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.

Read full chapter

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

So the king and Haman went in to feast with Queen Esther. And on the second day, as they were drinking wine, the king again said to Esther, “What is your petition, Queen Esther? It shall be granted you. And what is your request? Even to the half of my kingdom, it shall be fulfilled.” Then Queen Esther answered, “If I have found favor in your sight, O king, and if it please the king, let my life be given me at my petition, and my people at my request. For we are sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, to be slain, and to be annihilated. If we had been sold merely as slaves, men and women, I would have held my peace; for our affliction is not to be compared with the loss to the king.” Then King Ahasu-e′rus said to Queen Esther, “Who is he, and where is he, that would presume to do this?” And Esther said, “A foe and enemy! This wicked Haman!” Then Haman was in terror before the king and the queen.

Read full chapter