Dual Panel1That night the king had trouble sleeping, so he ordered an attendant to bring the historical records of his kingdom so they could be read to him.
2In 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 the king.
3"What reward or recognition did we ever give Mordecai for this?" the king asked. His attendants replied, "Nothing has been done."
4"Who is that in the outer court?" the king inquired. Now, as it happened, Haman had just arrived in the outer court of the palace to ask the king to hang Mordecai from the gallows he had prepared.
5So the attendants replied to the king, "Haman is out there." "Bring him in," the king ordered.
6So 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?"
7So he replied, "If the king wishes to honor someone,
8he should bring out one of the king’s own royal robes, as well as the king’s own horse with a royal emblem on its head.
9Instruct one of the king’s most noble princes to dress the man in the king’s robe and to lead him through the city square on the king’s own horse. Have the prince shout as they go, ‘This is what happens to those the king wishes to honor!’"
10"Excellent!" the king said to Haman. "Hurry and get the robe and my horse, and do just as you have said for Mordecai the Jew, who sits at the gate of the palace. Do not fail to carry out everything you have suggested."
11So Haman took the robe and put it on Mordecai, placed him on the king’s own horse, and led him through the city square, shouting, "This is what happens to those the king wishes to honor!"
12Afterward Mordecai returned to the palace gate, but Haman hurried home dejected and completely humiliated.
13When Haman told his wife, Zeresh, and all his friends what had happened, they said, "Since Mordecai––this man who has humiliated you––is a Jew, you will never succeed in your plans against him. It will be fatal to continue to oppose him."
14While they were still talking, the king’s eunuchs arrived to take Haman to the banquet Esther had prepared.