² Now it happened that when the king saw Esther the queen standing in the court, ^(A)she advanced in favor in his eyes; and ^(B)the king extended to Esther the golden scepter which was in his hand. So Esther came near and ^[a]reached out and touched the top of the scepter. ³ Then the king said to her, “What is troubling you, Queen Esther? And what is ^[b]your request? ^(C)Even to half of the kingdom it shall be given to you.” ⁴ And Esther said, “If it seems good to the king, may the king and Haman come this day to the feast that I have prepared for him.”