New Century Version NCV
The Complete Jewish Bible CJB
1 So the king and Haman went in to eat with Queen Esther.
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So the king and Haman went to Queen Ester's banquet;
2 As they were drinking wine on the second day, the king asked Esther again, "What are you asking for? I will give it to you. What is it you want? I will give you as much as half of my kingdom."
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and the king again said to Ester at the wine banquet, "Whatever your request, Queen Ester, you will be granted it; whatever you want, up to half the kingdom, it will be done."
3 Then Queen Esther answered, "My king, if you are pleased with me, and if it pleases you, let me live. This is what I ask. And let my people live, too. This is what I want.
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Ester the queen answered, "If I have won your favor, king, and if it pleases the king, then what I ask be given me is my own life and the lives of my people.
4 My people and I have been sold to be destroyed, to be killed and completely wiped out. If we had been sold as male and female slaves, I would have kept quiet, because that would not be enough of a problem to bother the king."
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For we have been sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, killed, exterminated. If we had only been sold as men- and women-slaves, I would have remained quiet; since then [our] trouble would not have been worth the damage it would have caused the king [to alter the situation]."
5 Then King Xerxes asked Queen Esther, "Who is he, and where is he? Who has done such a thing?"
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King Achashverosh asked Ester the queen, "Who is he? Where is the man who dared to do such a thing?"
6 Esther said, "Our enemy and foe is this wicked Haman!" Then Haman was filled with terror before the king and queen.
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Ester said, "A ruthless enemy - it's this wicked Haman!" Haman stood aghast, terrified before the king and queen.
7 The king was very angry, so he got up, left his wine, and went out into the palace garden. But Haman stayed inside to beg Queen Esther to save his life. He could see that the king had already decided to kill him.
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In a rage, the king got up from the wine banquet and went out to the palace garden. But Haman remained, pleading with Ester the queen to spare his life; for he could see that the king had decided to do him in.
8 When the king returned from the palace garden to the banquet hall, he saw Haman falling on the couch where Esther was lying. The king said, "Will he even attack the queen while I am in the house?" As soon as the king said that, servants came in and covered Haman's face.
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Haman had just fallen on the couch where Ester was, when the king returned from the palace garden to the wine banquet. He shouted, "Is he even going to rape the queen here in the palace, before my very eyes?" The moment these words left the king's mouth, they covered Haman's face.
9 Harbona, one of the eunuchs there serving the king, said, "Look, a seventy-five foot platform stands near Haman's house. This is the one Haman had prepared for Mordecai, who gave the warning that saved the king." The king said, "Hang Haman on it!"
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Harvonah, one of the king's attendants, said, "Look! The gallows seventy-five feet high that Haman made for Mordekhai, who spoke only good for the king, is standing at Haman's house."The king said, "Hang him on it."
10 So they hanged Haman on the platform he had prepared for Mordecai. Then the king was not so angry anymore.
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So they hanged Haman on the gallows he had prepared for Mordekhai. Then the king's anger subsided.
Scripture taken from the New Century Version. Copyright © 1987, 1988, 1991 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Complete Jewish Bible Copyright 1998 by David H. Stern. Published by Jewish New Testament Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.