3 And the king said to her, “What is it, Queen Esther? What is your request? It shall be given you, even ^cto the half of my kingdom.” 4 And Esther said, “If it please the king,¹ let the king and Haman come today to a feast that I have prepared for the king.”

6 So Haman came in, and the king said to him, “What should be done to the man ^uwhom the king delights to honor?” And Haman said to himself, “Whom would the king delight to honor more than me?” 7 And Haman said to the king, “For the man whom the king delights to honor, 8 let royal robes be brought, which the king has worn, ^vand the horse that the king has ridden, and on whose head ^wa royal crown¹ is set. 9 And let the robes and the horse be handed over to one of the king’s most noble officials. Let them dress the man whom the king delights to honor, and let them lead him on the horse through the square of the city, ^xproclaiming before him: ‘Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delights to honor.’” 10 Then the king said to Haman, “Hurry; take the robes and the horse, as you have said, and do so to Mordecai the Jew, who sits ^yat the king’s gate. Leave out nothing that you have mentioned.” 11 So Haman took the robes and the horse, and he dressed Mordecai and led him through the square of the city, proclaiming before him, “Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delights to honor.”

Esther Reveals Haman’s Plot

14 While they were yet talking with him, the king’s eunuchs arrived and hurried to bring Haman ^bto the feast that Esther had prepared.

1 So the king and Haman went in to feast with Queen Esther. 2 And on the second day, as they were drinking wine after the feast, the king again said to Esther, ^c“What is your wish, Queen Esther? It shall be granted you. And what is your request? ^dEven to the half of my kingdom, it shall be fulfilled.” 3 Then Queen Esther answered, ^e“If I have found favor in your sight, O king, and if it please the king, let my life be granted me for my wish, and my people for my request. 4 ^fFor we have been sold, I and my people, ^gto be destroyed, to be killed, and to be annihilated. If we had been sold merely as slaves, men and women, I would have been silent, for our affliction is not to be compared with the loss to the king.” 5 Then King Ahasuerus said to Queen Esther, “Who is he, and where is he, who has dared¹ to do this?” 6 And Esther said, ^h“A foe and enemy! This wicked Haman!” Then Haman was terrified before the king and the queen.

9 Then ^kHarbona, one of the eunuchs in attendance on the king, said, “Moreover, ^lthe gallows¹ that Haman has prepared for Mordecai, ^mwhose word saved the king, is standing at Haman’s house, fifty cubits² high.” And the king said, “Hang him on that.” 10 ⁿSo they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. ^oThen the wrath of the king abated.

Esther Saves the Jews

1 On that day King Ahasuerus gave to Queen Esther the house of Haman, ^hthe enemy of the Jews. And Mordecai came before the king, for Esther had told ^pwhat he was to her. 2 ^qAnd the king took off his signet ring, which he had taken from Haman, and gave it to Mordecai. And Esther set Mordecai over the house of Haman.

The Jews Destroy Their Enemies

1 ^sNow in the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar, ^ton the thirteenth day of the same, ^uwhen the king’s command and edict were about to be carried out, ^jon the very day when the enemies of the Jews hoped to gain the mastery over them, the reverse occurred: the Jews gained mastery over those who hated them.