Esther 5

₁On the 3rd day Queen Esther put on her royal clothes and she stood in the court of the palace. It was in front of the room where the king's throne was. The king was sitting on his throne on the other side of the door where Esther was standing. ₂When the king saw Queen Esther standing in the court, he smiled and he was happy to see her. He had his golden sceptre in his hand and he pointed it at her to show that she was welcome. She came to him and touched the end of his sceptre. ₃The king said to her: ‘Queen Esther, why did you come to me? Do you want to ask me something? You may ask me anything you want. Even if you ask me to give you half of my kingdom, I will give it to you.’

₄Esther said: ‘Your_Majesty, if it will make you happy, will you and Haman please come and eat dinner with me today?’

₅The king immediately called Haman so that they could do what Esther had asked. They went to eat the dinner that Esther had prepared. ₆While they were drinking wine, the king said to Esther again: ‘I will give you anything you ask and I will do anything you want. Even if you ask me to give you half of my kingdom, I will give it to you.’

₇Esther answered: ‘Your_Majesty, if it will please you, ₈will you and Haman please come again and eat dinner with me tomorrow? Then I will tell you what I want.’

₉Haman was very happy when he went out of the palace, but when he saw Mordecai sitting in front of the palace and Mordecai did not want to stand up or show that he respected him, Haman became very angry with Mordecai. ₁₀But Haman did not show that he was angry.

Haman went home and he called his wife Zeresh and his friends. ₁₁He boasted, saying that he was rich and that he had many children and that the king had made him an important man, more important than the other officials and leaders who served the king. ₁₂Haman said: ‘I am the only person whom Queen Esther has invited to go and eat dinner with her and the king. She has asked no one else. And she has invited me to go tomorrow again to eat with her and the king. ₁₃But I will not be happy if I still see that Jew Mordecai sitting in front of the king's gate.’

₁₄Haman's wife Zeresh and his friends said: ‘Let the people put a very high pole into the ground. The pole must be 50 cubits high and then you must ask the king to hang Mordecai from the pole tomorrow. Then you will feel happy when you are with the king and Queen Esther.’

Haman said yes, it was a good plan and he told the people to put a pole into the ground.