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The king then asked, "Who's that in the courtyard?" For Haman had come into the outer courtyard of the king's palace to speak to the king about hanging Mordekhai on the gallows he had prepared for him.

So Haman came in. The king said to him, "What should be done for a man that the king wants to honor?" Haman thought to himself, "Whom would the king want to honor more than me?"

So Haman answered the king, "For a man the king wants to honor,

The robes and the horse should be handed over to one of the king's most respected officials, and they should put the robes on the man the king wants to honor and lead him on horseback through the streets of the city, proclaiming ahead of him, ‘This is what is done for a man whom the king wants to honor.'"

The king said to Haman, "Hurry, and take the robes and the horse, as you said, and do this for Mordekhai the Jew, who sits at the King's Gate. Don't leave out anything you mentioned."

So Haman took the robes and the horse, dressed Mordekhai and led him riding through the streets of the city, as he proclaimed ahead of him, "This is what is done for a man whom the king wants to honor."

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]."

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.

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."

So they hanged Haman on the gallows he had prepared for Mordekhai. Then the king's anger subsided.

That same day King Achashverosh gave the house of Haman, the enemy of the Jews, to Ester the queen. Also Mordekhai appeared before the king, for Ester had revealed his relationship to her.

For how can I bear to see the disaster that will overcome my people? How can I endure seeing the extermination of my kinsmen?"

You should issue a decree in the king's name for whatever you want concerning the Jews, and seal it with the king's signet ring; because a decree written in the king's name and sealed with the king's ring can't be rescinded by anyone."

Meanwhile, Mordekhai left the king's presence arrayed in royal blue and white, wearing a large gold crown and a robe of fine linen and purple; and the city of Shushan shouted for joy.

For the Jews, all was light, gladness, joy and honor.

The time approached for the king's order and decree to be carried out, the day when the enemies of the Jews hoped to overpower them. But, as it turned out, the opposite took place — the Jews overpowered those who hated them. Thus, on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the month of Adar,

For Mordekhai had become a powerful person in the king's palace, and his fame had spread through all the provinces; Mordekhai continued to grow increasingly powerful.

on the thirteenth day of the month Adar. So on the fourteenth day of Adar they rested and made it a holiday for celebrating and rejoicing.

However, the Jews of Shushan assembled on both the thirteenth and fourteenth days of Adar, so it was on the fifteenth that they rested and made it a holiday for celebrating and rejoicing.

This is why the Jews of the villages, those who live in unwalled towns, make the fourteenth day of the month of Adar a day for celebrating and rejoicing, a holiday and a time for sending each other portions [of food].