< Esther 6 >

1 On that night the king was unable to sleep, so he gave orders to bring the books that recorded memorable deeds, and they were read before the king.
On that night the sleep of the king has fled away, and he commands to bring in the scroll of memorials of the chronicles, and they are read before the king,
2 It was found recorded how Mordecai had furnished information regarding Bigthan and Teresh, two of the king’s attendants who guarded the entrance of the palace, who had attempted to kill King Ahasuerus.
and it is found written that Mordecai had declared concerning Bigthana and Teresh, two of the eunuchs of the king, of the keepers of the threshold, who sought to put forth a hand on King Ahasuerus.
3 ‘What honour and dignity have been conferred on Mordecai for this?’ the king asked. When the king’s pages who waited on him replied ‘Nothing has been done for him,’
And the king says, “What honor and greatness has been done to Mordecai for this?” And the servants of the king, his ministers, say, “Nothing has been done with him.”
4 the king said, ‘Who is in the court?’ Now Haman had just entered the outer court of the king’s house to speak to the king about hanging Mordecai on the gallows that he had prepared for him.
And the king says, “Who [is] in the court?” And Haman has come into the outer court of the house of the king, to say to the king to hang Mordecai on the tree that he had prepared for him.
5 So the king’s pages said to him, ‘Haman is standing there, in the court.’ The king said, ‘Let him enter.’
And the servants of the king say to him, “Behold, Haman is standing in the court”; and the king says, “Let him come in.”
6 So Haman entered, and the king said to him, ‘What should be done for the man whom the king wishes to honour?’ Haman said to himself, ‘Whom besides me could the king wish to honour?’
And Haman comes in, and the king says to him, “What should [I] do with the man in whose honor the king has delighted?” And Haman says in his heart, “To whom does the king delight to do honor more than myself?”
7 So he said to the king, ‘For the man whom the king wishes to honour
And Haman says to the king, “The man in whose honor the king has delighted,
8 let a royal garment be brought, which the king has worn, and the horse on which the king has ridden and on whose head a royal diadem has been placed.
let them bring in royal clothing that the king has put on himself, and a horse on which the king has ridden, and that the royal crown be put on his head,
9 Then let the garment and the horse be placed in charge of one of the king’s noble officials. Let him clothe the man whom the king wishes to honour and let him lead that man on the horse through the city square, proclaiming before him, “This is what is done for the man whom the king wishes to honour.”’
and to give the clothing and the horse into the hand of a man of the heads of the king, the chiefs, and they have clothed the man in whose honor the king has delighted, and caused him to ride on the horse in a broad place of the city, and called before him: Thus it is done to the man in whose honor the king has delighted.”
10 Then the king said to Haman, ‘Make haste and take the garment and the horse, as you have said, and do this to Mordecai the Jew, who sits in the king’s gate. Omit nothing of all you have said.’
And the king says to Haman, “Hurry, take the clothing and the horse, as you have spoken, and do so to Mordecai the Jew, who is sitting in the gate of the king; there does not fall a thing of all that you have spoken.”
11 So Haman took the garment and the horse and clothed Mordecai, and made him ride through the city square and proclaimed before him, ‘This is what is done for the man whom the king wishes to honour.’
And Haman takes the clothing, and the horse, and clothed Mordecai, and causes him to ride in a broad place of the city, and calls before him, “Thus it is done to the man in whose glory the king has delighted.”
12 Mordecai returned to the king’s gate, but Haman hurried to his house, mourning, with his head covered.
And Mordecai turns back to the gate of the king, and Haman has been hurried to his house mourning, and with covered head,
13 Haman recounted to Zeresh his wife and to 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 already been humiliated is of the Jewish people, you can do nothing against him but will surely fall before him.’
and Haman recounts to his wife Zeresh, and to all his friends, all that has met him, and his wise men and his wife Zeresh say to him, “If Mordecai [is] of the seed of the Jews, before whom you have begun to fall, you are not able for him, but certainly fall before him.”
14 While they were still talking with him, the king’s attendants came and quickly took Haman to the banquet that Esther had prepared.
They are yet speaking with him, and eunuchs of the king have come, and hurry to bring in Haman to the banquet that Esther has made.

< Esther 6 >