Esther 6

Berean Standard Bible

Chapter summary

Unable to sleep, King Xerxes ordered the palace chronicles to be read, revealing that Mordecai had previously saved him from an assassination plot. Learning that Mordecai had received no reward, the king asked Haman, who had just entered the court to request Mordecai's execution, how to honor a favored man. Assuming the king wished to honor him, Haman suggested that the man wear royal robes, ride the king's horse, and be paraded through the city square by a noble prince. The king then commanded Haman to perform these exact honors for Mordecai the Jew. Afterward, a grieving Haman hurried home to his wife Zeresh and his friends, who warned him that he would surely fall before Mordecai. While they were speaking, the king's eunuchs arrived to escort Haman hastily to Queen Esther's banquet.

Summary automatically generated from the Bible text.

Words of Jesus in red

¹That night sleep escaped the king; so he ordered the Book of Records, the Chronicles, to be brought in and read to him. ²And there it was found recorded that Mordecai had exposed Bigthana and Teresh, two of the eunuchs who guarded the king’s entrance, when they had conspired to assassinate King Xerxes. ³The king inquired, “What honor or dignity has been bestowed on Mordecai for this act?” “Nothing has been done for him,” replied the king’s attendants. ⁴“Who is in the court?” the king asked. Now Haman had just entered the outer court of the palace to ask the king to hang Mordecai on the gallows he had prepared for him. ⁵So the king’s attendants answered him, “Haman is there, standing in the court.” “Bring him in,” ordered the king. ⁶Haman entered, and the king asked him, “What should be done for the man whom the king is delighted to honor?” Now Haman thought to himself, “Whom would the king be delighted to honor more than me?” ⁷And Haman told the king, “For the man whom the king is delighted to honor, ⁸have them bring a royal robe that the king himself has worn and a horse on which the king himself has ridden—one with a royal crest placed on its head. ⁹Let the robe and the horse be entrusted to one of the king’s most noble princes. Let them array the man the king wants to honor and parade him on the horse through the city square, proclaiming before him, ‘This is what is done for the man whom the king is delighted to honor!’” ¹⁰“Hurry,” said the king to Haman, “and do just as you proposed. Take the robe and the horse to Mordecai the Jew, who is sitting at the king’s gate. Do not neglect anything that you have suggested.” ¹¹So Haman took the robe and the horse, arrayed Mordecai, and paraded him through the city square, crying out before him, “This is what is done for the man whom the king is delighted to honor!” ¹²Then Mordecai returned to the king’s gate. But Haman rushed home, with his head covered in grief. ¹³Haman told his wife Zeresh and all his friends everything that had happened. His advisers and his wife Zeresh said to him, “Since Mordecai, before whom your downfall has begun, is Jewish, you will not prevail against him—for surely you will fall before him.” ¹⁴While they were still speaking with Haman, the king’s eunuchs arrived and rushed him to the banquet that Esther had prepared.

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Louis Segond 1910 and Berean Standard Bible: public domain. Cross references: open-cross-ref, Creative Commons BY 4.0.