Esther 5:6-8:2

New American Bible (Revised Edition)

⁶ During the drinking of the wine, the king said to Esther, “Whatever you ask for shall be granted, and whatever request you make shall be honored, even if it is for half my kingdom.”^{(A) 7} Esther replied: “This is my petition and request: ⁸ if I have found favor with the king and if it pleases your majesty to grant my petition and honor my request, let the king come with Haman tomorrow to a banquet I will prepare; and tomorrow I will do as the king asks.”

Haman’s Plot Against Mordecai. ⁹ That day Haman left happy and in good spirits. But when he saw that Mordecai at the royal gate did not rise, and showed no fear of him, he was filled with anger toward him.^{(B) 10} Haman restrained himself, however, and went home, where he summoned his friends and his wife Zeresh. ¹¹ He recounted the greatness of his riches, the large number of his sons, and how the king had promoted him and placed him above the officials and royal servants.^{(C) 12} “Moreover,” Haman added, “Queen Esther invited no one but me to come with the king to the banquet she prepared; again tomorrow I am to be her guest with the king. ¹³ Yet none of this satisfies me as long as I continue to see the Jew Mordecai sitting at the royal gate.”^{(D) 14} His wife Zeresh and all his friends said to him, “Have a stake set up, fifty cubits in height, and in the morning ask the king to have Mordecai impaled on it. Then go to the banquet with the king in good spirits.” This suggestion pleased Haman, and he had the stake erected.^(E)

Chapter 6

Mordecai’s Reward from the King. ¹ That night the king, unable to sleep, asked that the chronicle of notable events be brought in. While this was being read to him, ² the passage occurred in which Mordecai reported Bigthan and Teresh, two of the royal eunuchs who guarded the entrance, for seeking to assassinate King Ahasuerus.^{(F) 3} The king asked, “What was done to honor and exalt Mordecai for this?” The king’s attendants replied, “Nothing was done for him.”^(G)

^4 [a]“Who is in the court?” the king asked. Now Haman had entered the outer court of the king’s palace to suggest to the king that Mordecai should be impaled on the stake he had raised for him.^{(H) 5} The king’s attendants answered him, “Haman is waiting in the court.” The king said, “Let him come in.” ⁶ When Haman entered, the king said to him, “What should be done for the man whom the king wishes to reward?” Now Haman thought to himself, “Whom would the king wish to honor more than me?” ⁷ So he replied to the king: “For the man whom the king wishes to honor ⁸ there should be brought the royal robe the king wore and the horse the king rode with the royal crest placed on its head. ⁹ The robe and the horse should be given to one of the noblest of the king’s officials, who must clothe the man the king wishes to reward, have him ride on the horse in the public square of the city, and cry out before him, ‘This is what is done for the man whom the king wishes to honor!’”^{(I) 10} Then the king said to Haman: “Hurry! Take the robe and horse as you have proposed, and do this for the Jew Mordecai, who is sitting at the royal gate. Do not omit anything you proposed.”^{(J) 11} So Haman took the robe and horse, clothed Mordecai, had him ride in the public square of the city, and cried out before him, “This is what is done for the man whom the king wishes to honor!”

¹² Mordecai then returned to the royal gate, while Haman hurried home grieving, with his head covered.^{(K) 13} When he told his wife Zeresh and all his friends everything that had happened to him, his advisers and his wife Zeresh said to him, “If Mordecai, before whom you are beginning to fall, is of Jewish ancestry, you will not prevail against him, but will surely be defeated by him.”

Esther’s Second Banquet. ¹⁴ While they were speaking with him, the king’s eunuchs arrived and hurried Haman off to the banquet Esther had prepared.

Chapter 7

¹ So the king and Haman went to the banquet with Queen Esther. ² Again, on this second day, as they were drinking wine, the king said to Esther, “Whatever you ask, Queen Esther, shall be granted you. Whatever request you make, even for half the kingdom, shall be honored.”^{(L) 3} Queen Esther replied: “If I have found favor with you, O king, and if it pleases your majesty, I ask that my life be spared, and I beg that you spare the lives of my people. ⁴ For we have been sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, killed, and annihilated. If we were only to be sold into slavery I would remain silent, for then our distress would not have been worth troubling the king.”^{(M) 5} King Ahasuerus said to Queen Esther, “Who and where is the man who has dared to do this?”^{(N) 6} Esther replied, “The enemy oppressing us is this wicked Haman.” At this, Haman was seized with dread of the king and queen.

⁷ The king left the banquet in anger and went into the garden of the palace, but Haman stayed to beg Queen Esther for his life, since he saw that the king had decided on his doom. ⁸ When the king returned from the palace garden to the banquet hall, Haman had thrown himself on the couch on which Esther was reclining; and the king exclaimed, “Will he also violate the queen while she is with me in my own house!” Scarcely had the king spoken when the face of Haman was covered over.

Punishment of Haman. ^9 (O)Harbona, one of the eunuchs who attended the king, said, “At the house of Haman stands a stake fifty cubits high. Haman made it for Mordecai, who gave the report that benefited the king.” The king answered, “Impale him on it.” ¹⁰ So they impaled Haman on the stake he had set up for Mordecai, and the anger of the king abated.

Chapter 8

¹ That day King Ahasuerus gave the house of Haman, enemy of the Jews, to Queen Esther; and Mordecai was admitted to the king’s presence, for Esther had revealed his relationship to her.^{(P) 2} The king removed his signet ring that he had taken away from Haman, and gave it to Mordecai; and Esther put Mordecai in charge of the house of Haman.^(Q)