Esther’s Plea

Now the king and Haman came to drink wine with Esther the queen. And the king said to Esther on the second day also [a]as they drank their wine at the banquet, “(A)What is your request, Queen Esther? It shall be granted you. And what is your wish? (B)Up to half of the kingdom it shall be done.” Then Queen Esther replied, “(C)If I have found favor in your sight, O king, and if it pleases the king, let my life be given me as my request, and my people as my wish; for (D)we have been sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, (E)killed, and eliminated. Now if we had only been sold as slaves, men and women, I would have kept silent, because the distress would not be sufficient reason to burden the king.” Then King Ahasuerus [b]asked Queen Esther, “Who is he, and where is he, [c]who would presume to do such a thing?” And Esther said, “(F)A foe and an enemy is this wicked Haman!” Then Haman became terrified before the king and queen.

Haman Is Hanged

The king then got up (G)in his anger from [d]drinking wine and went into (H)the palace garden; but Haman stayed to beg for his life from Queen Esther, for he saw that harm had been determined against him by the king. Now when the king returned from the palace garden into the [e]place where they had been drinking wine, Haman was falling on (I)the couch where Esther was. Then 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. Then Harbonah, one of the eunuchs who stood before the king, said, “Indeed, behold, (J)the wooden gallows standing at Haman’s house [f]fifty cubits high, which Haman made for Mordecai (K)who spoke good in behalf of the king!” And the king said, “Hang him on it.” 10 (L)So they hanged Haman on the wooden gallows which he had prepared for Mordecai, (M)and the king’s anger subsided.

Footnotes

  1. Esther 7:2 Lit at the banquet of wine
  2. Esther 7:5 Lit said and said to
  3. Esther 7:5 Lit whose heart has filled him
  4. Esther 7:7 Lit the banquet of wine
  5. Esther 7:8 Lit house of the banquet of wine
  6. Esther 7:9 About 75 ft. or 23 m

Esther’s Banquet

So the king and Haman went to dine[a] with Queen Esther. And the king again said to Esther, on the second day while they were drinking,[b] “What is your petition, Queen Esther? It will be given to you. What is your request? It will be given to you—even half the kingdom.” Then Queen Esther answered, and she said, “If I have found favor in your eyes,[c] O king, and if it is good to the king, let my life be given to me at my petition and my people at my request; I and my people have been sold to be destroyed and killed, to be annihilated. If we had been sold as male and female slaves I would have kept quiet, because this[d] is not a need sufficient to trouble the king.”[e] And King Ahasuerus said to Queen Esther, “Who is he, and where is he, who gave himself the right to do this?”[f] And Esther said, “The adversary and enemy is this evil Haman!” And Haman was terrified before the king and queen.

Haman is Hanged

The king rose in his anger from the banquet[g] and went to the palace garden, and Haman stood to beg for his life from Queen Esther, for he realized that the king was determined to make an end to his life.[h] And the king returned from the palace garden to the banquet hall,[i] where Haman was lying prostrate on the couch that Esther was on, and the king said, “Will he also molest the queen with me in the house?” As the words[j] went from the king’s mouth they covered Haman’s face. And Habrona, one of the eunuchs in the presence of the king, said, “Look, the same gallows that Haman had prepared for Mordecai who spoke good for the sake of the king stands at Haman’s house, fifty cubits high.” And the king said, “Hang him on it.” 10 And they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai, and the anger of the king was abated.

Footnotes

  1. Esther 7:1 Literally “to drink”
  2. Esther 7:2 Literally “at the meal of wine”
  3. Esther 7:3 Or “If I have won your favor”
  4. Esther 7:4 Hebrew “there”
  5. Esther 7:4 See HALOT 1437, s.v. NRSV translates, “but no enemy can compensate for this damage to the king”
  6. Esther 7:5 Literally “has filled his heart to do so”
  7. Esther 7:7 Literally “from the banquet of wine”
  8. Esther 7:7 Literally “that evil had been determined for him from the king”
  9. Esther 7:8 Literally “house of the meal of wine”
  10. Esther 7:8 Hebrew “word”