Esther 5 – 6

Esther 5

¹ On the third day Esther dressed in the queen’s royal clothing and stood in the inner court of the king’s palace, opposite the quarters of the king. The king was sitting on the throne in the reception hall, opposite the entrance.

² When the king saw Queen Esther standing in the court, she pleased him. The king held out to Esther the golden scepter, which was in his hand. Esther approached and touched the head of the scepter.

³ The king said to her, “What concerns you, Queen Esther? Whatever you are seeking (up to half of the kingdom) will be given to you.”

⁴ Esther said, “If it is agreeable to the king, the king and Haman should come today to a banquet that I have made for him.”

⁵ The king said, “Hurry! Get Haman so that we can do what Esther has said.” So the king and Haman came to the banquet that Esther had prepared.

⁶ While the king was drinking wine, he said to Esther, “What is your request? It will be given to you. What are you seeking? Up to half of the kingdom—it’s yours.”

⁷ Esther answered, “This is my request. This is what I seek. ⁸ If I have found favor in the eyes of the king, and if it pleases the king to grant my request, let the king and Haman come to a banquet, which I will make for them tomorrow. Then I will give the answers requested by the king.”

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 ^[1] seventy-five feet high. In the morning tell the king that Mordecai should be hanged ^[2] 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.

Esther 6

¹ That night the king could not sleep, so he ordered that the chronicles, ^[3] the record of the memorable events of his reign, be brought to him. These accounts were read to the king.

² They found the account about the incident when Mordecai had reported Bigthan ^[4] and Teresh, the king’s two eunuchs who had controlled access to the entrance to the palace, who had tried to assassinate King Xerxes.

³ The king said, “What honor and recognition has been given to Mordecai for this?”

Then the servants of the king who were attending him said, “Nothing has been done for him.”

⁴ The king said, “Who is in the court?” Just then Haman had come to the outer court of the king’s palace to speak to the king about hanging Mordecai on the gallows that he had prepared for him.

⁵ The king’s servants said to him, “Look, Haman is standing in the court.” The king said, “Have him come in.”

⁶ When Haman came in, the king said to him, “What should be done to honor the man with whom the king is pleased?”

Haman said in his heart, “Who could there be that the king would be more pleased to honor than me?”

⁷ Haman said to the king, “The man whom the king is pleased to honor ⁸ should be clothed with garments that the king has worn. He should be given a horse on which the king has ridden, and crowned with a crown that has been on the king’s head. ⁹ These clothes and this horse should be delivered by one of the highest ranking noblemen of the king. They should dress up the man whom the king is pleased to honor and let him ride on the horse in the public square of the city. Walking in front of him, they will proclaim, “This is what is done for the man whom the king is pleased to honor.”

¹⁰ The king said to Haman, “Hurry! Take the clothing and the horse just as you have said, and do this for Mordecai the Jew, who sits in the gatehouse of the king. Do not leave out a thing from whatever you have said.”

¹¹ Haman took the clothing and the horse, clothed Mordecai, had him ride through the public square of the city, and proclaimed before him, “This is what is done for the man whom the king is pleased to honor.”

¹² Mordecai returned to the king’s gate, but Haman hurried to his home, mourning, with his head covered. ¹³ Haman reported all this to Zeresh his wife and to all his friends.

His advisors and Zeresh his wife said to him, “If Mordecai, before whom you have begun to fall, is of Jewish descent, ^[5] you will not overcome him. Instead, you will surely fall before him.”

¹⁴ While they were still talking with him, the king’s eunuchs arrived and rushed Haman to the banquet that Esther had prepared.