[Verse 1]
On the night before Esther's second banquet, sleep flees from Ahasuerus.
The record of Mordecai exposing Bigthana and Teresh is found.
The servants answer that nothing was done for him.
He has come to request Mordecai's execution on the prepared gallows.
[Pre-Chorus]
The doors were shut, the sentence had been sealed,
Then one brave step brought hidden things revealed.
[Chorus]
What Honour Hath Been Done to Mordecai, the chamber held its breath,
A sealed decree could turn a realm to death.
Yet courage crossed the threshold of the throne,
And hidden providence made justice known.
[Verse 2]
He proposes royal apparel previously worn by the king.
He adds the king's horse and royal crown to the display.
A noble prince should lead the honoured man through the city.
The king commands Haman to perform every detail for Mordecai the Jew.
[Bridge]
He proclaims before his enemy the honour he had imagined for himself.
Mordecai returns quietly to the king's gate while Haman hurries home mourning.
Zeresh and Haman's wise men warn that he will surely fall before Mordecai.
Before the warning ends, chamberlains hurry Haman to Esther's banquet.
[Final Chorus]
What Honour Hath Been Done to Mordecai, the chamber held its breath,
A sealed decree could turn a realm to death.
Yet courage crossed the threshold of the throne,
And hidden providence made judgment known.
[Outro]
The gate stood open after fear had fled.
Justice remembered every word that had been said.
Esther 6: The honour ceremony goes to the wrong man
A sleepless night turns an old administrative entry into the hinge of the Book of Esther. Ahasuerus has the royal chronicles read and discovers that Mordecai received no honour for exposing the assassination plot. At the same moment Haman enters the court intending to ask permission to execute Mordecai. The king asks what should be done for a man he delights to honour without naming the man, and Haman’s assumption that the honour must be for himself shapes an elaborate answer of royal clothing, the king’s horse, public procession, and proclamation. Ahasuerus then names Mordecai and orders Haman to omit nothing. Haman performs the entire ceremony for the very man he came to destroy. Mordecai returns to the gate, while Haman returns home mourning. His household reverses its earlier confidence and predicts his fall just as royal attendants hurry him to Esther’s second banquet.
