prepare for them, and tomorrow I will do as the king has said.”

Haman’s Plot Against Mordecai

⁹So Haman went out that day ⁱjoyful and with a glad heart; but when Haman saw Mordecai in the king’s gate, and ^jthat he did not stand or tremble before him, he was filled with indignation against Mordecai. ¹⁰Nevertheless Haman ^krestrained himself and went home, and he sent and called for his friends and his wife Zeresh. ¹¹Then Haman told them of his great riches, ^lthe multitude of his children, everything in which the king had promoted him, and how he had ^madvanced him above the officials and servants of the king.

¹²Moreover Haman said, “Besides, Queen Esther invited no one but me to come in with the king to the banquet that she prepared; and tomorrow I am again invited by her, along with the king. ¹³Yet all this avails me nothing, so long as I see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the king’s gate.”

¹⁴Then his wife Zeresh and all his friends said to him, “Let a ⁿgallows ³be made, ⁴fifty cubits high, and in the morning ^osuggest to the king that Mordecai be hanged on it; then go merrily with the king to the banquet.”

And the thing pleased Haman; so he had ^pthe gallows made.

The King Honors Mordecai

6That night ¹the king could not sleep. So one was commanded to bring ^athe book of the records of the chronicles; and they were read before the king. ²And it was found written that Mordecai had told of ²Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king’s eunuchs, the doorkeepers who had sought to lay hands on King Ahasuerus. ³Then the king said, “What honor or dignity has been bestowed on Mordecai for this?”

And 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 entered ^bthe outer court of the king’s palace ^cto suggest that the king hang Mordecai on the gallows that he had prepared for him.

⁵The king’s servants said to him, “Haman is there, standing in the court.”

And the king said, “Let him come in.”

⁶So Haman came in, and the king asked him, “What shall be done for the man whom the king delights to honor?”

Now Haman thought in his heart, “Whom would the king delight to honor more than ^dme?” ⁷And Haman answered the king, “For the man whom the king delights to honor, ⁸let a royal robe be brought which the king has worn, and ^ea horse on which the king has ridden, which has a royal ³crest placed on its head. ⁹Then let this robe and horse be delivered to the hand of one of the king’s most noble princes, that he may array the man whom the king delights to honor. Then ⁴parade him on horseback through the city square, ^fand proclaim before him: ‘Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delights to honor!’ ”

¹⁰Then the king said to Haman, “Hurry, take the robe and the horse, as you have suggested, and do so for Mordecai the Jew who sits within the king’s gate! Leave nothing undone of all that you have spoken.”

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

¹²Afterward Mordecai went back to the king’s gate. But Haman ^ghurried to his house, mourning ^hand with his head covered. ¹³When Haman told his wife Zeresh and all his friends everything that had happened to him, his wise men and his wife Zeresh said to him, “If Mordecai, before whom you have begun to fall, is of Jewish descent, you will not prevail against ⁱhim but will surely fall before him.”

¹⁴While they were still talking with him, the king’s eunuchs came, and hastened to bring Haman to ^jthe banquet which Esther had prepared.