< Esther 6 >

1 That night the king was unable to sleep, so he [summoned] a servant [and] told [him] to bring the records of what had happened during all the time he had been king. [So the servant brought the records] and read some of them to 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 [The servant read about] Bigthana and Teresh, the two men who had guarded the entrance to the king’s rooms. He read the account of when Mordecai had found out that they planned to assassinate the king [and that he had told the king about it].
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 The king asked [some of his servants], “What did we do to reward Mordecai or show that we appreciate what he did?” The servants replied, “We did not do anything 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 At that moment, Haman entered the outer courtyard of the palace. He wanted to talk to the king about hanging Mordecai on the gallows that he had [just] set up. The king [saw him and] said, “Who is [that out there] in the courtyard?”
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 His servants replied, “That is Haman standing there in the courtyard.” The king said, “Bring him in [here]!”
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 When Haman came in, the king asked him, “What should I do for a man whom I want to honor?” Haman thought to himself, “(Whom would the king like to honor more than me?/I think there is no one whom the king would like to honor more than me!)” [RHQ]
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 replied to the king, “If there is someone you wish to honor,
And Haman says to the king, “The man in whose honor the king has delighted,
8 you should [tell your servants to] bring him one of the robes you wear [you to show that you are] the king. Also tell them to bring one of the horses you have ridden. Tell them to put a fancy headdress on the horse’s head to show that it belongs to you, the king.
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 tell one of your very important officials to put the robe on the man whom you want to honor, and tell that man to sit on the horse, and then lead the horse through the city streets. And tell that official to keep shouting, ‘This is what (the king does/is doing) for the man whom he wants to honor!’”
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 The king replied to Haman, “[Fine]! Go and do what you said immediately! Get my robe and my horse, and do just what you suggested! Do it for Mordecai, the Jew, who is sitting [outside] at the gate of the palace. Do not forget anything that you suggested!”
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 did what the king said. He got the robe and the horse. He put the robe on Mordecai, and as Mordecai sat on the horse, Haman led the horse through the city streets proclaiming “This is what the king (does/is doing) for the man whom the king wants to honor!”
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 Then, Mordecai returned [and sat] at the gate of the palace. But Haman hurried home, covering his face [because he felt] completely disgraced/humiliated.
And Mordecai turns back to the gate of the king, and Haman has been hurried to his house mourning, and with covered head,
13 He told his wife Zeresh and his friends everything that had happened to him that day. Then his wife and his friends said to him, “Mordecai, the man who has caused you to be completely disgraced/humiliated, is a Jew. [It is clear that the God whom the Jews worship is fighting for them.] So you will never be able to defeat Mordecai. He will defeat you!”
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 And while they were still talking, some of the king’s officials arrived to take Haman quickly to the banquet/feast 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 >