1On that night the king could not sleep, and he ordered to have the book of records of the chronicles be brought and read before him. 2And it was found written there how Mordecai had reported the plot of Bigthana and Teresh, the two king's chamberlains, doorkeepers, who had conspired to aassassinate King Xerxes. 3And the king asked, “What honor and dignity has been given Mordecai for this?” Then the king's ministering servants said to him, “There has nothing been done for him.” 4Then the king asked, “Who is in the court?”, because Haman had now come into the outer court of the king's house, to speak to the king about hanging Mordecai on the gallows that he had prepared for him. 5And the king's servants said, “Behold, Haman stands in the court.” And the king said, “Let him come in.” 6So Haman came in. And the king said to him, “What shall be done for the man whom the king delights to honor?” Now Haman thought in his heart, “To whom would the king delight to do honor more than to myself?” 7And Haman answered, “For the man whom the king delights to honor, 8Let the royal apparel be brought which the king is accustomed to wear, and the horse that the king rides upon, and the crown royal which is set upon his head; 9And let this apparel and horse be delivered to the hand of one of the king's most noble leaders, that they may array the man whom the king delights to honor, and bring him on horseback through the street of the city, and proclaim before him, ‘Thus shall it be done for the man whom the king delights to honor’.” 10Then the king said to Haman, “Make haste, and take the apparel and the horse, as you have said, and do even so to Mordecai, the Jew, who sits at the king's gate. Let nothing fail of all that you have spoken.” 11Then Haman took the apparel and the horse, and arrayed Mordecai, and brought him on horseback through the street of the city, and proclaimed before him, “Thus shall it be done for the man whom the king delights to honor.” 12And then Mordecai returned to the king's gate. But Haman rushed home with his head covered, and completely humiliated. 13And Haman told Zeresh, his wife and all his friends, everything that had happened to him. Then his wise men and Zeresh, his wife, said to him, “If Mordecai is of Jewish heritage, before whom you have begun to fall, you shall not prevail, but shall surely fall before him.” 14And while they were still talking with him, the king's chamberlains came, and hurried Haman to the banquet that Esther had prepared. Reader-Friendly Bible: Purple Letter Edition © 2024 by Jim Musser. Used by Permission. All rights Reserved. Bible Hub |