6:1 Throughout that night the king was unable to sleep.1 So he asked that the book containing the historical records2 be brought. As they were being read in the king’s presence, 6:2 it was found written that Mordecai had disclosed that Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king’s eunuchs who guarded the entrance, had sought to assassinate3 King Ahasuerus.
6:3 The king inquired, “What great honor4 was bestowed on Mordecai because of this?” The king’s attendants who served him responded, “Not a thing was done for him.”
6:4 Then the king said, “Who is in the courtyard?” Now Haman had come to the inner courtyard of the palace to suggest that the king hang Mordecai on the gallows that he had constructed for him. 6:5 The king’s attendants said to him, “It is Haman who is standing in the courtyard.” The king said, “Let him enter.”
6:6 So Haman entered, and the king said to him, “What should be done for the man whom the king wishes to honor?” Haman thought to himself,5 “Who is it that the king wishes to honor more than me?” 6:7 So Haman said to the king, “Let them bring royal attire which the king himself has worn for the man whom the king wishes to honor, 6:8 and a horse upon which the king himself has ridden—one on whose head the royal crown has been!6 6:9 Then let this clothing and this horse be given to one of the king’s noble officials. Let him7 then clothe the man whom the king wishes to honor, and let him lead him about through the plaza of the city on the horse, calling before him, ‘So shall it be done to the man whom the king wishes to honor!’”
6:10 The king then said to Haman, “Go quickly! Take the clothing and the horse, just as you have described, and do thus to Mordecai the Jew who sits at the king’s gate. Don’t neglect8 a single thing of all that you have said.”
6:11 So Haman took the clothing and the horse, and he clothed Mordecai. He led him about on the horse throughout the plaza of the city, calling before him, “So shall it be done to the man whom the king wishes to honor!”
6:12 Then Mordecai again sat at the king’s gate, while Haman hurried away to his home, mournful and with a veil over his head. 6:13 Haman then related to Zeresh his wife and to all his friends everything that had happened to him. These wise men,9 along with Zeresh his wife, said to him, “If indeed this Mordecai before whom you have begun to fall is of the Jews, you will not be adequate for him. No, you will surely fall before him!”
6:14 While they were still speaking with him, the king’s eunuchs arrived. They quickly brought Haman to the banquet that Esther had prepared.