Esther 7:1-9:22

New International Version

Haman Impaled

7 So the king and Haman went to Queen Esther’s banquet,^{(A) 2} and as they were drinking wine^(B) on the second day, the king again asked, “Queen Esther, what is your petition? It will be given you. What is your request? Even up to half the kingdom,^(C) it will be granted.^(D)”

³ Then Queen Esther answered, “If I have found favor^(E) with you, Your Majesty, and if it pleases you, grant me my life—this is my petition. And spare my people—this is my request. ⁴ For I and my people have been sold to be destroyed, killed and annihilated.^(F) If we had merely been sold as male and female slaves, I would have kept quiet, because no such distress would justify disturbing the king.^[a]”

⁵ King Xerxes asked Queen Esther, “Who is he? Where is he—the man who has dared to do such a thing?”

⁶ Esther said, “An adversary and enemy! This vile Haman!”

Then Haman was terrified before the king and queen. ⁷ The king got up in a rage,^(G) left his wine and went out into the palace garden.^(H) But Haman, realizing that the king had already decided his fate,^(I) stayed behind to beg Queen Esther for his life.

⁸ Just as the king returned from the palace garden to the banquet hall, Haman was falling on the couch^(J) where Esther was reclining.^(K)

The king exclaimed, “Will he even molest the queen while she is with me in the house?”^(L)

As soon as the word left the king’s mouth, they covered Haman’s face.^{(M) 9} Then Harbona,^(N) one of the eunuchs attending the king, said, “A pole reaching to a height of fifty cubits^[b](O) stands by Haman’s house. He had it set up for Mordecai, who spoke up to help the king.”

The king said, “Impale him on it!”^{(P) 10} So they impaled^(Q) Haman^(R) on the pole^(S) he had set up for Mordecai.^(T) Then the king’s fury subsided.^(U)

The King’s Edict in Behalf of the Jews

8 That same day King Xerxes gave Queen Esther the estate of Haman,^(V) the enemy of the Jews. And Mordecai came into the presence of the king, for Esther had told how he was related to her. ² The king took off his signet ring,^(W) which he had reclaimed from Haman, and presented it to Mordecai. And Esther appointed him over Haman’s estate.^(X)

³ Esther again pleaded with the king, falling at his feet and weeping. She begged him to put an end to the evil plan of Haman the Agagite,^(Y) which he had devised against the Jews. ⁴ Then the king extended the gold scepter^(Z) to Esther and she arose and stood before him.

⁵ “If it pleases the king,” she said, “and if he regards me with favor^(AA) and thinks it the right thing to do, and if he is pleased with me, let an order be written overruling the dispatches that Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, devised and wrote to destroy the Jews in all the king’s provinces. ⁶ For how can I bear to see disaster fall on my people? How can I bear to see the destruction of my family?”^(AB)

⁷ King Xerxes replied to Queen Esther and to Mordecai the Jew, “Because Haman attacked the Jews, I have given his estate to Esther, and they have impaled^(AC) him on the pole he set up. ⁸ Now write another decree^(AD) in the king’s name in behalf of the Jews as seems best to you, and seal^(AE) it with the king’s signet ring^(AF)—for no document written in the king’s name and sealed with his ring can be revoked.”^(AG)

⁹ At once the royal secretaries were summoned—on the twenty-third day of the third month, the month of Sivan. They wrote out all Mordecai’s orders to the Jews, and to the satraps, governors and nobles of the 127 provinces stretching from India to Cush.^[c](AH) These orders were written in the script of each province and the language of each people and also to the Jews in their own script and language.^{(AI) 10} Mordecai wrote in the name of King Xerxes, sealed the dispatches with the king’s signet ring, and sent them by mounted couriers, who rode fast horses especially bred for the king.

¹¹ The king’s edict granted the Jews in every city the right to assemble and protect themselves; to destroy, kill and annihilate the armed men of any nationality or province who might attack them and their women and children,^[d] and to plunder^(AJ) the property of their enemies. ¹² The day appointed for the Jews to do this in all the provinces of King Xerxes was the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the month of Adar.^{(AK) 13} A copy of the text of the edict was to be issued as law in every province and made known to the people of every nationality so that the Jews would be ready on that day^(AL) to avenge themselves on their enemies.

