Esther 6–8

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

¹On that day hath the king Ahasuerus given to Esther the queen the house of Haman, adversary of the Jews, and Mordecai hath come in before the king, for Esther hath declared what he is to her, ²and the king turneth aside his signet, that he hath caused to pass away from Haman, and giveth it to Mordecai, and Esther setteth Mordecai over the house of Haman.

³And Esther addeth, and speaketh before the king, and falleth before his feet, and weepeth, and maketh supplication to him, to cause the evil of Haman the Agagite to pass away, and his device that he had devised against the Jews; ⁴and the king holdeth out to Esther the golden sceptre, and Esther riseth, and standeth before the king, ⁵and saith, ‘If to the king it be good, and if I have found grace before him, and the thing hath been right before the king, and I be good in his eyes, let it be written to bring back the letters—a device of Haman son of Hammedatha the Agagite—that he wrote to destroy the Jews who are in all provinces of the king, ⁶for how do I endure when I have looked on the evil that doth find my people? and how do I endure when I have looked on the destruction of my kindred?’ ⁷And the king Ahasuerus saith to Esther the queen, and to Mordecai the Jew, ‘Lo, the house of Haman I have given to Esther, and him they have hanged on the tree, because that he put forth his hand on the Jews, ⁸and ye, write ye for the Jews, as it is good in your eyes, in the name of the king, and seal with the signet of the king—for the writing that is written in the name of the king, and sealed with the signet of the king, there is none to turn back.’ ⁹And the scribes of the king are called, at that time, in the third month—it is the month of Sivan—in the three and twentieth of it, and it is written, according to all that Mordecai hath commanded, unto the Jews, and unto the lieutenants, and the governors, and the heads of the provinces, that are from Hodu even unto Cush, seven and twenty and a hundred provinces—province and province according to its writing, and people and people according to its tongue, and unto the Jews according to their writing, and according to their tongue. ¹⁰And he writeth in the name of the king Ahasuerus, and sealeth with the signet of the king, and sendeth letters by the hand of the runners with horses, riders of the dromedary, the mules, the young mares, ¹¹that the king hath given to the Jews who are in every city and city, to be assembled, and to stand for their life, to cut off, to slay, and to destroy the whole force of the people and province who are distressing them, infants and women, and their spoil to seize. ¹²In one day, in all the provinces of the king Ahasuerus, on the thirteenth of the twelfth month—it is the month of Adar— ¹³a copy of the writing to be made law in every province and province is revealed to all the peoples, and for the Jews being ready at this day to be avenged of their enemies. ¹⁴The runners, riding on the dromedary, and the mules, have gone out, hastened and pressed by the word of the king, and the law hath been given in Shushan the palace.

¹⁵And Mordecai went out from before the king, in royal clothing of blue and white, and a great crown of gold, and a garment of fine linen and purple, and the city of Shushan hath rejoiced and been glad; ¹⁶to the Jews hath been light, and gladness, and joy, and honour, ¹⁷and in every province and province, and in every city and city, the place where the word of the king, even his law, is coming, gladness and joy are to the Jews, a banquet, and a good day; and many of the peoples of the land are becoming Jews, for a fear of the Jews hath fallen upon them.

Chapter 9