Common English Bible CEB
The Message Bible MSG
1 When the king and Haman came in for the banquet with Queen Esther,
1
So the king and Haman went to dinner with Queen Esther.
2 the king said to her, "This is the second day we've met for wine. What is your wish, Queen Esther? I'll give it to you. And what do you want? I'll do anything—even give you half the kingdom."
2
At this second dinner, while they were drinking wine the king again asked, "Queen Esther, what would you like? Half of my kingdom! Just ask and it's yours."
3 Queen Esther answered, "If I please the king, and if the king wishes, give me my life—that's my wish—and the lives of my people too. That's my desire.
3
Queen Esther answered, "If I have found favor in your eyes, O King, and if it please the king, give me my life, and give my people their lives.
4 We have been sold—I and my people—to be wiped out, killed, and destroyed. If we simply had been sold as male and female slaves, I would have said nothing. But no enemy can compensate the king for this kind of damage."
4
"We've been sold, I and my people, to be destroyed - sold to be massacred, eliminated. If we had just been sold off into slavery, I wouldn't even have brought it up; our troubles wouldn't have been worth bothering the king over."
5 King Ahasuerus said to Queen Esther, "Who is this person, and where is he? Who would dare do such a thing?"
5
King Xerxes exploded, "Who? Where is he? This is monstrous!"
6 Esther replied, "A man who hates, an enemy—this wicked Haman!" Haman was overcome with terror in the presence of the king and queen.
6
"An enemy. An adversary. This evil Haman," said Esther. Haman was terror-stricken before the king and queen.
7 Furious, the king got up and left the banquet for the palace garden. But Haman stood up to beg Queen Esther for his life. He saw clearly that the king's mood meant a bad end for him.
7
The king, raging, left his wine and stalked out into the palace garden.
8 The king returned from the palace garden to the banquet room just as Haman was kneeling on the couch where Esther was reclining. "Will you even molest the queen while I am in the house?" the king said. The words had barely left the king's mouth before covering Haman's face with dread.
8
As the king came back from the palace garden into the banquet hall, Haman was groveling at the couch on which Esther reclined. The king roared out, "Will he even molest the queen while I'm just around the corner?" When that word left the king's mouth, all the blood drained from Haman's face.
9 Harbona, one of the eunuchs serving the king, said, "Sir, look! There's the stake that Haman made for Mordecai, the man who spoke up and did something good for the king. It's standing at Haman's house—seventy-five feet high." "Impale him on it!" the king ordered.
9
Harbona, one of the eunuchs attending the king, spoke up: "Look over there! There's the gallows that Haman had built for Mordecai, who saved the king's life. It's right next to Haman's house - seventy-five feet high!" The king said, "Hang him on it!"
10 So they impaled Haman on the very pole that he had set up for Mordecai, and the king's anger went away.
10
So Haman was hanged on the very gallows that he had built for Mordecai. And the king's hot anger cooled.
Copyright © 2011 Common English Bible
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.