⁹ Haman went out that day full of joy, with a happy heart. But when Haman saw Mordecai at the king’s gate, and Mordecai did not stand and tremble before him, Haman was filled with rage against Mordecai. ¹⁰ But Haman restrained himself from any action.

He went to his house and called together his friends and his wife Zeresh. ¹¹ Haman reviewed for them the glory of his wealth, the number of his sons, all the details about how the king had made him great, and how the king had elevated him over all the officials and the king’s administrators. ¹² Haman said, “What’s more, Queen Esther did not invite anyone except me to come with the king to the banquet that she prepared. I have been invited again for her banquet with the king tomorrow. ¹³ But none of this means anything to me whenever I see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the king’s gate.”

¹⁴ Zeresh his wife and all his friends said to him, “Make a gallows^[a] seventy-five feet high. In the morning tell the king that Mordecai should be hanged^[b] on it. Then go happily with the king to the banquet.” In Haman’s opinion this was good advice, so he had the gallows made.