Esther

So the king and Haman came to banquet with Esther the queen.

1So the king and Haman came to eat and drink with Queen Esther.

2And the king said again unto Esther on the second day at the banquet of wine, What is thy petition, queen Esther? and it shall be granted thee: and what is thy request? and it shall be performed, even to the half of the kingdom.

2On this second day, while they were drinking wine, the king asked again, "Queen Esther, what do you want? I will give it to you. What are you asking for? I will do it, even if it takes half my kingdom."

3Then 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:

3Queen Esther answered, "If you are pleased with me, my king, and if it seems good to you, then let me keep my life. That is what I ask. And let my people keep their lives too. That is 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 bondmen and bondwomen, I had held my tongue, although the enemy could not countervail the king’s damage.

4For my people and I have been sold, to be wiped out, killed, and destroyed. If we had only been sold as slaves, I would have kept quiet, because that trouble would not be worth troubling the king about."

NoteThe last part of this verse is hard to translate. Esther is saying that being sold into slavery would not have been worth bothering the king about, but being killed is.

5Then 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?

5Then King Ahasuerus said to Queen Esther, "Who is he? Where is he? Who would dare to plan such a thing?"

6And Esther said, The adversary and enemy is this wicked Haman. Then Haman was afraid before the king and the queen.

6Esther said, "The man against us, our enemy, is this wicked Haman." Then Haman stood there terrified in front of the king and queen.

7And the king arising from the banquet of wine in his wrath went into 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.

7The king got up from his wine in anger and went out into the palace garden. Haman stayed behind to beg Queen Esther for his life, because he could see the king meant to destroy him.

8Then 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.

8The king came back from the garden into the banquet room. Haman had thrown himself down on the couch where Esther was lying. The king said, "Will he even attack the queen while I am right here in the house?" As soon as the king said it, servants covered Haman's face.

NotePeople at these banquets ate lying down on couches, not sitting in chairs. Haman was probably begging at Esther's feet, but the king saw it as an attack. Covering a man's face was a sign that he was condemned to die.

9And 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.

9Then Harbonah, one of the king's servants, said, "There is a gallows at Haman's house, seventy-five feet high. Haman built it for Mordecai, the man whose report saved the king's life." The king said, "Hang Haman on it."

NoteThe KJV says "fifty cubits high." A cubit was about eighteen inches, so this was roughly seventy-five feet tall.

10So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then was the king’s wrath pacified.

10So they hanged Haman on the gallows he had built for Mordecai. Then the king's anger cooled down.