Haman Is Executed

The king and Haman came to feast[a](A) with Esther the queen. Once again, on the second day while drinking wine,(B) the king asked Esther, “Queen Esther, whatever you ask will be given to you. Whatever you seek, even to half the kingdom, will be done.”(C)

Queen Esther answered, “If I have found favor with you, Your Majesty, and if the king is pleased,(D) spare my life; this is my request. And spare my people; this is my desire.(E) For my people and I have been sold(F) to destruction, death, and annihilation.(G) If we had merely been sold as male and female slaves,(H) I would have kept silent. Indeed, the trouble wouldn’t be worth burdening the king.”

King Ahasuerus spoke up and asked Queen Esther, “Who is this, and where is the one who would devise such a scheme?” [b](I)

Esther answered, “The adversary and enemy(J) is this evil Haman.”

Haman stood terrified(K) before the king and queen.

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Footnotes

  1. 7:1 Lit drink
  2. 7:5 Lit who would fill his heart to do this

When the king and Haman came in for the banquet with Queen Esther, the king said to her, “This is the second day we’ve met for wine. What is your wish, Queen Esther? I’ll give it to you. And what do you want? I’ll do anything—even give you half the kingdom.”

Queen Esther answered, “If I please the king, and if the king wishes, give me my life—that’s my wish—and the lives of my people too. That’s my desire. We have been sold—I and my people—to be wiped out, killed, and destroyed. If we simply had been sold as male and female slaves, I would have said nothing. But no enemy can compensate the king for this kind of damage.”

King Ahasuerus said to Queen Esther, “Who is this person, and where is he? Who would dare do such a thing?”

Esther replied, “A man who hates, an enemy—this wicked Haman!” Haman was overcome with terror in the presence of the king and queen.

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