Esther 7

Haman Is Executed

¹The king and Haman came to feast with Esther the queen.²³Once again, on the second day while drinking wine, the king asked Esther, “Queen Esther, whatever you ask will be given to you. Whatever you seek, even to half the kingdom, will be done.”⁴

⁵Queen Esther answered, “If I have found favor with you, Your Majesty, and if the king is pleased, spare my life; this is my request. And spare my people; this is my desire.⁶⁷For my people and I have been sold to destruction, death, and annihilation. If we had merely been sold as male and female slaves, I would have kept silent. Indeed, the trouble wouldn’t be worth burdening the king.”⁸

⁹King Ahasuerus spoke up and asked Queen Esther, “Who is this, and where is the one who would devise such a scheme?”¹⁰

¹¹Esther answered, “The adversary and enemy is this evil Haman.” Haman stood terrified before the king and queen.¹²¹³The king arose in anger and went from where they were drinking wine to the palace garden. Haman remained to beg Queen Esther for his life because he realized the king was planning something terrible for him.¹⁴¹⁵Just as the king returned from the palace garden to the banquet hall, Haman was falling on the couch where Esther was reclining. The king exclaimed, “Would he actually violate the queen while I am in the house?” As soon as the statement left the king’s mouth, they covered Haman’s face.¹⁶

¹⁷Harbona, one of the king’s eunuchs, said, “There is a gallows seventy-five feet tall at Haman’s house that he made for Mordecai, who gave the report that saved the king.” The king said, “Hang him on it.”¹⁸

¹⁹They hanged Haman on the gallows he had prepared for Mordecai. Then the king’s anger subsided.²⁰