Esther 5–7

¹And it cometh to pass on the third day, that Esther putteth on royalty, and standeth in the inner-court of the house of the king over-against the house of the king, and the king is sitting on his royal throne, in the royal-house, over-against the opening of the house, ²and it cometh to pass, at the king’s seeing Esther the queen standing in the court, she hath received grace in his eyes, and the king holdeth out to Esther the golden sceptre that is in his hand, and Esther draweth near, and toucheth the top of the sceptre. ³And the king saith to her, ‘What—to thee Esther, O queen? and what thy request? unto the half of the kingdom—and it is given to thee.’ ⁴And Esther saith, ‘If unto the king it be good, the king doth come in, and Haman, to-day, unto the banquet that I have made for him;’ ⁵and the king saith, ‘Haste ye Haman—to do the word of Esther;’ and the king cometh in, and Haman, unto the banquet that Esther hath made. ⁶And the king saith to Esther, during the banquet of wine, ‘What is thy petition? and it is given to thee; and what thy request? unto the half of the kingdom—and it is done.’ ⁷And Esther answereth and saith, ‘My petition and my request is: ⁸if I have found grace in the eyes of the king, and if unto the king it be good, to give my petition, and to perform my request, the king doth come, and Haman, unto the banquet that I make for them, and to-morrow I do according to the word of the king.’

⁹And Haman goeth forth on that day rejoicing and glad in heart, and at Haman’s seeing Mordecai in the gate of the king, and he hath not risen nor moved for him, then is Haman full of fury against Mordecai. ¹⁰And Haman forceth himself, and cometh in unto his house, and sendeth, and bringeth in his friends, and Zeresh his wife, ¹¹and Haman recounteth to them the glory of his wealth, and the abundance of his sons, and all that with which the king made him great, and with which he lifted him up above the heads and servants of the king. ¹²And Haman saith, ‘Yea, Esther the queen brought none in with the king, unto the feast that she made, except myself, and also for to-morrow I am called to her, with the king, ¹³and all this is not profitable to me, during all the time that I am seeing Mordecai the Jew sitting in the gate of the king.’ ¹⁴And Zeresh his wife saith to him, and all his friends, ‘Let them prepare a tree, in height fifty cubits, and in the morning speak to the king, and they hang Mordecai on it, and go thou in with the king unto the banquet rejoicing;’ and the thing is good before Haman, and he prepareth the tree.

Chapter 6

¹On that night hath the sleep of the king fled away, and he saith to bring in the book of memorials of the Chronicles, and they are read before the king, ²and it is found written that Mordecai had declared concerning Bigthana and Teresh, two of the eunuchs of the king, of the keepers of the threshold, who sought to put forth a hand on king Ahasuerus. ³And the king saith, ‘What honour and greatness hath been done to Mordecai for this?’ And the servants of the king, his ministers, say, ‘Nothing hath been done with him.’

⁴And the king saith, ‘Who is in the court?’—and Haman hath come in to the outer court of the house of the king, to say to the king to hang Mordecai on the tree that he had prepared for him— ⁵and the servants of the king say unto him, ‘Lo, Haman is standing in the court;’ and the king saith, ‘Let him come in.’ ⁶And Haman cometh in, and the king saith to him, ‘What—to do with the man in whose honour the king hath delighted?’ And Haman saith in his heart, ‘To whom doth the king delight to do honour more than myself?’ ⁷And Haman saith unto the king, ‘The man in whose honour the king hath delighted, ⁸let them bring in royal clothing that the king hath put on himself, and a horse on which the king hath ridden, and that the royal crown be put on his head, ⁹and to give the clothing and the horse into the hand of a man of the heads of the king, the chiefs, and they have clothed the man in whose honour the king hath delighted, and caused him to ride on the horse in a broad place of the city, and called before him: Thus it is done to the man in whose honour the king hath delighted.’ ¹⁰And the king saith to Haman, ‘Haste, take the clothing and the horse, as thou hast spoken, and do so to Mordecai the Jew, who is sitting in the gate of the king; there doth not fall a thing of all that thou hast spoken.’ ¹¹And Haman taketh the clothing, and the horse, and clothed Mordecai, and causeth him to ride in a broad place of the city, and calleth before him, ‘Thus it is done to the man in whose honour the king hath delighted.’

¹²And Mordecai turneth back unto the gate of the king, and Haman hath been hastened unto his house mourning, and with covered head, ¹³and Haman recounteth to Zeresh his wife, and to all his friends, all that hath met him, and his wise men say to him, and Zeresh his wife, ‘If Mordecai is of the seed of the Jews, before whom thou hast begun to fall, thou art not able for him, but dost certainly fall before him.’ ¹⁴They are yet speaking with him, and eunuchs of the king have come, and haste to bring in Haman unto the banquet that Esther hath made.

Chapter 7

¹And the king cometh in, and Haman, to drink with Esther the queen, ²and the king saith to Esther also on the second day, during the banquet of wine, ‘What is thy petition, Esther, O queen? and it is given to thee; and what thy request? unto the half of the kingdom—and it is done.’ ³And Esther the queen answereth and saith, ‘If I have found grace in thine eyes, O king, and if to the king it be good, let my life be given to me at my petition, and my people at my request; ⁴for we have been sold, I and my people, to cut off, to slay, and to destroy; and if for men-servants and for maid-servants we had been sold I had kept silent—but the adversity is not equal to the loss of the king.’ ⁵And the king Ahasuerus saith, yea, he saith to Esther the queen, ‘Who is he—this one? and where is this one?—he whose heart hath filled him to do so?’ ⁶And Esther saith, ‘The man—adversary and enemy—is this wicked Haman;’ and Haman hath been afraid at the presence of the king and of the queen.

⁷And the king hath risen, in his fury, from the banquet of wine, unto the garden of the house, and Haman hath remained to seek for his life from Esther the queen, for he hath seen that evil hath been determined against him by the king. ⁸And the king hath turned back out of the garden of the house unto the house of the banquet of wine, and Haman is falling on the couch on which Esther is, and the king saith, ‘Also to subdue the queen with me in the house?’ the word hath gone out from the mouth of the king, and the face of Haman they have covered. ⁹And Harbonah, one of the eunuchs, saith before the king, ‘Also lo, the tree that Haman made for Mordecai, who spake good for the king, is standing in the house of Haman, in height fifty cubits;’ and the king saith, ‘Hang him upon it.’ ¹⁰And they hang Haman upon the tree that he had prepared for Mordecai, and the fury of the king hath lain down.

Chapter 8