LESSON 16 ESTHER 7 : 1 – 8 : 17
“If I have found favor 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. —Esther 7:3
Even as Haman’s wife and his wise men gave Haman their dire assessment of his predicament, the king’s eunuchs arrived and rushed Haman to Esther’s feast. The tables were turned on Haman, and Esther revealed to the king her Jewish heritage as well as the evil and deceptive plot of Haman. Hence, Haman fell, and Mordecai was elevated. Moreover, the king approved another edict written by Mordecai to save the Jews throughout the Persian Empire.
READ THE WORD Pray. Take a moment to pray, asking the Lord to prepare your heart and teach you.
Esther 7:1–8:17 7 So the king and Haman went in to feast with Queen Esther. 2 And 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.” 3 Then Queen Esther answered, “If I have found favor in your sight, O king, and if it please the king, let my life be grant- ed me for my wish, and my people for my request. 4 For 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.” 5 Then King Ahasuerus said to Queen Esther, “Who is he, and where is he, who has dared to do this?” 6 And Esther said, “A foe and enemy! This wicked Haman!” Then Haman was terrified before the king and the queen. 7 And 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. 8 And 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 cov- ered Haman’s face. 9 Then Harbona, one of the eunuchs in attendance on the king, said, “Moreover, the gallows that Haman has prepared for Mordecai, whose word saved the king, is standing at Haman’s house, fifty cubits high.” And the king said, “Hang him on that.” 10 So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then the wrath of the king abated.
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