1So the king and Haman went in to feast with Queen Esther. 2And on the second day, as they were drinking wine after the feast, the king again said to Esther, “What is your wish, Queen Esther? It shall be granted you. And what is your request? Even to the half of my kingdom, it shall be fulfilled.” 3Then Queen Esther answered, “If I have found favour in your sight, O king, and if it please the king, let my life be granted me for my wish, and my people for my request. 4For we have been sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, to be killed, and to be annihilated. If we had been sold merely as slaves, men and women, I would have been silent, for our affliction is not to be compared with the loss to the king.” 5Then King Ahasuerus said to Queen Esther, “Who is he, and where is he, who has dared7:5 Hebrew whose heart has filled him to do this?” 6And Esther said, “A foe and enemy! This wicked Haman!” Then Haman was terrified before the king and the queen.

Haman Is Hanged

7And the king arose in his wrath from the wine-drinking and went into the palace garden, but Haman stayed to beg for his life from Queen Esther, for he saw that harm was determined against him by the king. 8And the king returned from the palace garden to the place where they were drinking wine, as Haman was falling on the couch where Esther was. And the king said, “Will he even assault the queen in my presence, in my own house?” As the word left the mouth of the king, they covered Haman's face. 9Then Harbona, one of the eunuchs in attendance on the king, said, “Moreover, the gallows7:9 Or wooden beam; also verse 10 (see note on 2:23) that Haman has prepared for Mordecai, whose word saved the king, is standing at Haman's house, fifty cubits7:9 A cubit was about 18 inches or 45 centimetres high.” And the king said, “Hang him on that.” 10So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then the wrath of the king abated.