CHAPTER 6
That
night,
sleep
escaped
the king;
so he ordered
the book
of records,
the chronicles,
to be brought in
and read
to
him.
And there it was found
recorded
that
Mordecai
had exposed
Bigthana
and Teresh,
two
of the eunuchs
who guarded
the king’s
entrance,
when
they had conspired
to assassinate
King
Xerxes.
The king
inquired,
“What
honor
or dignity
has been bestowed
on Mordecai
for
this act?”
“Nothing
has been done
for him,”
replied
the king's
attendants.
“Who
is in the court?”
the king
asked.
Now Haman
had just entered
the outer
court
of the palace
to ask
the king
to hang
Mordecai
on
the gallows
he had prepared
for him.
So the king’s
attendants
answered him,
“Haman
is there,
standing
in the court.”
“Bring him in,”
ordered
the king.
Haman
entered,
and the king
asked
him,
“What
should be done
for the man
the king
wants
to honor?”
Now Haman
thought
to himself,
“Who
would the king
be delighted
to honor
more
than me?”
have them bring
a royal
robe
that
the king
himself has worn,
and a horse
the king
himself has ridden,
with
a royal
crest
on its head.
Let
the robe
and the horse
be entrusted
to one
of the king’s
most noble
princes.
Let them array
the man
the king
wants
to honor
and parade him
on
the horse
through the city
square,
proclaiming
before him,
'This is what
is done
for the man
whom
the king
is delighted
to honor!'"
“Hurry,”
said
the king
to Haman,
“and do
just as
you proposed.
Take
the robe
and
the horse
to Mordecai
the Jew,
who is sitting
at the King’s
Gate.
Do not
neglect
anything
that
you have suggested.”
So Haman
took
the robe
and the horse,
arrayed
Mordecai,
and paraded
him through the city
square,
crying out
before him,
“This is what
is done
for the man
whom
the king
is delighted
to honor!”
Then Mordecai
returned
to
the King’s
Gate.
But Haman
rushed
home,
with his head
covered
in grief.
Haman
told
his wife
Zeresh
and all
his friends
everything
that
had happened.
His advisers
and his wife
Zeresh
said
to him,
“Since
Mordecai,
before
whom
your downfall
has begun,
is Jewish,
you will not prevail
against him"
for
surely
you will fall
before him."
While they were still
speaking
with Haman,
the king's
eunuchs
arrived
and rushed
him
to
the banquet
that
Esther
had prepared.