< Esther 7 >

1 So the king and Haman came to banquet with Esther the queen.
So the king and Haman went to drink with Queen Esther.
2 And the king said again to Esther on the second day at the banquet of wine, What is thy petition, queen Esther? and it shall be granted thee: and what is thy request? and it shall be performed, even to the half of the kingdom.
As they were drinking wine on that second day, the king again said to Esther, “Whatever your petition is, Queen Esther, it will be granted to you. Whatever you request it will be done, even if it takes half of the kingdom.”
3 Then Esther the queen answered and said, If I have found favour in thy sight, O king, and if it shall please the king, let my life be given me at my petition, and my people at my request:
Then Queen Esther answered, “Your Majesty, if I have won your favor, and if it seems best to Your Majesty, let my life be given me as my petition, and my people as my request,
4 For we are sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, to be slain, and to perish. But if we had been sold for male and female slaves, I had held my tongue, although the enemy could not compensate for the king’s loss.
for I and my people have been sold to be destroyed, killed, and completely annihilated! If we had been merely sold into slavery I would not have disturbed your peace, because such a fate would not have affected the interests of the king.”
5 Then the king Ahasuerus answered and said to Esther the queen, Who is he, and where is he, that dared presume in his heart to do so?
Then King Ahasuerus said to Queen Esther, “Who is he and where is he whose heart has impelled him to do this?”
6 And Esther said, The adversary and enemy is this wicked Haman. Then Haman was afraid before the king and the queen.
“A foe, an enemy: this wicked Haman.” Esther answered. Haman shrank in terror before the king and the queen.
7 And the king arising from the banquet of wine in his wrath went into the palace garden: and Haman stood up to make request for his life to Esther the queen; for he saw that there was evil determined against him by the king.
In his wrath the king rose from the place where he was drinking wine and went into the palace garden. Haman stayed to beg Queen Esther for his life, for he saw that the king was fully determined to bring calamity upon him.
8 Then the king returned out of the palace garden into the place of the banquet of wine; and Haman had fallen upon the couch on which Esther was. Then said the king, Will he force the queen also before me in the house? As the word went out of the king’s mouth, they covered Haman’s face.
As the king returned from the palace garden to the banquet hall, Haman had flung himself on Esther’s couch. The king cried, “Is he going to rape my queen while I am present in my own house?” As the king spoke these words, the attendants covered Haman’s face
9 And Harbonah, one of the chamberlains, said before the king, Behold also, the gallows fifty cubits high, which Haman had made for Mordecai, who had spoken good for the king, standeth in the house of Haman. Then the king said, Hang him on it.
and Harbonah, one of those who waited on the king, said, “There are the gallows, seventy-five feet high, which Hainan erected for Mordecai, who spoke a good word in behalf of the king, standing in the house of Haman!” The king said “Hang him on them.”
10 So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then was the king’s wrath pacified.
So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then the wrath of the king was pacified.

< Esther 7 >