Esther Asks the King for a Favor
1On the third day Esther put on her royal robes. She stood in the inner courtyard of the palace. It was in front of the king’s hall. The king was sitting on his royal throne in the hall. He was facing the entrance. 2He saw Queen Esther standing in the courtyard. He was pleased with her. So he reached out toward her the gold scepter that was in his hand. Then Esther approached him. She touched the tip of the scepter.
3The king asked, “What is it, Queen Esther? What do you want? I’ll give it to you. I’ll even give you up to half of my kingdom.”
4Esther replied, “King Xerxes, if it pleases you, come to a feast today. I’ve prepared it for you. Please have Haman come with you.”
5“Bring Haman at once,” the king said to his servants. “Then we’ll do what Esther asks.”
So the king and Haman went to the feast Esther had prepared. 6As they were drinking wine, the king asked Esther the same question again. He said, “What do you want? I’ll give it to you. What do you want me to do for you? I’ll even give you up to half of my kingdom.”
7Esther replied, “Here is what I want. Here is my appeal to you. 8I hope you will be pleased to give me what I want. And I hope you will be pleased to listen to my appeal. If you are, I’d like you and Haman to come tomorrow to the feast I’ll prepare for you. Then I’ll answer your question.”
Haman Is Very Angry With Mordecai
9That day Haman was happy. So he left the palace in a good mood. But then he saw Mordecai at the palace gate. He noticed that Mordecai didn’t stand up when he walked by. In fact, Mordecai didn’t have any respect for him at all. So he was very angry with him. 10But Haman was able to control himself. He went on home.
Haman called together his friends and his wife Zeresh. 11He bragged to them about how rich he was. He talked about how many sons he had. He spoke about all the ways the king had honored him. He bragged about how the king had given him a high position. It was higher than the position of any of the other nobles and officials. 12“And that’s not all,” Haman added. “I’m the only person Queen Esther invited to come with the king to the feast she gave. Now she has invited me along with the king tomorrow. 13But even all of that doesn’t satisfy me. I won’t be satisfied as long as I see that Jew Mordecai sitting at the palace gate.”
14Haman’s wife Zeresh and all his friends said to him, “Get a pole. In the morning, ask the king to have Mordecai put to death. Have the pole stuck through his body. Set it up at a place where it will be 75 feet above the ground. Everyone will be able to see it there. Then go to the feast with the king. Have a good time.” Haman was delighted with that suggestion. So he got the pole ready.
Ester finder nåde hos kongen
1To dage senere5,1 På hebraisk: „på den tredje dag”, hvilket svarer til „to dage senere” på dansk. iførte Ester sig sin dronningekåbe og gik ind i den inderste gård og stillede sig foran indgangen til tronsalen. Derinde sad kongen på tronen, og han kunne se dem, der opholdt sig udenfor. 2Da han fik øje på Ester, rakte han guldscepteret frem imod hende, og hun gik frem mod ham og rørte ved spidsen af scepteret.
3„Hvad har du på hjerte, dronning Ester?” spurgte han. „Fortæl mig, hvad du ønsker. Jeg vil give dig hvad som helst, du beder om—om det så er det halve kongerige!”
4Ester svarede: „Hvis det behager kongen, vil jeg bede kongen og Haman om i aften at komme til en lille festmiddag, som jeg har forberedt i dag.”
5Da sagde kongen til sine tjenere: „Skynd jer at få fat i Haman!”
Samme aften indfandt kongen og Haman sig til Esters festmiddag. 6Mens de sad og drak vin, sagde kongen til Ester: „Sig mig nu, hvad det er, du ønsker! Jeg giver dig det, om det så er det halve kongerige!”
7-8Hun svarede: „Hvis det behager kongen at opfylde mit ønske, vil jeg bede kongen om at komme igen i morgen aften sammen med Haman til endnu en lille festmiddag, som jeg vil gøre klar til jer. Så skal jeg nok fortælle, hvad jeg har på hjerte.”
Hamans plan om at dræbe Mordokaj
9Haman var glad og fornøjet, da han gik hjem efter den fine middag. Men da han gik ud af paladsets port, fik han øje på Mordokaj, der hverken rejste sig for ham eller viste det mindste tegn på ærbødighed. Det gjorde ham rasende, 10men han beherskede sig og skyndte sig hjem. Da han var kommet hjem, tilkaldte han sine nærmeste venner og sin kone Zeresh. 11Med selvtilfreds mine pralede han af sin store rigdom, sine mange sønner og den ære, kongen havde vist ham ved at forfremme ham til den næstøverste i hele perserriget.
12„Nu skal I høre!” sagde han. „I dag inviterede dronning Ester mig til en privat festmiddag sammen med hende og kongen. Hun havde selv forberedt det hele til os to! Og i morgen har hun inviteret os igen!” 13Så tilføjede han: „Men jeg kan ikke rigtig glæde mig over det, så længe den ubehøvlede jøde, Mordokaj, sidder i paladsets portrum.”
14Hans kone og venner kom straks med et godt forslag: „Du skal få lavet en 22,5 meter5,14 Mere ordret: „50 alen høj”. høj galge, og i morgen kan du så bede kongen om at få Mordokaj hængt i den! Derefter kan intet forstyrre din glæde ved den kongelige festmiddag.”
Det forslag syntes Haman godt om, og han sørgede straks for at få galgen rejst.
