Esther 7

So the king and Haman came to banquet with Esther the queen.

The king and Haman joined Queen Esther for a royal feast, filled with anticipation and intrigue.

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.

Once more, at the wine banquet's second day, the king turned to Esther, his voice soft yet firm. "What do you wish for, my queen?" he asked, promising to fulfill her heart's desire, even if it meant giving away half his kingdom.

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:

Queen Esther replied with a trembling heart, "If I have earned your love, dear King, and if it pleases you, grant me my life as my plea, and save my people as per my request."

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.

My people and I have been sold into a fate of destruction and death. If we were merely sold into slavery, I would have remained silent, even though the enemy couldn't compensate for the king's loss.

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?

Then King Ahasuerus, with a troubled heart, asked Queen Esther, "Who is this audacious person and where can he be found?"

And Esther said, The adversary and enemy is this wicked Haman. Then Haman was afraid before the king and the queen.

Esther pointed out, "This evil Haman is our foe." Fear gripped Haman as he stood before the king and queen.

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.

In a fit of rage, the king stormed out of the wine feast and into the palace garden. Haman, realizing the king's fury was directed at him, pleaded with Queen Esther for his life.

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 king’s mouth, they covered Haman’s face.

The king stormed back from the palace garden into the wine banquet hall, only to find Haman sprawled on the very bed where Esther lay. Outraged, he bellowed, "Dare he violate the queen right under my nose, in my own house?" As his words echoed, they swiftly veiled Haman's face.

And Harbonah, one of the chamberlains, said before the king, Behold also, the gallows fifty cubits high, which Haman had made for Mordecai, who spoken good for the king, standeth in the house of Haman. Then the king said, Hang him thereon.

Harbonah, a royal servant, pointed out to the king the towering gallows Haman had built to hang Mordecai, who had been loyal to the king. The gallows stood ominously in Haman's own house. The king, in a swift decision, commanded, "Hang Haman on it."

So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then was the king’s wrath pacified.

Haman met his end on the very gallows he built for Mordecai, soothing the king's fiery anger.