Esther 7

Berean Standard Bible

Chapter summary

King Xerxes and Haman attended Queen Esther's second banquet, where the king again asked Esther for her petition and promise to grant it up to half his kingdom. Esther then requested her own life and the lives of her people, stating they had been sold for destruction and annihilation. When the king demanded to know who dared devise such a scheme, Esther identified the wicked Haman as the adversary and enemy, leaving him terrified. Enraged, the king walked out to the palace garden, and upon returning, he saw Haman falling on Esther's couch and ordered Haman's face to be covered. Finally, upon Harbonah's suggestion, the king had Haman hanged on the very gallows fifty cubits high that Haman had prepared for Mordecai, after which the king's fury subsided.

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Words of Jesus in red

¹So the king and Haman went to dine with Esther the queen, ²and as they drank their wine on that second day, the king asked once more, “Queen Esther, what is your petition? It will be given to you. What is your request? Even up to half the kingdom, it will be fulfilled.” ³Queen Esther replied, “If I have found favor in your sight, O king, and if it pleases the king, grant me my life as my petition, and the lives of my people as my request. ⁴For my people and I have been sold out to destruction, death, and annihilation. If we had merely been sold as menservants and maidservants, I would have remained silent, because no such distress would justify burdening the king.” ⁵Then King Xerxes spoke up and asked Queen Esther, “Who is this, and where is the one who would devise such a scheme?” ⁶Esther replied, “The adversary and enemy is this wicked man—Haman!” And Haman stood in terror before the king and queen. ⁷In his fury, the king arose from drinking his wine and went to the palace garden, while Haman stayed behind to beg Queen Esther for his life, for he realized that the king was planning a terrible fate for him. ⁸Just as the king returned from the palace garden to the banquet hall, Haman was falling on the couch where Esther was reclining. The king exclaimed, “Would he actually assault the queen while I am in the palace?” As soon as the words had left the king’s mouth, they covered Haman’s face. ⁹Then Harbonah, one of the eunuchs attending the king, said: “There is a gallows fifty cubits high at Haman’s house. He had it built for Mordecai, who gave the report that saved the king.” “Hang him on it!” declared the king. ¹⁰So they hanged Haman on the gallows he had prepared for Mordecai. Then the fury of the king subsided.

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