¹⁴ The couriers, riding the royal horses, went out, spurred on by the king’s command, and the edict was issued in the citadel of Susa.^(AM)

The Triumph of the Jews

¹⁵ When Mordecai^(AN) left the king’s presence, he was wearing royal garments of blue and white, a large crown of gold^(AO) and a purple robe of fine linen.^(AP) And the city of Susa held a joyous celebration.^{(AQ) 16} For the Jews it was a time of happiness and joy,^(AR) gladness and honor.^{(AS) 17} In every province and in every city to which the edict of the king came, there was joy^(AT) and gladness among the Jews, with feasting and celebrating. And many people of other nationalities became Jews because fear^(AU) of the Jews had seized them.^(AV)

9 On the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the month of Adar,^(AW) the edict commanded by the king was to be carried out. On this day the enemies of the Jews had hoped to overpower them, but now the tables were turned and the Jews got the upper hand^(AX) over those who hated them.^{(AY) 2} The Jews assembled in their cities^(AZ) in all the provinces of King Xerxes to attack those determined to destroy them. No one could stand against them,^(BA) because the people of all the other nationalities were afraid of them. ³ And all the nobles of the provinces, the satraps, the governors and the king’s administrators helped the Jews,^(BB) because fear of Mordecai had seized them.^{(BC) 4} Mordecai^(BD) was prominent^(BE) in the palace; his reputation spread throughout the provinces, and he became more and more powerful.^(BF)

⁵ The Jews struck down all their enemies with the sword, killing and destroying them,^(BG) and they did what they pleased to those who hated them. ⁶ In the citadel of Susa, the Jews killed and destroyed five hundred men. ⁷ They also killed Parshandatha, Dalphon, Aspatha, ⁸ Poratha, Adalia, Aridatha, ⁹ Parmashta, Arisai, Aridai and Vaizatha, ¹⁰ the ten sons^(BH) of Haman son of Hammedatha, the enemy of the Jews.^(BI) But they did not lay their hands on the plunder.^(BJ)

¹¹ The number of those killed in the citadel of Susa was reported to the king that same day. ¹² The king said to Queen Esther, “The Jews have killed and destroyed five hundred men and the ten sons of Haman in the citadel of Susa. What have they done in the rest of the king’s provinces? Now what is your petition? It will be given you. What is your request? It will also be granted.”^(BK)

¹³ “If it pleases the king,” Esther answered, “give the Jews in Susa permission to carry out this day’s edict tomorrow also, and let Haman’s ten sons^(BL) be impaled^(BM) on poles.”

¹⁴ So the king commanded that this be done. An edict was issued in Susa, and they impaled^(BN) the ten sons of Haman. ¹⁵ The Jews in Susa came together on the fourteenth day of the month of Adar, and they put to death in Susa three hundred men, but they did not lay their hands on the plunder.^(BO)

¹⁶ Meanwhile, the remainder of the Jews who were in the king’s provinces also assembled to protect themselves and get relief^(BP) from their enemies.^(BQ) They killed seventy-five thousand of them^(BR) but did not lay their hands on the plunder.^{(BS) 17} This happened on the thirteenth day of the month of Adar, and on the fourteenth they rested and made it a day of feasting^(BT) and joy.

¹⁸ The Jews in Susa, however, had assembled on the thirteenth and fourteenth, and then on the fifteenth they rested and made it a day of feasting and joy.

¹⁹ That is why rural Jews—those living in villages—observe the fourteenth of the month of Adar^(BU) as a day of joy and feasting, a day for giving presents to each other.^(BV)

Purim Established

²⁰ Mordecai recorded these events, and he sent letters to all the Jews throughout the provinces of King Xerxes, near and far, ²¹ to have them celebrate annually the fourteenth and fifteenth days of the month of Adar ²² as the time when the Jews got relief^(BW) from their enemies, and as the month when their sorrow was turned into joy and their mourning into a day of celebration.^(BX) He wrote them to observe the days as days of feasting and joy and giving presents of food^(BY) to one another and gifts to the poor.^(BZ)