< Esther 7 >

1 So the King and Haman came to banket with the Queene Ester.
So the king and Aman went in to drink with the queen.
2 And the King said againe vnto Ester on the second day at the banket of wine, What is thy petition, Queene Ester, that it may be giue thee? and what is thy request? It shalbe euen perfourmed vnto the halfe of the kingdome.
And the king said to Esther at the banquet on the second day, What is it, queen Esther? and what [is] thy request, and what [is] thy petition? and it shall be [done] for thee, to the half of my kingdom.
3 And Ester the Queene answered, and said, If I haue found fauour in thy sight, O King, and if it please the King, let my life be giuen me at my petition, and my people at my request.
And she answered and said, If I have found favour in the sight of the king, let [my] life be granted to my petition, and my people to my request.
4 For we are solde, I, and my people, to be destroyed, to be slayne and to perish: but if we were solde for seruants, and for handmaides, I woulde haue helde my tongue: although the aduersarie could not recompense the Kings losse.
For both I and my people are sold for destruction, and pillage, and slavery; [both] we and our children for bondmen and bondwomen: and I consented not to it, for the slanderer [is] not worthy of the king’s palace.
5 Then King Ahashuerosh answered, and said vnto the Queene Ester, Who is he? and where is he that presumeth to doe thus?
And the king said, Who [is] this that has dared to do this thing?
6 And Ester said, The aduersarie and enemie is this wicked Haman. Then Haman was afrayde before the King and the Queene.
And Esther said, The adversary [is] Aman, this wicked man. Then Aman was troubled before the king and the queen.
7 And the King arose from ye banket of wine in his wrath, and went into the palace garden: but Haman stood vp, to make request for his life to the Queene Ester: for he sawe that there was a mischiefe prepared for him of the King.
And the king rose up from the banquet to go into the garden: and Aman began to intreat the queen; for he saw that he was in an evil case.
8 And when the King came againe out of the palace garden, into the house where they dranke wine, Haman was fallen vpon the bed whereon Ester sate! therefore the King sayd, Will he force the Queene also before me in the house? As the worde went out of the Kings mouth, they couered Hamans face.
And the king returned from the garden; and Aman had fallen upon the bed, intreating the queen. And the king said, Wilt thou even force [my] wife in my house? And when Aman heard it, he changed countenance.
9 And Harbonah one of the eunuches, sayde in the presence of the King, Beholde, there standeth yet the tree in Hamans house fiftie cubites hie, which Haman had prepared for Mordecai, that spake good for the King. Then the King sayd, Hang him thereon.
And Bugathan, one of the chamberlains, said to the king, Behold, Aman has also prepared a gallows for Mardochæus, who spoke concerning the king, and a gallows of fifty cubits high has been set up in the premises of Aman. And the king said, Let him be hanged thereon.
10 So they hanged Haman on the tree, that he had prepared for Mordecai: then was the Kings wrath pacified.
So Aman was hanged on the gallows that had been prepared for Mardochæus: and then the king’s wrath was appeased.

< Esther 7 >