Esther 5:9–6:13

Haman’s Plot Against Mordecai

9 So 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. 10 Nevertheless Haman krestrained himself and went home, and he sent and called for his friends and his wife Zeresh. 11 Then 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.

12 Moreover 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. 13 Yet all this avails me nothing, so long as I see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the king’s gate.”

14 Then 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

6 That 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. 2 And 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. 3 Then 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.”

4 So 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.

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

And the king said, “Let him come in.”

6 So 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?” 7 And Haman answered the king, “For the man whom the king delights to honor, 8 let 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. 9 Then 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!’ ”

10 Then 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.”

11 So 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!”

12 Afterward Mordecai went back to the king’s gate. But Haman ghurried to his house, mourning hand with his head covered. 13 When 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.”