So when the king’s great decree is proclaimed throughout his [extensive] kingdom, all women will give honor to their husbands, from the great to the insignificant.”

The king said, “What honor or distinction has been given Mordecai for this?” Then the king’s servants who attended him said, “Nothing has been done for him.”

So Haman came in and the king said to him, “What is to be done for the man whom the king desires to honor?” Now Haman thought to himself, “Whom would the king desire to honor more than me?”

So Haman said to the king, “For the man whom the king desires to honor,

and let the robe and the horse be handed over to one of the king’s most noble officials. Let him dress the man whom the king delights to honor [in the royal robe] and lead him on horseback through the open square of the city, and proclaim before him, ‘This is what shall be done for the man whom the king desires to honor.’”

So Haman took the royal robe and the horse and dressed Mordecai, and led him on horseback through the open square of the city, proclaiming before him, “This is what shall be done for the man whom the king desires to honor.”

For [at this time] the Jews had light [a dawn of new hope] and gladness and joy and honor.