upon
the thirteenth dayof the twelfth month, which is the month Adar, and to takethe spoil of them
for a prey.
14 The copy of the writing for a commandment to be given in every province was published unto
all people, that they should be ready against that day.
15 The posts went out, being hastened by the king's commandment, and the decree was given in
Shushan the palace. And the king and Haman sat down to drink; but the city Shushan was
perplexed.
1 When Mordecai perceived all that was done, Mordecai rent his clothes, and put on sackcloth
with ashes, and went out into the midst of the city, and cried with a loud and a bitter cry;
2 And came even before the king's gate: for none mightenter into the king's gate clothed with
sackcloth.
3 And in every province, whithersoever the king's commandment and his decree came, there was
great mourning among the Jews, and fasting, and weeping, and wailing; and many lay in
sackcloth and ashes.
4 So Esther's maids and her chamberlains came and told ither. Then was the queen exceedingly
grieved; and she sent raiment to clothe Mordecai, and to take away his sackcloth from him: but
he received itnot.
5 Then called Esther for Hatach, oneof the king's chamberlains, whom he had appointed to
attend upon her, and gave him a commandment to Mordecai, to know what it was, and why it
was.
6 So Hatach went forth to Mordecai unto the street of the city, which wasbefore the king's
gate.
7 And Mordecai told him of all that had happened unto him, and of the sum of the money that
Haman had promised to pay to the king's treasuries for the Jews, to destroy them.
8 Also he gave him the copy of the writing of the decree that was given at Shushan to destroy
them, to shew itunto Esther, and to declare itunto her, and to charge her that she should go in
unto the king, to make supplication unto him, and to make request before him for her people.
9 And Hatach came and told Esther the words of Mordecai.
10 Again Esther spake unto Hatach, and gave him commandment unto Mordecai;
11 All the king's servants, and the people of the king's provinces, do know, that whosoever,
whether man or woman, shall come unto the king into the inner court, who is not called, there is
one law of his to put himto death, except such to whom the king shall hold out the golden
sceptre, that he may live: but I have not been called to come in unto the king these thirty days.
12 And they told to Mordecai Esther's words.
13 Then Mordecai commanded to answer Esther, Think not with thyself that thou shalt escape
in the king's house, more than all the Jews.
14 For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, thenshall there enlargement and
deliverance arise to the Jews from another place; but thou and thy father's house shall be
destroyed: and who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for sucha time as this?
15 Then Esther bade themreturn Mordecai this answer,
16 Go, gather together all the Jews that are present in Shushan, and fast ye for me, and neither
eat nor drink three days, night or day: I also and my maidens will fast likewise; and so will I go
in unto the king, which isnot according to the law: and if I perish, I perish.
17 So Mordecai went his way, and did according to all that Esther had commanded him.
1 Now it came to pass on the third day, that Esther put on herroyal apparel, and stood in the
inner court of the king's house, over against the king's house: and the king sat upon his royal
throne in the royal house, over against the gate of the house.
2 And it was so, when the king saw Esther the queen standing in the court, thatshe obtained
in his hand. So
Esther drew near, and touched the top of the sceptre.
3 Then said the king unto her, What wilt thou, queen Esther? and what isthy request? it shall
be even given thee to the half of the kingdom.
4 And Esther answered, If it seemgood unto the king, let the king and Haman come this day unto
the banquet that I have prepared for him.
5 Then the king said, Cause Haman to make haste, that he may do as Esther hath said. So the
king and Haman came to the banquet that Esther had prepared.
6 And the king said unto Esther at the banquet of wine, What isthy petition? and it shall be
granted thee: and what isthy request? even to the half of the kingdom it shall be performed.
7 Then answered Esther, and said, My petition and my request is;
8 If I have found favour in the sight of the king, and if it please the king to grant my petition,
and to perform my request, let the king and Haman come to the banquet that I shall prepare for
them, and I will do to morrow as the king hath said.
9 Then went Haman forth that day joyful and with a glad heart: but when Haman saw Mordecai
in the king's gate, that he stood not up, nor moved for him, he was full of indignation against
Mordecai.
10 Nevertheless Haman refrained himself: and when he came home, he sent and called for his
friends, and Zeresh his wife.
