Esther 7

1So the king and Haman came to banquet with Esther the queen. So the king and Haman went in to drink with the queen. 2The king said again to Esther on the second day at the banquet of wine, “What is your petition, queen Esther? It shall be granted you. What is your request? Even to the half of the kingdom it shall be performed.” The king said to Esther at the banquet on the second day, “What is it, queen Esther? What is your request? What is your petition? It shall be done for you, up to half of my kingdom.” 3Then Esther the queen answered, “If I have found favor in your sight, O king, and if it pleases the king, let my life be given me at my petition, and my people at my request. She answered and said, “If I have found favor in the sight of the king, let my life be granted as my petition, and my people as my request. 4For 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 would have held my peace, although the adversary could not have compensated for the king’s loss.” For both I and my people are sold for destruction, pillage, and genocide. If both we and our children were sold for male and female slaves, I would not have bothered you, for this isn’t worthy of the king’s palace.”*see Hebrew: slanderer 5Then King Ahasuerus said to Esther the queen, “Who is he, and where is he who dared presume in his heart to do so?” The king said, “Who has dared to do this thing?” 6Esther said, “An adversary and an enemy, even this wicked Haman!” Then Haman was afraid before the king and the queen. Esther said, “The enemy is Haman, this wicked man!” Then Haman was terrified in the presence of the king and the queen. 7The king arose in his wrath from the banquet of wine and went into the palace garden. 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. The king rose up from the banquet to go into the garden. Haman began to beg the queen for mercy, for he saw that he was in serious trouble. 8Then the king returned out of the palace garden into the place of the banquet of wine; and Haman had fallen on the couch where Esther was. Then the king said, “Will he even assault the queen in front of me in the house?” As the word went out of the king’s mouth, they covered Haman’s face. The king returned from the garden; and Haman had fallen upon the couch, begging the queen for mercy. The king said, “Will you even assault my wife in my house?” And when Haman heard it, he changed countenance. 9Then Harbonah, one of the eunuchs who were with the king, said, “Behold, the gallows fifty cubits high, which Haman has made for Mordecai, who spoke good for the king, is standing at Haman’s house.” The king said, “Hang him on it!” And Bugathan, one of the chamberlains, said to the king, “Behold, Haman has also prepared a gallows for Mordecai, who spoke concerning the king, and a fifty cubit high gallows has been set up on Haman’s property.” The king said, “Let him be hanged on it!”*A cubit is the length from the tip of the middle finger to the elbow on a man’s arm, or about 18 inches or 46 centimeters.*Or, impaled. 10So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then the king’s wrath was pacified. So Haman was hanged on the gallows that had been prepared for Mordecai. Then the king’s wrath was abated.