Esther 6

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¹On that night, the king couldn’t sleep. He commanded the book of records of the chronicles to be brought, and they were read to the king. ✦ ²It was found written that Mordecai had told of Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king’s eunuchs, who were doorkeepers, who had tried to lay hands on the King Ahasuerus. ✦ ³The king said, “What honor and dignity has been given to Mordecai for this?” Then the king’s servants who attended him said, “Nothing has been done for him.” ✦ ⁴The king said, “Who is in the court?” Now Haman had come into the outer court of the king’s house, to speak to the king about hanging Mordecai on the gallows that he had prepared for him. ✦ ⁵The king’s servants said to him, “Behold, Haman stands in the court.” The king said, “Let him come in.” ⁶So Haman came in. The king said to him, “What shall be done to the man whom the king delights to honor?” Now Haman said in his heart, “Who would the king delight to honor more than myself?” ✦ ⁷Haman said to the king, “For the man whom the king delights to honor, ✦ ⁸let royal clothing be brought which the king uses to wear, and the horse that the king rides on, and on the head of which a crown royal is set. ✦ ⁹Let the clothing and the horse be delivered to the hand of one of the king’s most noble princes, that they may array the man whom the king delights to honor with them, and have him ride on horseback through the city square, and proclaim before him, ‘Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delights to honor!’” ✦ ¹⁰Then the king said to Haman, “Hurry and take the clothing and the horse, as you have said, and do this for Mordecai the Jew, who sits at the king’s gate. Let nothing fail of all that you have spoken.” ✦ ¹¹Then Haman took the clothing and the horse, and arrayed Mordecai, and had him ride through the city square, and proclaimed before him, “Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delights to honor!” ✦ ¹²Mordecai came back to the king’s gate, but Haman hurried to his house, mourning and having his head covered. ✦ ¹³Haman recounted to Zeresh his wife and all his friends everything that had happened to him. Then his wise men and Zeresh his wife said to him, “If Mordecai, before whom you have begun to fall, is of Jewish descent, you will not prevail against him, but you will surely fall before him.” ✦ ¹⁴While they were yet talking with him, the king’s eunuchs came, and hurried to bring Haman to the banquet that Esther had prepared. ✦

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Where this chapter connects

Esth 5 ·7 Esth 6 ·5 Dan 5 ·4 Esth 2 ·4 Esth 7 ·2 Dan 2 ·2 Gen 40 ·2 1 Kgs 1 ·2

Christ at the center

Though God is never named, his hidden hand preserves the people from whom the Messiah will come — a deliverance 'for such a time as this' that anticipates the open deliverance of Christ.

How Esther 6 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Resources, by level

Lay

★ Start hereAudioThrough the WordThrough the Word · ~10 min/chapter · Free · evangelical
A clear ~10-minute audio teaching for every one of the Bible's 1,189 chapters — the most systematic free way to study chapter by chapter.

Pastoral

SermonChuck Smith — C2000 SeriesChuck Smith · Free · evangelical
Free verse-by-verse audio through the entire Bible from the founder of Calvary Chapel.

Commentaries & study tools

VideoBibleProject — Esther videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
VideoWatch teaching on Esther 6YouTube · Lay · Free
Sermons and chapter teaching from across YouTube.
CommentaryEnduring Word — Esther 6David Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical
Readable, verse-by-verse exposition of the whole chapter.
CommentaryMatthew Henry on EstherMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
ReferenceBlue Letter Bible — Esther 6Blue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free
Interlinear, lexicon, and study tools across the chapter.

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