Esther 7Esther7

Berean Standard BibleKing James Version

1. Esther Pleads for Her People

2. 1BSBSo the king and Haman went to dine with Esther the queen,KJVKJV: So the king and Haman came to banquet with Esther the queen.
3. 2BSBand as they drank their wine on that second day, the king asked once more, “Queen Esther, what is your petition? It will be given to you. What is your request? Even up to half the kingdom, it will be fulfilled.”KJVKJV: And the king said again unto Esther on the second day at the banquet of wine, What is thy petition, queen Esther? and it shall be granted thee: and what is thy request? and it shall be performed, even to the half of the kingdom.
4. 3BSBQueen Esther replied, “If I have found favor in your sight, O king, and if it pleases the king, grant me my life as my petition, and the lives of my people as my request.KJVKJV: Then Esther the queen answered and said, If I have found favour in thy sight, O king, and if it please the king, let my life be given me at my petition, and my people at my request:
5. 4BSBFor my people and I have been sold out to destruction, death, and annihilation. If we had merely been sold as menservants and maidservants, I would have remained silent, because no such distress would justify burdening the king.”KJVKJV: 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 tongue, although the enemy could not countervail the king’s damage.
6. 5BSBThen King Xerxes spoke up and asked Queen Esther, “Who is this, and where is the one who would devise such a scheme?”KJVKJV: Then the king Ahasuerus answered and said unto Esther the queen, Who is he, and where is he, that durst presume in his heart to do so?
7. 6BSBEsther replied, “The adversary and enemy is this wicked man—Haman!” And Haman stood in terror before the king and queen.KJVKJV: And Esther said, The adversary and enemy is this wicked Haman. Then Haman was afraid before the king and the queen.

8. The Hanging of Haman

9. 7BSBIn his fury, the king arose from drinking his wine and went to the palace garden, while Haman stayed behind to beg Queen Esther for his life, for he realized that the king was planning a terrible fate for him.KJVKJV: And the king arising from the banquet of wine in his wrath went into the palace garden: and Haman stood up to make request for his life to Esther the queen; for he saw that there was evil determined against him by the king.
10. 8BSBJust 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 assault the queen while I am in the palace?” As soon as the words had left the king’s mouth, they covered Haman’s face.KJVKJV: Then the king returned out of the palace garden into the place of the banquet of wine; and Haman was fallen upon the bed whereon Esther was. Then said the king, Will he force the queen also before me in the house? As the word went out of the king’s mouth, they covered Haman’s face.
11. 9BSBThen Harbonah, one of the eunuchs attending the king, said: “There is a gallows fifty cubits high at Haman’s house. He had it built for Mordecai, who gave the report that saved the king.” “Hang him on it!” declared the king.KJVKJV: And Harbonah, one of the chamberlains, said before the king, Behold also, the gallows fifty cubits high, which Haman had made for Mordecai, who had spoken good for the king, standeth in the house of Haman. Then the king said, Hang him thereon.
12. 10BSBSo they hanged Haman on the gallows he had prepared for Mordecai. Then the fury of the king subsided.KJVKJV: So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then was the king’s wrath pacified.