Ester 7:1-3

The King Has Haman Executed

7:1 So the king and Haman came to dine ¹  with Queen Esther. 7:2 On the second day of the banquet of wine the king asked Esther, “What is your request, Queen Esther? It shall be granted to you. And what is your petition? Ask up to half the kingdom, and it shall be done!”

7:3 Queen Esther replied, “If I have met with your approval, ²  O king, and if the king is so inclined, grant me my life as my request, and my people as my petition.

[7:1]  ¹ tn Heb “to drink”; NASB “to drink wine.” The expression is a metaphor for lavish feasting, cf. NRSV “to feast”; KJV “to banquet.”

[7:3]  ² tn Heb “If I have found grace in your eyes” (so also in 8:5); TEV “If it please Your Majesty.”