Esther (Greek) 5–7: God Changed the Spirit of the King": Esther Before the Throne, and the Fall of Haman

It came to pass on the third day, when she had ceased praying, that she took off her servant’s dress and put on her glorious apparel. Being splendidly dressed and having called upon God the Overseer and Preserver of all things, she took her two maids, and she leaned upon one, as a delicate female, and the other followed bearing her train. She was blooming in the perfection of her beauty. Her face was cheerful and looked lovely, but her heart was filled with fear. Having passed through all the doors, she stood before the king. He was sitting on his royal throne. He had put on all his glorious apparel, covered all over with gold and precious stones, and was very terrifying. And having raised his face resplendent with glory, he looked with intense anger. The queen fell, and changed her color as she fainted. She bowed herself upon the head of the maid who went before her. But God changed the spirit of the king to gentleness, and in intense feeling, he sprang from off his throne, and took her into his arms, until she recovered. He comforted her with peaceful words, and said to her, “What is the matter, Esther? I am your relative. Cheer up! You shall not die, for our command is openly declared to you: ‘Draw near.’ ”

And having raised the golden sceptre, he laid it upon her neck, and embraced her. He said, “Speak to me.”

So she said to him, “I saw you, my lord, as an angel of God, and my heart was troubled for fear of your glory; for you, my lord, are to be wondered at, and your face is full of grace.” While she was speaking, she fainted and fell.

Then the king was troubled, and all his servants comforted her. The king said, “What do you desire, Esther? What is your request? Ask even to the half of my kingdom, and it shall be yours.”

Esther said, “Today is a special day. So if it seems good to the king, let both him and Haman come to the feast which I will prepare this day.”

The king said, “Hurry and bring Haman here, that we may do as Esther said.” So they both came to the feast about which Esther had spoken. At the banquet, the king said to Esther, “What is your request, queen Esther? You shall have all that you require.”

She said, “My request and my petition is: if I have found favor in the king’s sight, let the king and Haman come again tomorrow to the feast which I shall prepare for them, and tomorrow I will do as I have done today.”

So Haman went out from the king very glad and merry; but when Haman saw Mordecai the Jew in the court, he was greatly enraged. Having gone into his own house, he called his friends, and his wife Zeresh. He showed them his wealth and the glory with which the king had invested him, and how he had promoted him to be chief ruler in the kingdom. Haman said, “The queen has called no one to the feast with the king but me, and I am invited tomorrow. But these things don’t please me while I see Mordecai the Jew in the court.

Then Zeresh his wife and his friends said to him, “Let a fifty cubit tall gallows be made for you. In the morning you speak to the king, and let Mordecai be hanged on the gallows; but you go in to the feast with the king, and be merry.”

The saying pleased Haman, and the gallows was prepared.

The Lord removed sleep from the king that night; so he told his servant to bring in the books, the registers of daily events, to read to him. And he found the records written concerning Mordecai, how he had told the king about the king’s two chamberlains, when they were keeping guard, and sought to lay hands on Ahasuerus. The king said, “What honor or favor have we done for Mordecai?”

The king’s servants said, “You haven’t done anything for him.”

And while the king was enquiring about the kindness of Mordecai, behold, Haman was in the court. The king said, “Who is in the court? Now Haman had come in to speak to the king about hanging Mordecai on the gallows which he had prepared. The king’s servants said, “Behold, Haman stands in the court.”

And the king said, “Call him!”

The king said to Haman, “What should I do for the man whom I wish to honor?”

Haman said within himself, “Whom would the king honor but myself?” He said to the king, “As for the man whom the king wishes to honor, let the king’s servants bring the robe of fine linen which the king puts on, and the horse on which the king rides, and let him give it to one of the king’s noble friends, and let him dress the man whom the king loves. Let him mount him on the horse, and proclaim through the streets of the city, saying, “This is what will be done for every man whom the king honors!”

Then the king said to Haman, “You have spoken well. Do so for Mordecai the Jew, who waits in the palace, and let not a word of what you have spoken be neglected!”

So Haman took the robe and the horse, dressed Mordecai, mounted him on the horse, and went through the streets of the city, proclaiming, “This is what will be done for every man whom the king wishes to honor.” Then Mordecai returned to the palace; but Haman went home mourning, with his head covered.

Haman related the events that had happened to him to Zeresh his wife and to his friends. His friends and his wife said to him, “If Mordecai is of the race of the Jews, and you have begun to be humbled before him, you will assuredly fall; and you will not be able to withstand him, for the living God is with him.” While they were still speaking, the chamberlains arrived to rush Haman to the banquet which Esther had prepared.

So the king and Haman went in to drink with the queen. The king said to Esther at the banquet on the second day, “What is it, queen Esther? What is your request? What is your petition? It shall be done for you, up to half of my kingdom.”

She answered and said, “If I have found favor in the sight of the king, let my life be granted as my petition, and my people as my request. For both I and my people are sold for destruction, pillage, and genocide. If both we and our children were sold for male and female slaves, I would not have bothered you, for this isn’t worthy of the king’s palace.”

The king said, “Who has dared to do this thing?”

Esther said, “The enemy is Haman, this wicked man!”

Then Haman was terrified in the presence of the king and the queen. The king rose up from the banquet to go into the garden. Haman began to beg the queen for mercy, for he saw that he was in serious trouble. The king returned from the garden; and Haman had fallen upon the couch, begging the queen for mercy. The king said, “Will you even assault my wife in my house?”

And when Haman heard it, he changed countenance. And Bugathan, one of the chamberlains, said to the king, “Behold, Haman has also prepared a gallows for Mordecai, who spoke concerning the king, and a fifty cubit high gallows has been set up on Haman’s property.”

The king said, “Let him be hanged on it!” So Haman was hanged on the gallows that had been prepared for Mordecai. Then the king’s wrath was abated.