Esther 6
1 Noctem illam duxit rex insomnem, jussitque sibi afferri historias et annales priorum temporum. Quæ cum illo præsente legerentur,
That night sleep escaped the king; so he ordered the Book of Records, the Chronicles, to be brought in and read to him.
2 ventum est ad illum locum ubi scriptum erat quomodo nuntiasset Mardochæus insidias Bagathan et Thares eunuchorum, regem Assuerum jugulare cupientium.
And there it was found recorded that Mordecai had exposed Bigthana and Teresh, two of the eunuchs who guarded the king’s entrance, when they had conspired to assassinate King Xerxes.
3 Quod cum audisset rex, ait: Quid pro hac fide honoris ac præmii Mardochæus consecutus est? Dixerunt ei servi illius ac ministri: Nihil omnino mercedis accepit.
The king inquired, “What honor or dignity has been bestowed on Mordecai for this act?” “Nothing has been done for him,” replied the king’s attendants.
4 Statimque rex: Quis est, inquit, in atrio? Aman quippe interius atrium domus regiæ intraverat, ut suggereret regi, et juberet Mardochæum affigi patibulo, quod ei fuerat præparatum.
“Who is in the court?” the king asked. Now Haman had just entered the outer court of the palace to ask the king to hang Mordecai on the gallows he had prepared for him.
5 Responderunt pueri: Aman stat in atrio. Dixitque rex: Ingrediatur.
So the king’s attendants answered him, “Haman is there, standing in the court.” “Bring him in,” ordered the king.
6 Cumque esset ingressus, ait illi: Quid debet fieri viro, quem rex honorare desiderat? Cogitans autem in corde suo Aman, et reputans quod nullum alium rex, nisi se, vellet honorare,
Haman entered, and the king asked him, “What should be done for the man whom the king is delighted to honor?” Now Haman thought to himself, “Whom would the king be delighted to honor more than me?”
7 respondit: Homo, quem rex honorare cupit,
And Haman told the king, “For the man whom the king is delighted to honor,
8 debet indui vestibus regiis, et imponi super equum, qui de sella regis est, et accipere regium diadema super caput suum:
have them bring a royal robe that the king himself has worn and a horse on which the king himself has ridden—one with a royal crest placed on its head.
9 et primus de regiis principibus ac tyrannis teneat equum ejus, et per plateam civitatis incedens clamet, et dicat: Sic honorabitur, quemcumque voluerit rex honorare.
Let the robe and the horse be entrusted to one of the king’s most noble princes. Let them array the man the king wants to honor and parade him on the horse through the city square, proclaiming before him, ‘This is what is done for the man whom the king is delighted to honor!’”
10 Dixitque ei rex: Festina, et sumpta stola et equo, fac, ut locutus es, Mardochæo Judæo, qui sedet ante fores palatii. Cave ne quidquam de his, quæ locutus es, prætermittas.
“Hurry,” said the king to Haman, “and do just as you proposed. Take the robe and the horse to Mordecai the Jew, who is sitting at the king’s gate. Do not neglect anything that you have suggested.”
11 Tulit itaque Aman stolam et equum, indutumque Mardochæum in platea civitatis, et impositum equo præcedebat, atque clamabat: Hoc honore condignus est, quemcumque rex voluerit honorare.
So Haman took the robe and the horse, arrayed Mordecai, and paraded him through the city square, crying out before him, “This is what is done for the man whom the king is delighted to honor!”
12 Reversusque est Mardochæus ad januam palatii: et Aman festinavit ire in domum suam, lugens et operto capite:
Then Mordecai returned to the king’s gate. But Haman rushed home, with his head covered in grief.
13 narravitque Zares uxori suæ, et amicis, omnia quæ evenissent sibi. Cui responderunt sapientes quos habebat in consilio, et uxor ejus: Si de semine Judæorum est Mardochæus, ante quem cadere cœpisti, non poteris ei resistere, sed cades in conspectu ejus.
Haman told his wife Zeresh and all his friends everything that had happened. His advisers and his wife Zeresh said to him, “Since Mordecai, before whom your downfall has begun, is Jewish, you will not prevail against him—for surely you will fall before him.”
14 Adhuc illis loquentibus, venerunt eunuchi regis, et cito eum ad convivium, quod regina paraverat, pergere compulerunt.
While they were still speaking with Haman, the king’s eunuchs arrived and rushed him to the banquet that Esther had prepared.
