Esther 4-7

Legacy Standard Bible

Esther Writhes in Anguish

4 Now Mordecai came to know of ^(A)all that had been done. And ^[a]he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and ashes, and went out into the midst of the city and cried out loudly and bitterly. ² And he went as far as the king’s gate, for no one was to enter the king’s gate clothed in sackcloth. ³ Now in each and every province where the word and law of the king reached, there was great mourning among the Jews, with ^(B)fasting, weeping, and wailing; and many made their bed in sackcloth and ashes.

⁴ Then Esther’s young women and her eunuchs came and told her, and the queen writhed in great anguish. And she sent garments to clothe Mordecai and to remove his sackcloth from upon 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 commanded him to go to Mordecai to know what this was and why it was. ⁶ So Hathach went out to Mordecai to the city square in front of the king’s gate. ⁷ And Mordecai told him all that had happened to him, and ^(C)the exact amount of silver that Haman had promised to pay to the king’s treasuries to cause the Jews to perish. ⁸ He also gave him ^(D)a copy of the written law which had been given in Susa for their destruction, in order to show Esther and to tell her and to command her to go in to the king to implore his favor and to seek him out for her people.

⁹ Then Hathach came back and told Mordecai’s words to Esther. ¹⁰ Then Esther spoke to Hathach and commanded 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 to the inner court who is not summoned, ^(F)he has but 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 So they told Esther’s words to Mordecai.

¹³ Then Mordecai said for them to respond to Esther, “Do not imagine that you in the king’s ^[c]house can escape any more than all the Jews. ¹⁴ For if you remain silent at this time, relief and ^(H)deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place, and you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows whether you have not reached royalty for such a time as this?”

Esther and the Jews Fast

¹⁵ Then Esther said for them to respond 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 young women also will fast in the same way. And thus I will go in to the king, which is not according to the law; and if I perish, I perish.” ¹⁷ So Mordecai went away and did just as Esther had commanded him.

Esther Prepares a Feast

5 Now it happened ^(K)on the third day, that Esther put on her royal robes and stood ^(L)in the inner court of the king’s house in front of the king’s ^[d]rooms, and the king was sitting on his royal throne in the ^[e]throne room, opposite the entrance to his house. ² Now it happened that when the king saw Esther the queen standing in the court, ^(M)she advanced in favor in his eyes; and ^(N)the king extended to Esther the golden scepter which was in his hand. So Esther came near and ^[f]reached out and touched the top of the scepter. ³ Then the king said to her, “What is troubling you, Queen Esther? And what is ^[g]your request? ^(O)Even to half of the kingdom it shall be given to you.” ⁴ And Esther said, “If it seems good to the king, may the king and Haman come this day to the feast that I have prepared for him.”

⁵ Then the king said, “^(P)Bring Haman quickly that we may do the word of Esther.” So the king and Haman came to the feast which Esther had prepared. ⁶ Then, ^[h]as they drank their wine at the feast, ^(Q)the king said to Esther, “^(R)What is ^[i]your petition? For it shall be given to you. And what is ^[j]your request? Even to half of the kingdom it shall be done.” ⁷ So Esther answered and said, “^[k]My petition and ^[l]my request is: ^8 (S)if I have found favor in the eyes of the king, and if it seems good to the king to give heed to ^[m]my petition and to do ^[n]my request, may the king and Haman come to ^(T)the feast which I will prepare for them, and tomorrow I will do according to the word of the king.”

Haman Recounts His Glory

⁹ Then Haman went out that day glad and merry of heart; but when Haman saw Mordecai ^(U)in the king’s gate and ^(V)that he did not stand up or ^[o]tremble before him, Haman was filled with wrath against Mordecai. ¹⁰ But Haman controlled himself, went to his house, and sent for and brought his friends and his wife ^(W)Zeresh. ¹¹ Then Haman recounted to them the glory of his riches and the ^[p](X)number of his sons and every instance where the king had magnified him and how he had ^[q](Y)advanced him above the princes and servants of the king. ¹² Haman also said, “Even Esther the queen let no one but me come with the king to the feast which she had prepared; and ^(Z)tomorrow also I am called to come to her with the king. ¹³ Yet all of this is worth nothing to 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 ^[r]gallows ^[s]fifty cubits high made and in the morning say to the king that Mordecai should be hanged on it; then go gladly with the king to the feast.” And the word was good to Haman, so he had the gallows made.

