📖 Esther — Chapter 7 (KJV)
Read the complete King James Version chapter below, then explore the passage sections, check what you remember, and keep your private study notes.
Scripture source: Project Gutenberg KJV, ebook 10.
Esther 7:1 So the king and Haman came Tto Rbanquet with Esther the queen.
Esther 7:2 And Rthe king said again unto Esther on the second day at the banquet of wine, What is thy petition, queen Esther? and it shall be granted thee: and what is thy request? and it shall be performed, even to the half of the kingdom.
Esther 7:3 Then Esther the queen answered and said, If I have found favour in thy sight, O king, and if it please the king, Rlet my life be given me at my petition, and my people at my request:
Esther 7:4 For Rwe are sold, I and my people, Tto be destroyed, to be slain, and to perish. But if we had been sold for bondmen and bondwomen, I had held my tongue, although the enemy could not countervail the king’s damage.
Esther 7:5 Then the king Ahasuerus answered and said unto Esther the queen, RWho is he, and where is he, Tthat durst presume in his heart to do so?
Esther 7:6 And Esther said, TThe adversary and enemy is Rthis wicked Haman. Then Haman was afraid Tbefore the king and the queen.
Esther 7:7 And the king arising from the banquet of wine Rin his wrath went into the palace garden: and Haman stood up to make request for his life to Esther the queen; for he saw that there was evil determined against him by the king.
Esther 7:8 Then the king returned out of the palace garden into the place of the banquet of wine; and Haman was fallen upon Rthe bed whereon Esther was. Then said the king, Will he force the queen also Tbefore me in the house? As the word went out of the king’s mouth, they covered Haman’s face.
Esther 7:9 And RHarbonah, one of the chamberlains, said before the king, Behold also, the Tgallows fifty cubits high, which Haman had made for Mordecai, who had spoken good for the king, standeth in the house of Haman. Then the king said, Hang him thereon.
Esther 7:10 So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then was the king’s wrath pacified.
📚 Study This Chapter
📖 What We’re Reading
Esther 7:1–4 — Esther names the danger
🌱 What These Verses Teach Us
At the second banquet Esther asks for her life and her people's lives. She explains the destruction decreed against them, bringing the crisis directly before the king. Her request moves beyond personal safety to solidarity with her endangered people. Courage takes the form of clear speech about actual harm.
Key Truth: Use a position of access to speak clearly for endangered people.
Check What You Remember
1. What did Esther ask for in her petition? (Esther 7:3)
Find it in Esther 7:3 (KJV).
2. For whom else did she request deliverance? (Esther 7:3)
Find it in Esther 7:3 (KJV).
3. What fate did she say had been planned? (Esther 7:4)
Find it in Esther 7:4 (KJV).
📖 What We’re Reading
Esther 7:5–8 — Haman exposed
🌱 What These Verses Teach Us
The king asks who is responsible, and Esther names Haman. Haman becomes afraid and pleads for life as the king leaves and returns. The narrative describes the king's interpretation of the scene without establishing every motive of Haman's movement. The man who sought others' destruction now confronts the consequences of his scheme.
Key Truth: Expose serious wrongdoing truthfully rather than leaving it hidden.
Check What You Remember
1. Whom did Esther identify as the enemy? (Esther 7:6)
Find it in Esther 7:6 (KJV).
2. Where did the king go in anger? (Esther 7:7)
Find it in Esther 7:7 (KJV).
3. To whom did Haman plead for his life? (Esther 7:7)
Find it in Esther 7:7 (KJV).
📖 What We’re Reading
Esther 7:9–10 — His own device becomes his end
🌱 What These Verses Teach Us
Harbonah tells the king about the gallows Haman prepared for Mordecai. The king orders Haman executed there. The account presents a stark reversal of his intended violence. It describes royal judgment in this story, not permission for readers to take personal revenge against those who wrong them.
Key Truth: Do not turn the story's judgment into personal revenge.
Check What You Remember
1. Which chamberlain mentioned the gallows? (Esther 7:9)
Find it in Esther 7:9 (KJV).
2. For whom had Haman prepared it? (Esther 7:9)
Find it in Esther 7:9 (KJV).
3. Who was executed there instead? (Esther 7:10)
Find it in Esther 7:10 (KJV).
Related Scripture (KJV)
Psalms 7:15 — The psalm pictures a person falling into the pit he made.
This related passage is selected for its connection with this chapter. It is separate from the chapter text.
Reflect and Apply
What truthful words could help bring a hidden danger into responsible attention?
Advanced Questions and Answers
Study this chapter’s wording, patterns, contrasts, and meaning in greater depth.
1. How does Esther connect her own life with the threatened people?
2. What contrast does Esther draw about the proposed fate?
3. How does the king’s question lead to identification of the enemy?
4. Why does Haman remain to plead with Esther?
5. What makes the execution a reversal of Haman’s plan?
Notes
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