Esther 7
New Catholic Bible
Chapter 7
1 So the king and Haman went to dine with Queen Esther. 2 And once again, on the second day as they were having wine, the king asked, “Queen Esther, what is your petition? It will be given you. What is your request? Even if it is for half my kingdom, it will be granted you.”
3 Queen Esther replied, “If I have found favor with you, O king, and if it pleases your majesty, grant me my life—this is my petition. And spare my people—this is my request. 4 For I and my people have been handed over to destruction, slaughter, and extinction. If we had merely been sold as male and female slaves, I would have not said anything, because such distress would not be reason enough to disturb the king.”[a]
5 Then King Ahasuerus asked Queen Esther, “Who is it and where is the one who has done such a thing?”
6 Esther replied, “Our enemy is this wicked man Haman.”
In terror, Haman faced the king and queen. 7 The king got up in a rage, left his wine, and went out into the palace garden. But Haman stayed behind to beg Queen Esther for his life, since he feared that the king had already decided his fate.
8 So Haman threw himself upon the couch on which Esther was reclining. At that very moment the king was just returning from the palace garden to the banquet hall. The king exclaimed: “Will he also violate the queen while she is with me in my own house?”
The words were scarcely out of the king’s mouth when Haman’s face was covered. 9 Then Harbona, one of the eunuchs who attended the king, said, “There is a gibbet fifty cubits high at Haman’s house. Haman prepared it for Mordecai, who warned your majesty about the plot.”
The king said, “Hang him on it.” 10 So they hanged Haman on the gibbet he had prepared for Mordecai, and the king’s anger cooled down.
Footnotes
- Esther 7:4 Esther plays skillfully on the sentiments of the king and upon an ever-important subject: finances.
