Esther

CHAPTER 7

1So the king and Haman went to the banquet with Queen Esther. 2Again, 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.”^a 3Queen 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. 4For 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.”^b 5King Ahasuerus said to Queen Esther, “Who and where is the man who has dared to do this?”^c 6Esther replied, “The enemy oppressing us is this wicked Haman.” At this, Haman was seized with dread of the king and queen.

7The 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. 8When 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^d 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.” 10So they impaled Haman on the stake he had set up for Mordecai, and the anger of the king abated.

a. [7:2] Est 5:3.

b. [7:4] Est 3:13; B:6.

c. [7:5] Est 3:8–9.

d. [7:9–10] Est 5:14; 6:4.