² And on the second day, as they were drinking wine after the feast, the king again said to Esther, ^(A)“What is your wish, Queen Esther? It shall be granted you. And what is your request? ^(B)Even to the half of my kingdom, it shall be fulfilled.” ³ Then Queen Esther answered, ^(C)“If I have found favor in your sight, O king, and if it please the king, let my life be granted me for my wish, and my people for my request. ^4 (D)For we have been sold, I and my people, ^(E)to be destroyed, to be killed, and to be annihilated. If we had been sold merely as slaves, men and women, I would have been silent, for our affliction is not to be compared with the loss to the king.”