Esther 6:1–11

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!”