Part 183 (1/2)

And Esther said, ”If it seem good to the king, let the king and Haman come this day to the banquet that I have prepared for him.”

Then the king said, ”Cause Haman to make haste, that it may be done as Esther hath said.”

So the king and Haman came to the banquet that Esther had prepared.

And the king said to Esther at the banquet of wine, ”What is thy pet.i.tion? and it shall be granted thee: and what is thy request? even to the half of the kingdom it shall be performed.”

Then answered Esther, and said, ”My pet.i.tion and my request is: if I have found favor in the sight of the king, and if it please the king to grant my pet.i.tion, and to perform my request, let the king and Haman come to the banquet that I shall prepare for them, and I will do tomorrow as the king hath said.”

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Then went Haman forth that day joyful and glad of heart: but when Haman saw Mordecai in the king's gate, that he stood not up nor moved for him, he was filled with wrath against Mordecai. Nevertheless Haman controlled himself, and went home; and he sent and brought his friends and Zeresh his wife. And Haman recounted unto them the glory of his riches, and all the things wherein the king had promoted him, and how he had advanced him above the princes and servants of the king. Haman said moreover, ”Yea, Esther the queen let no man come in with the king to the banquet that she had prepared but myself; and to-morrow also am I invited by her together with the king. Yet all this availeth me nothing, so long as I see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the king's gate.”

Then said Zeresh his wife and all his friends unto him, ”Let a gallows be made fifty cubits high, and in the morning speak thou to the king that Mordecai may be hanged thereon: then go thou in merrily with the king to the banquet.” And the thing pleased Haman; and he caused the gallows to be made.

On that night the king could not sleep; and he commanded to bring the book of records of the chronicles, and they were read before the king.

And it was found written, that Mordecai had told of Bigthan and Teresh, two of the king's chamberlains, of those that kept the door, who had sought to lay hands on the king Ahasuerus. And the king said, ”What honor and dignity hath been bestowed upon Mordecai for this?”

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Then said the king's servants that ministered unto him, ”There is nothing done for him.”

And the king said, ”Who is in the court?”

Now Haman had come into the outward court of the king's house, to speak to the king to hang Mordecai on the gallows that he had prepared for him.

And the king's servants said unto him, ”Behold, Haman standeth in the court.”

And the king said, ”Let him come in.”

So Haman came in. And the king said to him, ”What shall be done unto the man whom the king delighteth to honor?”

Now Haman said in his heart, ”To whom would the king delight to do honor more than to myself?”

And Haman said to the king, ”For the man whom the king delighteth to honor, let royal apparel be brought which the king is accustomed to wear, and the horse that the king rideth upon, and the crown royal which is set upon his head: and let the apparel and the horse be delivered to the hand of one of the king's most n.o.ble princes, that they may array the man therewith whom the king delighteth to honor, and cause him to ride on horseback through the street of the city, and proclaim before him, 'Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delighteth to honor.'”

Then the king said to Haman, ”Make haste, and take the apparel and the horse, as thou hast said, and do even so to Mordecai the Jew, that sitteth at the king's gate: let nothing fail of all that thou hast spoken.”

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Then took Haman the apparel and the horse, and arrayed Mordecai, and caused him to ride through the street of the city, and proclaimed before him, 'Thus shall it be done unto the man whom the king delighteth to honor.'”

And Mordecai came again to the king's gate. But Haman hasted to his house, mourning and having his head covered. And Haman recounted unto Zeresh his wife and all his friends everything that had befallen him.

Then said his wise men, and Zeresh his wife unto him, ”If Mordecai, before whom thou hast begun to fall, be of the race of the Jews, thou shalt not prevail against him, but shalt surely fall before him.”

While they were yet talking with him, came the king's chamberlains, and hasted to bring Haman unto the banquet that Esther had prepared.

So the king and Haman came to the banquet with Esther the queen. And the king said again to Esther on the second day at the banquet of wine, ”What is thy pet.i.tion, Queen Esther? and it shall be granted thee: and what is thy request? even to the half of the kingdom it shall be performed.”

Then Esther the queen answered and said, ”If I have found favor in thy sight, O king, and if it please the king, let my life be given me at my pet.i.tion, and my people at my request: for 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 peace, although the adversary could not have compensated for the king's damage.”