Common English Bible CEB
New Revised Standard NRS
1 That same night, the king simply couldn't sleep. He had the official royal records brought in, and his young male servants began reading them to the king.
1
On that night the king could not sleep, and he gave orders to bring the book of records, the annals, and they were read to the king.
2 They came to the report about Mordecai informing on Bigthan and Teresh. (They were the two royal eunuchs among the guards protecting the king's doorway, who secretly planned to kill King Ahasuerus.)
2
It was found written how Mordecai had told about Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king's eunuchs, who guarded the threshold, and who had conspired to assassinate King Ahasuerus.
3 "What was done to honor and reward Mordecai for this?" the king asked. His young male servants replied, "Nothing was done for him, sir."
3
Then the king said, "What honor or distinction has been bestowed on Mordecai for this?" The king's servants who attended him said, "Nothing has been done for him."
4 "Who is that out in the courtyard?" the king asked. (Haman had just entered the outer courtyard of the palace. He had come to tell the king to impale Mordecai on the pole that he had set up for him.)
4
The king said, "Who is in the court?" Now Haman had just entered the outer court of the king's palace to speak to the king about having Mordecai hanged on the gallows that he had prepared for him.
5 The king's servants answered, "That's Haman standing out in the courtyard, sir." So the king said, "Have him come in."
5
So the king's servants told him, "Haman is there, standing in the court." The king said, "Let him come in."
6 When Haman entered, the king asked him, "What should be done for the man whom the king really wants to honor?" Haman thought to himself, Whom would the king really want to honor more than me?
6
So Haman came in, and the king said to him, "What shall be done for the man whom the king wishes to honor?" Haman said to himself, "Whom would the king wish to honor more than me?"
7 So Haman said to the king, "Here's what should be done for the man the king really wants to honor.
7
So Haman said to the king, "For the man whom the king wishes to honor,
8 Have servants bring out a royal robe that the king himself has worn and a horse on which the king himself has ridden. It should have a royal crest on its head.
8
let royal robes be brought, which the king has worn, and a horse that the king has ridden, with a royal crown on its head.
9 Then hand over the robe and the horse to another man, one of the king's officials. Have him personally robe the man whom the king really wants to honor and lead him on the horse through the city square. As he goes, have him shout, ‘This is what the king does for the man he really wants to honor!'"
9
Let the robes and the horse be handed over to one of the king's most noble officials; let him robe the man whom the king wishes to honor, and let him conduct the man on horseback through the open square of the city, proclaiming before him: "Thus shall it be done for the man whom the king wishes to honor.' "
10 Then the king said to Haman, "Hurry, take the robe and the horse just as you've said and do exactly that for Mordecai the Jew, who works at the King's Gate. Don't leave out a single thing you've said!"
10
Then the king said to Haman, "Quickly, take the robes and the horse, as you have said, and do so to the Jew Mordecai who sits at the king's gate. Leave out nothing that you have mentioned."
11 So Haman took the robe and the horse and put the robe on Mordecai. He led him on horseback through the city square, shouting as he went, "This is what the king does for the man he really wants to honor!"
11
So Haman took the robes and the horse and robed Mordecai and led him riding through the open square of the city, proclaiming, "Thus shall it be done for the man whom the king wishes to honor."
12 Afterward, Mordecai returned to the King's Gate, while Haman hurried home feeling great shame, his head covered.
12
Then Mordecai returned to the king's gate, but Haman hurried to his house, mourning and with his head covered.
13 Haman told his wife Zeresh and all his friends everything that had happened to him. Both his friends and his wife said to him, "You've already begun to lose out to Mordecai. If he is of Jewish birth, you'll not be able to win against him. You are surely going to lose out to him."
13
When Haman told his wife Zeresh and all his friends everything that had happened to him, his advisers and his wife Zeresh said to him, "If Mordecai, before whom your downfall has begun, is of the Jewish people, you will not prevail against him, but will surely fall before him."
14 They were still discussing this with him when several royal eunuchs arrived. They quickly hurried Haman off to the feast that Esther had prepared.
14
While they were still talking with him, the king's eunuchs arrived and hurried Haman off to the banquet that Esther had prepared.
Copyright © 2011 Common English Bible
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.