Esther Approaches the King

1And it came to pass on the third day that Esther clothed herself in royalty, and she stood in the inner court of the house of the king, opposite to the house of the king. And the king was sitting on the throne of his royalty in the house of royalty, opposite to the entrance of the house.

2And it came to pass, as the king saw Esther the queen standing in the court, she lifted up favor in his eyes. And the king extended to Esther the golden scepter that was in his hand, and Esther came near, and she touched the head of the scepter.

3And the king said to her, “What is it to you, Esther the queen? And what is your request? As much as half of the kingdom, and it shall be given to you.”

4And Esther said, “If upon the king it is good, let the king come, and Haman, today, to the feast that I have made for him.”

5And the king said, “Hasten Haman, to do the word of Esther.”

And the king came, and Haman, to the feast that Esther had made. 6And the king said to Esther at the feast of the wine, “What is your petition? And it shall be given to you. And what is your request? As much as half of the kingdom, and it shall be done.”

7And Esther answered and said, “My petition and my request: 8If I have found favor in the eyes of the king, and if upon the king it is good to grant my petition and to perform my request, let the king come, and Haman, to the feast that I will make for them, and tomorrow I will do according to the word of the king.”

Haman’s Plot against Mordecai

9And Haman went forth on that day joyful and good of heart; and as Haman saw Mordecai at the gate of the king, and he did not rise and did not tremble from him, Haman was filled with rage against Mordecai.

10And Haman restrained himself, and he came to his house, and he sent and brought his loved ones and Zeresh his wife. 11And Haman recounted to them the glory of his wealth and the multitude of his sons and everything in which the king had made him great, and that he had lifted him up over the officials and servants of the king.

12And Haman said, “Even Esther the Queen did not bring with the king to the feast that she made, except for me. And also for tomorrow I am called to her with the king. 13And all this, none of it is equal to me with every time that I see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the gate of the king.”

14And Zeresh his wife said to him, and all his loved ones, “Let them make a tree fifty cubits high,† and in the morning say to the king that they should hang Mordecai upon it; and go with the king to the feast joyfully.”

And this word was good before the face of Haman, and he made the tree.