Esther 4-6

New American Standard Bible

Esther Learns of Haman’s Plot

4 When Mordecai learned of ^(A)everything that had been done, ^[a]he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and ashes, and went out into the midst of the city and wailed loudly and bitterly. ² And he came as far as the king’s gate, for no one was to enter the king’s gate clothed in sackcloth. ³ In each and every province where the command and decree of the king came, there was great mourning among the Jews, with ^(B)fasting, weeping, and mourning rites; and many had sackcloth and ashes spread out as a bed.

⁴ Then Esther’s attendants and her eunuchs came and informed her, and the queen was seized by great fear. And she sent garments to clothe Mordecai so that he would remove his sackcloth from him, but he did not accept them. ⁵ Then Esther summoned Hathach from the king’s eunuchs, whom ^[b]the king had appointed to attend her, and ordered him to go to Mordecai to learn what this mourning was and why it was happening. ⁶ So Hathach went out to Mordecai in the city square, in front of the king’s gate. ⁷ Mordecai told him everything that had happened to him, and ^(C)the exact amount of money that Haman had promised to pay to the king’s treasuries for the elimination of the Jews. ⁸ He also gave him ^(D)a copy of the text of the edict which had been issued in Susa for their annihilation, so that he might show Esther and inform her, and to order her to go in to the king to implore his favor and plead with him for her people.

⁹ So Hathach came back and reported Mordecai’s words to Esther. ¹⁰ Then Esther spoke to Hathach and ordered him to reply to Mordecai: ¹¹ “All the king’s servants and the people of the king’s provinces know that for any man or woman who ^(E)comes to the king in the inner courtyard, who is not summoned, ^(F)he has only one law, that he be put to death, unless the king holds out ^(G)to him the golden scepter so that he may live. And I have not been summoned to come to the king for these thirty days.” ¹² And they reported Esther’s words to Mordecai.

¹³ Then Mordecai told them to reply to Esther, “Do not imagine that you in the king’s palace can escape any more than all the other Jews. ¹⁴ For if you keep silent at this time, liberation and ^(H)rescue will arise for the Jews from another place, and you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows whether you have not attained royalty for such a time as this?”

Esther Plans to Intercede

¹⁵ Then Esther told them to reply to Mordecai, ¹⁶ “Go, gather all the Jews who are found in Susa, and fast for me; ^(I)do not eat or drink for ^(J)three days, night or day. I and my attendants also will fast in the same way. And then I will go in to the king, which is not in accordance with the law; and if I perish, I perish.” ¹⁷ So Mordecai went away and did just as Esther had commanded him.

Esther Plans a Banquet

5 Now it came about ^(K)on the third day that Esther put on her royal robes and stood ^(L)in the inner courtyard of the king’s palace in front of the king’s ^[c]rooms, and the king was sitting on his royal throne in the ^[d]throne room, opposite the entrance to the palace. ² When the king saw Esther the queen standing in the courtyard, ^(M)she obtained favor in his sight; and ^(N)the king extended to Esther the golden scepter which was in his hand. So Esther approached and touched the top of the scepter. ³ Then the king said to her, “What is troubling you, Queen Esther? And what is your request? ^(O)Up to half of the kingdom it shall be given to you.” ⁴ Esther said, “If it pleases the king, may the king and Haman come this day to the banquet that I have prepared for him.”

⁵ Then the king said, “^(P)Bring Haman quickly so that we may do ^[e]as Esther desires.” So the king and Haman came to the banquet which Esther had prepared. ^6 [f]As they drank their wine at the banquet, ^(Q)the king said to Esther, “^(R)What is your request, for it shall be granted to you. And what is your wish? Up to half of the kingdom it shall be done.” ⁷ So Esther replied, “My request and my wish is: ^8 (S)if I have found favor in the sight of the king, and if it pleases the king to grant my request and do ^[g]what I wish, may the king and Haman come to ^(T)the banquet which I will prepare for them, and tomorrow I will do ^[h]as the king says.”

Haman’s Pride

⁹ Then Haman went out that day joyful and pleased of heart; but when Haman saw Mordecai ^(U)at the king’s gate and ^(V)that he did not stand up or tremble before him, Haman was filled with anger against Mordecai. ¹⁰ Haman controlled himself, however, and went to his house. But he ^[i]sent for his friends and his wife ^(W)Zeresh. ¹¹ Then Haman told them of the glory of his riches, and his ^(X)many sons, and every occasion on which the king had honored him and how he had ^[j](Y)promoted him above the officials and servants of the king. ¹² Haman also said, “Even Esther the queen let no one except me come with the king to the banquet which she had prepared; and ^(Z)tomorrow also I am invited by her with the king. ¹³ Yet all of this ^[k]does not satisfy me every time I see Mordecai the Jew sitting at ^(AA)the king’s gate.” ¹⁴ Then Zeresh his wife and all his friends said to him, “^(AB)Have a wooden gallows ^[l]fifty cubits high made, and in the morning ask the king to have Mordecai hanged on it; then go joyfully with the king to the banquet.” And the ^[m]advice pleased Haman, so he had the wooden gallows made.

The King Plans to Honor Mordecai

6 During that night ^[n]the king ^(AC)could not sleep, so he gave an order to bring ^(AD)the book of records, the chronicles, and they were read before the king. ² And it was found written what ^(AE)Mordecai had reported about Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king’s eunuchs who were doorkeepers, that they had sought to ^[o]attack 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 courtyard?” Now Haman had just ^(AF)entered the outer courtyard of the king’s palace in order to speak to the king about ^(AG)hanging Mordecai on the wooden gallows which he had prepared for him. ⁵ So the king’s servants said to him, “Behold, Haman is standing in the courtyard.” And the king said, “Have him come in.” ⁶ Haman then came in and the king said to him, “What is to be done for the man ^(AH)whom the king desires to honor?” And Haman said ^[p]to himself, “Whom would the king desire to honor more than me?” ⁷ Therefore Haman said to the king, “For the man whom the king desires to honor, ⁸ have them bring a royal robe which the king has worn, and ^(AI)the horse on which the king has ridden, and on whose head ^(AJ)a royal turban has been placed; ⁹ then order them to hand the robe and the horse over to one of the king’s noble officials, and have them dress the man whom the king desires to honor, and lead him on horseback through the city square, ^(AK)and proclaim before him, ‘So it shall be done for the man whom the king desires to honor.’”

Haman Must Honor Mordecai

¹⁰ Then the king said to Haman, “Quickly, take the robe and the horse just as you have said, and do so for Mordecai the Jew, who is sitting at the king’s gate; do not fail to do anything of all that you have said.” ¹¹ So Haman took the robe and the horse, and dressed Mordecai, and led him on horseback through the city square, and proclaimed before him, “So it shall be done for the man whom the king desires to honor.”

¹² Then Mordecai returned to the king’s gate, while Haman hurried home, mourning, ^(AL)with his head covered. ¹³ And Haman informed ^(AM)Zeresh his wife and all his friends of everything that had happened to him. Then his wise men and Zeresh his wife said to him, “If Mordecai, before whom you have begun to fall, is ^[q]of Jewish origin, you will not prevail over him, but will certainly fall before him.”

¹⁴ While they were still talking with him, the king’s eunuchs arrived and quickly ^(AN)brought Haman to the banquet which Esther had prepared.