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ESTHER 6
page 447
and if it pleases the king to grant my request
and do what I ask, please come with Haman
tomorrow to the banquet I will prepare for you.
Then I will explain what this is all about.”
Haman’s Plan to Kill Mordecai
9 Haman was a happy man as he left the banquet! But when he saw Mordecai sitting at
the palace gate, not standing up or trembling
nervously before him, Haman became furious.
10 However, he restrained himself and went
on home.
Then Haman gathered together his friends
and Zeresh, his wife, 11 and boasted to them
about his great wealth and his many children.
He bragged about the honors the king had given
him and how he had been promoted over all the
other nobles and officials.
12 Then Haman added, “And that’s not all!
Queen Esther invited only me and the king
himself to the banquet she prepared for us. And
she has invited me to dine with her and the king
again tomorrow!” 13 Then he added, “But this is
all worth nothing as long as I see Mordecai the
Jew just sitting there at the palace gate.”
14 So Haman’s wife, Zeresh, and all his friends
suggested, “Set up a sharpened pole that stands
seventy-five feet* tall, and in the morning ask
the king to impale Mordecai on it. When this is
done, you can go on your merry way to the banquet with the king.” This pleased Haman, and
he ordered the pole set up.
The King Honors Mordecai
That night the king had trouble sleeping,
so he ordered an attendant to bring the
book of the history of his reign so it could be
read to him. 2 In those records he discovered
an account of how Mordecai had exposed the
plot of Bigthana and Teresh, two of the eunuchs who guarded the door to the king’s private quarters. They had plotted to assassinate
King Xerxes.
3 “What reward or recognition did we ever
give Mordecai for this?” the king asked.
His attendants replied, “Nothing has been
done for him.”
4 “Who is that in the outer court?” the king inquired. As it happened, Haman had just arrived
in the outer court of the palace to ask the king to
impale Mordecai on the pole he had prepared.
5 So the attendants replied to the king,
“Haman is out in the court.”
“Bring him in,” the king ordered. 6 So Haman
came in, and the king said, “What should I do to
honor a man who truly pleases me?”
Haman thought to himself, “Whom would
the king wish to honor more than me?” 7 So he
replied, “If the king wishes to honor someone,
8 he should bring out one of the king’s own royal
6
5:14 Hebrew 50 cubits [23 meters].
robes, as well as a horse that the king himself
has ridden—one with a royal emblem on its
head. 9 Let the robes and the horse be handed
over to one of the king’s most noble officials.
And let him see that the man whom the king
wishes to honor is dressed in the king’s robes
and led through the city square on the king’s
horse. Have the official shout as they go, ‘This
is what the king does for someone he wishes
to honor!’”
10 “Excellent!” the king said to Haman.
“Quick! Take the robes and my horse, and do
just as you have said for Mordecai the Jew, who
sits at the gate of the palace. Leave out nothing
you have suggested!”
11 So Haman took the robes and put them on
Mordecai, placed him on the king’s own horse,
and led him through the city square, shouting, “This is what the king does for someone
he wishes to honor!” 12 Afterward Mordecai returned to the palace gate, but Haman hurried
home dejected and completely humiliated.
13 When Haman told his wife, Zeresh, and
all his friends what had happened, his wise
advisers and his wife said, “Since Mordecai—
this man who has humiliated you—is of Jewish birth, you will never succeed in your plans
against him. It will be fatal to continue opposing him.”
14 While they were still talking, the king’s eunuchs arrived and quickly took Haman to the
banquet Esther had prepared.
• Bitterness
E S THE R 5:9
Hatred and bitterness are like weeds
with long roots that grow in the heart
and corrupt all of life. Haman was so
consumed with hatred toward Mordecai
that he could not even enjoy the honor
of being invited to Esther’s party. Even a
promotion to one of the highest positions
in the land couldn’t content him! Instead
he became consumed by the fact that
one man was not honoring him the way
he would have liked.
Bitterness focuses our attention on
what or whom we don’t like or on what
we don’t have. With this kind of focus
in life, we become easily manipulated
by every event or comment, however
inconsequential. Don’t let hatred and its
resulting bitterness rob you of a more
positive, contented outlook on life. Make
a conscious effort to shift your focus
away from the negative events and
difficult people in your life.