Esther 4 - 7
Esther Writhes in Anguish
4Now Mordecai came to know of aall that had been done. And 1he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and ashes, and went out into the midst of the city and cried out loudly and bitterly. 2And he went as far as the king’s gate, for no one was to enter the king’s gate clothed in sackcloth. 3Now in each and every province where the word and law of the king reached, there was great mourning among the Jews, with afasting, weeping, and wailing; and many made their bed in sackcloth and ashes.
4Then Esther’s young women and her eunuchs came and told her, and the queen writhed in great anguish. And she sent garments to clothe Mordecai and to remove his sackcloth from upon him, but he did not accept them. 5Then Esther summoned Hathach from the king’s eunuchs, whom 1the king had appointed to attend her, and commanded him to go to Mordecai to know what this was and why it was. 6So Hathach went out to Mordecai to the city square in front of the king’s gate. 7And Mordecai told him all that had happened to him, and athe exact amount of silver that Haman had promised to pay to the king’s treasuries to cause the Jews to perish. 8He also gave him aa copy of the written law which had been given in Susa for their destruction, in order to show Esther and to tell her and to command her to go in to the king to implore his favor and to seek him out for her people.
9Then Hathach came back and told Mordecai’s words to Esther. 10Then Esther spoke to Hathach and commanded him to reply to Mordecai: 11“All the king’s servants and the people of the king’s provinces know that for any man or woman who acomes to the king to the inner court who is not summoned, bhe has but one law, that he be put to death, unless the king holds out cto him the golden scepter so that he may live. And I have not been summoned to come to the king for these thirty days.” 12So they told Esther’s words to Mordecai.
13Then Mordecai said for them to respond to Esther, “Do not imagine that you in the king’s 1house can escape any more than all the Jews. 14“For if you remain silent at this time, relief and adeliverance will arise for the Jews from another place, and you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows whether you have not reached royalty for such a time as this?”
Esther and the Jews Fast
15Then Esther said for them to respond to Mordecai, 16“Go, gather all the Jews who are found in Susa, and fast for me; ado not eat or drink for bthree days, night or day. I and my young women also will fast in the same way. And thus I will go in to the king, which is not according to the law; and if I perish, I perish.” 17So Mordecai went away and did just as Esther had commanded him.
Esther Prepares a Feast
5Now it happened aon the third day, that Esther put on her royal robes and stood bin the inner court of the king’s house in front of the king’s 1rooms, and the king was sitting on his royal throne in the 2throne room, opposite the entrance to his house. 2Now it happened that when the king saw Esther the queen standing in the court, ashe advanced in favor in his eyes; and bthe king extended to Esther the golden scepter which was in his hand. So Esther came near and 1reached out and touched the top of the scepter. 3Then the king said to her, “What is troubling you, Queen Esther? And what is 1your request? aEven to half of the kingdom it shall be given to you.” 4And Esther said, “If it seems good to the king, may the king and Haman come this day to the feast that I have prepared for him.”
5Then the king said, “aBring Haman quickly that we may do the word of Esther.” So the king and Haman came to the feast which Esther had prepared. 6Then, 1as they drank their wine at the feast, athe king said to Esther, “bWhat is 2your petition? For it shall be given to you. And what is 3your request? Even to half of the kingdom it shall be done.” 7So Esther answered and said, “1My petition and 2my request is: 8aif I have found favor in the eyes of the king, and if it seems good to the king to give heed to 1my petition and to do 2my request, may the king and Haman come to bthe feast which I will prepare for them, and tomorrow I will do according to the word of the king.”
Haman Recounts His Glory
9Then Haman went out that day glad and merry of heart; but when Haman saw Mordecai ain the king’s gate and bthat he did not stand up or 1tremble before him, Haman was filled with wrath against Mordecai. 10But Haman controlled himself, went to his house, and sent for and brought his friends and his wife aZeresh. 11Then Haman recounted to them the glory of his riches and the 1,anumber of his sons and every instance where the king had magnified him and how he had 2,badvanced him above the princes and servants of the king. 12Haman also said, “Even Esther the queen let no one but me come with the king to the feast which she had prepared; and atomorrow also I am called to come to her with the king. 13“Yet all of this is worth nothing to me every time I see Mordecai the Jew sitting at athe king’s gate.” 14Then Zeresh his wife and all his friends said to him, “aHave a 1gallows 2fifty cubits high made and in the morning say to the king that Mordecai should be hanged on it; then go gladly with the king to the feast.” And the word was good to Haman, so he had the gallows made.
