Esther’s Banquet

5 Now it happened ^(A)on the third day that Esther put on her royal robes and stood in ^(B)the 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 ^[a]house. ² So it was, when the king saw Queen Esther standing in the court, that ^(C)she found favor in his sight, and ^(D)the king held out to Esther the golden scepter that was in his hand. Then Esther went near and touched the top of the scepter.

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

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

⁵ Then 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.

⁶ At the banquet of wine ^(F)the 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!”

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

Haman’s Plot Against Mordecai

⁹ So Haman went out that day ^(I)joyful and with a glad heart; but when Haman saw Mordecai in the king’s gate, and ^(J)that he did not stand or tremble before him, he was filled with indignation against Mordecai. ¹⁰ Nevertheless Haman ^(K)restrained 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, ^(L)the multitude of his children, everything in which the king had promoted him, and how he had ^(M)advanced 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 ^(N)gallows^[c] be made, ^[d]fifty cubits high, and in the morning ^(O)suggest 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 ^(P)the gallows made.

The King Honors Mordecai

6 That night ^[a]the king could not sleep. So one was commanded to bring ^(A)the 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 ^[b]Bigthana 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 ^(B)the outer court of the king’s palace ^(C)to 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 ^(D)me?” 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 ^(E)a horse on which the king has ridden, which has a royal ^[c]crest 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 ^[d]parade him on horseback through the city square, ^(F)and 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 ^(G)hurried to his house, mourning ^(H)and 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 ^(I)him but will surely fall before him.”

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

Haman Hanged Instead of Mordecai

7 So the king and Haman went to dine with Queen Esther. ² And on the second day, ^(A)at the banquet of wine, the king again said to Esther, “What is your petition, Queen Esther? It shall be granted you. And what is your request, up to half the kingdom? It shall be done!”

³ Then Queen Esther answered and said, “If I have found favor in your sight, O king, and if it pleases the king, let my life be given me at my petition, and my people at my request. ⁴ For we have been ^(B)sold, my people and I, to be destroyed, to be killed, and to be annihilated. Had we been sold as ^(C)male and female slaves, I would have held my tongue, although the enemy could never compensate for the king’s loss.”

⁵ So King Ahasuerus answered and said to Queen Esther, “Who is he, and where is he, who would dare presume in his heart to do such a thing?”

⁶ And Esther said, “The adversary and ^(D)enemy is this wicked Haman!”

So Haman was terrified before the king and queen.

⁷ Then the king arose in his wrath from the banquet of wine and went into the palace garden; but Haman stood before Queen Esther, pleading for his life, for he saw that evil was determined against him by the king. ⁸ When the king returned from the palace garden to the place of the banquet of wine, Haman had fallen across ^(E)the couch where Esther was. Then the king said, “Will he also assault the queen while I am in the house?”

As the word left the king’s mouth, they ^(F)covered Haman’s face. ⁹ Now ^(G)Harbonah, one of the eunuchs, said to the king, “Look! ^(H)The ^[a]gallows, fifty cubits high, which Haman made for Mordecai, who spoke ^(I)good on the king’s behalf, is standing at the house of Haman.”

Then the king said, “Hang him on it!”

¹⁰ So ^(J)they ^(K)hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then the king’s wrath subsided.

Esther Saves the Jews

8 On that day King Ahasuerus gave Queen Esther the house of Haman, the ^(A)enemy of the Jews. And Mordecai came before the king, for Esther had told ^(B)how he was related to her. ² So the king took off ^(C)his signet ring, which he had taken from Haman, and gave it to Mordecai; and Esther appointed Mordecai over the house of Haman.

³ Now Esther spoke again to the king, fell down at his feet, and implored him with tears to counteract the evil of Haman the Agagite, and the scheme which he had devised against the Jews. ⁴ And ^(D)the king held out the golden scepter toward Esther. So Esther arose and stood before the king, ⁵ and said, “If it pleases the king, and if I have found favor in his sight and the thing seems right to the king and I am pleasing in his eyes, let it be written to revoke the ^(E)letters devised by Haman, the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, which he wrote to annihilate the Jews who are in all the king’s provinces. ⁶ For how can I endure to see ^(F)the evil that will come to my people? Or how can I endure to see the destruction of my countrymen?”

⁷ Then King Ahasuerus said to Queen Esther and Mordecai the Jew, “Indeed, ^(G)I have given Esther the house of Haman, and they have hanged him on the gallows because he tried to lay his hand on the Jews. ⁸ You yourselves write a decree concerning the Jews, ^[a]as you please, in the king’s name, and seal it with the king’s signet ring; for whatever is written in the king’s name and sealed with the king’s signet ring ^(H)no one can revoke.”

^9 (I)So the king’s scribes were called at that time, in the third month, which is the month of Sivan, on the twenty-third day; and it was written, according to all that Mordecai commanded, to the Jews, the satraps, the governors, and the princes of the provinces ^(J)from India to Ethiopia, one hundred and twenty-seven provinces in all, to every province ^(K)in its own script, to every people in their own language, and to the Jews in their own script and language. ^10 (L)And he wrote in the name of King Ahasuerus, sealed it with the king’s signet ring, and sent letters by couriers on horseback, riding on royal horses ^[b]bred from swift steeds.

¹¹ By these letters the king permitted the Jews who were in every city to ^(M)gather together and protect their lives—to ^(N)destroy, kill, and annihilate all the forces of any people or province that would assault them, both little children and women, and to plunder their possessions, ^12 (O)on one day in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month of ^[c]Adar. ^13 (P)A copy of the document was to be issued as a decree in every province and published for all people, so that the Jews would be ready on that day to avenge themselves on their enemies. ¹⁴ The couriers who rode on royal horses went out, hastened and pressed on by the king’s command. And the decree was issued in ^[d]Shushan the ^[e]citadel.

¹⁵ So Mordecai went out from the presence of the king in royal apparel of ^[f]blue and white, with a great crown of gold and a garment of fine linen and purple; and ^(Q)the city of ^[g]Shushan rejoiced and was glad. ¹⁶ The Jews had ^(R)light and gladness, joy and honor. ¹⁷ And in every province and city, wherever the king’s command and decree came, the Jews had joy and gladness, a feast ^(S)and a holiday. Then many of the people of the land ^(T)became Jews, because ^(U)fear of the Jews fell upon them.