The Man Whom the King Honors

6 During that night, sleep had ^(AC)fled from the king, so he said for them to bring ^(AD)the book of memoranda, the chronicles, and they were read before the king. ² And it was found written what ^(AE)Mordecai had told concerning Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king’s eunuchs from those who were doorkeepers, that they had sought to send forth their hand against King Ahasuerus. ³ And the king said, “What honor or greatness has been done to Mordecai for this?” Then the king’s young men who attended him said, “Nothing has been done for him.” ⁴ So the king said, “Who is in the court?” Now Haman had ^(AF)entered the outer court of the king’s house in order to speak to the king about ^(AG)hanging Mordecai on the gallows which he had set up for him. ⁵ And the king’s young men said to him, “Behold, Haman is standing in the court.” And the king said, “Let him come in.” ⁶ So Haman came in, and the king said to him, “What is to be done for the man ^(AH)whom the king delights to honor?” And Haman said in his heart, “Whom would the king delight to honor more than me?” ⁷ Then Haman said to the king, “For the man whom the king delights to honor, ⁸ let them bring a royal robe which the king clothes himself in, and ^(AI)the horse on which the king has ridden, and on whose head ^(AJ)a royal crown has been placed; ⁹ and let the robe and the horse be given over to the hand of one of the king’s most noble princes, and let them clothe the man whom the king delights to honor and lead him on horseback through the city square ^(AK)and call out before him, ‘Thus it shall be done to the man whom the king delights to honor.’”

Mordecai Is Honored

¹⁰ Then the king said to Haman, “Take quickly the robes and the horse as you have said, and do so for Mordecai the Jew, who is sitting at the king’s gate; do not fall short in anything of all that you have spoken.” ¹¹ So Haman took the robe and the horse and clothed Mordecai and led him on horseback through the city square and called out before him, “Thus it shall be done to the man whom the king delights to honor.”

¹² Then Mordecai returned to the king’s gate. But Haman hastened home, mourning, ^(AL)with his head covered. ¹³ And Haman recounted ^(AM)to Zeresh his wife and all his friends 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 of the seed of the Jews, you will not overcome him, but will surely fall before him.”

¹⁴ While they were still speaking with him, the king’s eunuchs reached Haman’s home and hastily ^(AN)brought Haman to the feast which Esther had prepared.

Esther’s Petition to the King

7 Then the king and Haman came to drink wine with Esther the queen. ² And the king said to Esther on the second day also ^[t]as they drank their wine at the feast, “^(AO)What is ^[u]your petition, Queen Esther? It shall be given you. And what is ^[v]your request? ^(AP)Even to half of the kingdom it shall be done.” ³ Then Queen Esther answered and said, “^(AQ)If I have found favor in your eyes, O king, and if it seems good to the king, let my life be given to me as ^[w]my petition, and my people as ^[x]my request; ⁴ for ^(AR)we have been sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, ^(AS)to be killed, and to be caused to perish. Now if we had only been sold as slaves, men and women, I would have remained silent, for the ^[y]adversity would not be worth the ^[z]annoyance to the king.” ⁵ Then King Ahasuerus said—he said to Esther the Queen, “Who is this one, and where is this one, who fills his heart to do thus?” ⁶ So Esther said, “^(AT)An adversary and an enemy is this evil Haman!” Then Haman became terrified before the king and queen.

Haman Is Hanged

⁷ And the king arose ^(AU)in his wrath from ^[aa]drinking wine and went into ^(AV)the garden of his palace; but Haman stayed to seek for his life from Queen Esther, for he saw that calamity had been determined against him by the king. ⁸ Now the king returned from the garden of his palace into the ^[ab]place where they were drinking wine. And Haman was falling on ^(AW)the couch where Esther was. So the king said, “Will he even assault the queen with me in the house?” As the word went out of the king’s mouth, they covered Haman’s face. ⁹ Then Harbonah, one of the eunuchs who were before the king, said, “Behold indeed, ^(AX)the gallows—which Haman made for Mordecai ^(AY)who spoke good on behalf of the king—are standing at Haman’s house fifty cubits high!” And the king said, “Hang him on it.” ^10 (AZ)So they hanged Haman on the ^[ac]gallows which he had set up for Mordecai, ^(BA)and the king’s wrath subsided.