The Man Whom the King Honors
6During that night, sleep had afled from the king, so he said for them to bring bthe book of memoranda, the chronicles, and they were read before the king. 2And it was found written what aMordecai had told concerning Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king’s eunuchs from those who were doorkeepers, that they had sought to send forth their hand against King Ahasuerus. 3And the king said, “What honor or greatness has been done to Mordecai for this?” Then the king’s young men who attended him said, “Nothing has been done for him.” 4So the king said, “Who is in the court?” Now Haman had aentered the outer court of the king’s house in order to speak to the king about bhanging Mordecai on the gallows which he had set up for him. 5And the king’s young men said to him, “Behold, Haman is standing in the court.” And the king said, “Let him come in.” 6So Haman came in, and the king said to him, “What is to be done for the man awhom the king delights to honor?” And Haman said in his heart, “Whom would the king delight to honor more than me?” 7Then Haman said to the king, “For the man whom the king delights to honor, 8let them bring a royal robe which the king clothes himself in, and athe horse on which the king has ridden, and on whose head ba royal crown has been placed; 9and let the robe and the horse be given over to the hand of one of the king’s most noble princes, and let them clothe the man whom the king delights to honor and lead him on horseback through the city square aand call out before him, ‘Thus it shall be done to the man whom the king delights to honor.’”
Mordecai Is Honored
10Then the king said to Haman, “Take quickly the robes and the horse as you have said, and do so for Mordecai the Jew, who is sitting at the king’s gate; do not fall short in anything of all that you have spoken.” 11So Haman took the robe and the horse and clothed Mordecai and led him on horseback through the city square and called out before him, “Thus it shall be done to the man whom the king delights to honor.”
12Then Mordecai returned to the king’s gate. But Haman hastened home, mourning, awith his head covered. 13And Haman recounted ato Zeresh his wife and all his friends everything that had happened to him. Then his wise men and Zeresh his wife said to him, “If Mordecai, before whom you have begun to fall, is of the seed of the Jews, you will not overcome him, but will surely fall before him.”
14While they were still speaking with him, the king’s eunuchs reached Haman’s home and hastily abrought Haman to the feast which Esther had prepared.
Esther’s Petition to the King
7Then the king and Haman came to drink wine with Esther the queen. 2And the king said to Esther on the second day also 1as they drank their wine at the feast, “aWhat is 2your petition, Queen Esther? It shall be given you. And what is 3your request? bEven to half of the kingdom it shall be done.” 3Then Queen Esther answered and said, “aIf I have found favor in your eyes, O king, and if it seems good to the king, let my life be given to me as 1my petition, and my people as 2my request; 4for awe have been sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, bto be killed, and to be caused to perish. Now if we had only been sold as slaves, men and women, I would have remained silent, for the 1adversity would not be worth the 2annoyance to the king.” 5Then King Ahasuerus said—he said to Esther the Queen, “Who is this one, and where is this one, who fills his heart to do thus?” 6So Esther said, “aAn adversary and an enemy is this evil Haman!” Then Haman became terrified before the king and queen.
Haman Is Hanged
7And the king arose ain his wrath from 1drinking wine and went into bthe garden of his palace; but Haman stayed to seek for his life from Queen Esther, for he saw that calamity had been determined against him by the king. 8Now the king returned from the garden of his palace into the 1place where they were drinking wine. And Haman was falling on athe couch where Esther was. So 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. 9Then Harbonah, one of the eunuchs who were before the king, said, “Behold indeed, athe gallows—which Haman made for Mordecai bwho spoke good on behalf of the king—are standing at Haman’s house fifty cubits high!” And the king said, “Hang him on it.” 10aSo they hanged Haman on the 1gallows which he had set up for Mordecai, band the king’s wrath subsided.