Esther
Chapter 5
1 On the third day, Esther dressed in her royal clothes and stood in the inner part of the palace, across from the king’s rooms. The king was seated on his royal throne in the palace, facing the entrance.
2 When the king saw Queen Esther in the courtyard, she won his favor, and he offered her the golden scepter he held. Esther approached and touched the tip of the scepter.
3 The king said to her, “What do you want, Queen Esther? What do you ask for? You will be given up to half of the kingdom.”
4 Esther answered, “If it pleases the king, let the king and Haman come today to the feast I have prepared for him.”
5 Then the king ordered, “Hurry Haman, so he can do what Esther asked.” So the king and Haman went to the feast Esther had made.
6 The king asked Esther at the wine feast, “What do you want? It will be given to you. What do you ask for? Up to half the kingdom, it will be done.”
7 Esther answered, “Here is what I ask for.”
8 If the king likes me and agrees to my wish and request, may the king and Haman join the meal I prepare for them, and tomorrow I will follow the king’s instructions.
9 Haman left that day happy and cheerful, but when he saw Mordecai at the king’s gate not standing or moving for him, he was very angry at Mordecai.
10 Even though Haman held back his anger, when he got home, he called his friends and his wife Zeresh to come over.
11 Haman bragged about how rich he was, how many children he had, all the ways the king had honored him, and how he was higher in rank than the other leaders and workers of the king.
12 Haman also said, “Yes, Queen Esther allowed no one else to come to the feast she prepared for the king, just me; and tomorrow I am invited to join her and the king again.”
13 But all this means nothing to me as long as I see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the king’s gate.
14 Zeresh, his wife, and all his friends said to him, “Make a tall gallows, fifty cubits high, and tomorrow ask the king to hang Mordecai on it. Then you can go happily with the king to the feast.” Haman liked the idea and had the gallows built.