Esther asked for her life and the life of her people, explaining they had been sold to be destroyed, killed, and annihilated (Esther 7:3–4). Her request directly connected her petition to the decree against the Jews (Esther 7:4).
In Esther 7:3–4, Esther finally states what she wants from the king: her own life and the lives of her people. She frames the issue as a matter of survival, not personal advantage. Esther explains that she and her people have been “sold” toward total destruction. These verses occur at the second banquet Esther has arranged, after she has delayed her request to create a more favorable moment (see Esther 5:4–8). The king has repeatedly invited her to ask for what she wants, heightening expectation and pressure (compare Esther 7:2).
Esther 7:3–4 presents Esther’s request as a life-or-death plea. Explicitly, she asks the king to grant her life and the lives of her people (textual claim). She frames the request within Persian court etiquette (“if I have found favor… if it please the king”), which shows both the danger of speaking and the need to persuade (inference grounded in setting).
A careful answer keeps the immediate passage, the book's argument, and the whole-Bible storyline together, so the question is answered in context instead of as a detached idea.
Start with Esther 7:3-4, then read the surrounding section so the answer stays connected to the passage's flow.
3Then Esther the queen answered, If I have found favor in your sight, O king, and if it please the king, let my life be given me at my petition, and my people at my request:
4for we are sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, to be slain, and to perish. But if we had been sold for bondservants and bondmaids, I had held my peace, although the adversary could not have compensated for the king`s damage.