11 And Haman told them of the glory of his riches, and the multitude of his children, and all the
thingswherein the king had promoted him, and how he had advanced him above the princes and
servants of the king.
12 Haman said moreover, Yea, Esther the queen did let no man come in with the king unto the
banquet that she had prepared but myself; and to morrow am I invited unto her also with the
king.
13 Yet all this availeth me nothing, so long as I see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the king's gate.
14 Then said Zeresh his wife and all his friends unto him, Let a gallows be made of fifty cubits
high, and to morrow speak thou unto the king that Mordecai may be hanged thereon: then go thou
in merrily with the king unto the banquet. And the thing pleased Haman; and he caused the
gallows to be made.
1 On that night could not the king sleep, and he commanded to bring the book of records of the
chronicles; and they were read before the king.
2 And it was found written, that Mordecai had told of Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king's
chamberlains, the keepers of the door, who sought to lay hand on the king Ahasuerus.
3 And the king said, What honour and dignity hath been done to Mordecai for this? Then said the
king's servants that ministered unto him, There is nothing done for him.
4 And the king said, Who isin the court? Now Haman was come into the outward court of the
king's house, to speak unto the king to hang Mordecai on the gallows that he had prepared for
him.
5 And the king's servants said unto him, Behold, Haman standeth in the court. And the king said,
Let him come in.
6 So Haman came in. And the king said unto him, What shall be done unto the man whom the king
delighteth to honour? Now Haman thought in his heart, To whom would the king delight to do
honour more than to myself?
7 And Haman answered the king, For the man whom the king delighteth to honour,
8 Let the royal apparel be brought which the king usethto wear, and the horse that the king
rideth upon, and the crown royal which is set upon his head:
9 And let this apparel and horse be delivered to the hand of one of the king's most noble
princes, that they may array the man withalwhom the king delighteth to honour, and bring him
the man whom the king delighteth to honour.
10 Then the king said to Haman, Make haste, andtake the apparel and the horse, as thou hast
said, and do even so to Mordecai the Jew, that sitteth at the king's gate: let nothing fail of all
that thou hast spoken.
11 Then took Haman the apparel and the horse, and arrayed Mordecai, and brought him on
horseback through the street of the city, and proclaimed before him, Thus shall it be done unto
the man whom the king delighteth to honour.
12 And Mordecai came again to the king's gate. But Haman hasted to his house mourning, and
having his head covered.
13 And Haman told Zeresh his wife and all his friends every thingthat had befallen him. Then
said his wise men and Zeresh his wife unto him, If Mordecai beof the seed of the Jews, before
whom thou hast begun to fall, thou shalt not prevail against him, but shalt surely fall before
him.
14 And while they wereyet talking with him, came the king's chamberlains, and hasted to bring
Haman unto the banquet that Esther had prepared.
1 So the king and Haman came to banquet with Esther the queen.
2 And the king said again unto Esther on the second day at the banquet of wine, What isthy
petition, queen Esther? and it shall be granted thee: and what isthy request? and it shall be
performed, evento the 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
please the king, let my life be given me at my petition, and my people at 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 bondmen and bondwomen, I had held my tongue, although the enemy could not
countervail the king's damage.
5 Then the king Ahasuerus answered and said unto Esther the queen, Who is he, and where is he,
that durst presume in his heart to do so?
6 And Esther said, The adversary and enemy isthis wicked Haman. Then Haman was afraid
before the king and the queen.
7 And the king arising from the banquet of wine in his wrath wentinto 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.
8 Then the king returned out of the palace garden into the place of the banquet of wine; and
Haman was fallen upon the bed whereon 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.
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 thereon.
10 So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then was the king's
wrath pacified.
1 On that day did the king Ahasuerus give the house of Haman the Jews' enemy unto Esther the
queen. And Mordecai came before the king; for Esther had told what he wasunto her.
2 And the king took off his ring, which he had taken from Haman, and gave it unto Mordecai. And
Esther set Mordecai over the house of Haman.
3 And Esther spake yet again before the king, and fell down at his feet, and besought him with
tears to put away the mischief of Haman the Agagite, and his device that he had devised against
the Jews.
4 Then the king held out the golden sceptre toward Esther. So Esther arose, and stood before the
