1 Esdras 3:1–5:6

Now when Darius reigned, he ^amade a great feast unto all his subjects, and unto all his household, and unto all the ^bprinces of ^cMedia and Persia, ²and to all the ^kgovernors and captains and lieutenants that were under him, ^dfrom India unto Ethiopia, of an hundred twenty and seven provinces. ³And when they had eaten and drunken, and being satisfied ^ewere gone home, then Darius the king ^ewent into his bedchamber, and slept, and soon after ^fawaked. ⁴Then three young men, that were of the guard that kept the king’s body, spake one to another; ⁵Let every one of us speak a sentence: he that shall overcome, and whose sentence shall seem wiser than the others, unto him shall the king Darius give great gifts, and great things in token of victory: ⁶as, ^gto be clothed in purple, to drink in gold, and to sleep upon gold, and ^ha chariot with bridles of gold, and a headtire of ^hfine linen, and ^gha chain about his neck: ⁷and he shall sit next to Darius because of his wisdom, and shall be called Darius his cousin. ⁸And then every one wrote his sentence, sealed it, and laid it under king Darius his pillow; ⁹and said that, when the king is risen, ⁱsome will give him the writings; and of whose side the king and ^jthe three ^bprinces of Persia shall judge that his sentence is the wisest, to him shall the victory be given, as was appointed. ¹⁰The first wrote, Wine is the strongest. ¹¹The second wrote, The king is strongest. ¹²The third wrote, Women are strongest: but above all things truth beareth away the victory.

¹³Now when the king was risen up, they took their writings, and delivered them unto him, and so he read them: ¹⁴and sending forth he called all the ^bprinces of Persia and Media, and the ^kgovernors, and the captains, and the lieutenants, and the chief officers; ¹⁵and sat him down in the royal seat of judgment; and the writings were read before them. ¹⁶And he said, Call the young men, and they shall declare their own sentences. So they were called, and came in. ¹⁷And he said unto them, Declare unto us your mind concerning the writings. Then began the first, who had spoken of the strength of wine; ¹⁸And he said thus, O ye men, how exceeding strong is wine! it causeth all men to err that drink it: ¹⁹it maketh the mind of the king and of the fatherless child to be all one; of the bondman and of the freeman, of the poor man and of the rich: ^20lit turneth also every thought into ^mjollity and mirth, so that a man remembereth neither sorrow nor debt: ²¹and it maketh every heart rich, so that a man remembereth neither king nor governor; and it maketh to speak all things by talents: ²²and when they are in their cups, they forget their love both to friends and brethren, and a little after draw out swords: ²³but when they are from the wine, they remember not what they have done. ²⁴O ye men, is not wine the strongest, that enforceth to do thus? And when he had so spoken, he held his peace.

IV.Then the second, that had spoken of the strength of the king, began to say, ²O ye men, do not men excel in strength, that bear rule over sea and land, and all things in them? ³But yet the king is more mighty: for he is lord of all these things, and hath dominion over them; and whatsoever he commandeth them they do. ⁴If he bid them make war the one against the other, they do it: if he send them out against the enemies, they go, and break down mountains, walls, and towers. ⁵They slay and are slain, and transgress not the king’s commandment: if they get the victory, they bring all to the king, as well the spoil, as all things else. ⁶Likewise for those that are no soldiers, and have not to do with wars, but use husbandry, when they have reaped again that which they had sown, they bring it to the king, and compel one another to pay tribute unto the king. ⁷And yet he is but one man: if he command to kill, they kill; if he command to spare, they spare; ⁸if he command to smite, they smite; if he command to make desolate, they make desolate; if he command to build, they build; ⁹if he command ^ato cut down, they cut down; if he command to plant, they plant. ¹⁰So all his people and his armies obey him: ^bfurthermore he lieth down, he eateth and drinketh, and taketh his rest: ¹¹and ^cthese keep watch round about him, neither may any one depart, and do his own business, neither disobey they him in any thing. ¹²O ye men, how should not the king be mightiest, when in such sort he is obeyed? And he held his tongue.

¹³Then the third, who had spoken of women, and of the truth, (this was ^dZorobabel) began to speak. ¹⁴O ye men, it is not the great king, nor the multitude of men, neither is it wine, that excelleth; who is it then that ruleth them, or hath the lordship over them? are they not women? ¹⁵Women have borne the king and all the people that bear rule by sea and land. ¹⁶Even of them came they: and they nourished them up that planted the vineyards, from whence the wine cometh. ^17eThese also make garments for men; these bring glory unto men; and without women cannot men be. ¹⁸Yea, and if men have gathered together gold and silver, or any other goodly thing, do they not love a woman which is comely in favour and beauty? ¹⁹And letting all those things go, do they not gape, and even ^fwith open mouth fix their eyes fast on her; and have not all men more desire unto her than unto silver or gold, or any goodly thing whatsoever? ^20gA man leaveth his own father that brought him up, and his own country, and cleaveth unto his wife. ²¹He sticks not to spend his life with his wife, and remembereth neither father, nor mother, nor country. ²²By this also you must know that women have dominion over you: do ye not labour and toil, and give and bring all to the woman? ²³Yea, a man taketh his sword, and goeth his way to rob and to steal, to sail upon the sea and upon rivers; ²⁴and looketh upon a lion, and goeth in the darkness; and when he hath stolen, spoiled, and robbed, he bringeth it to his love. ²⁵Wherefore a man loveth his wife better than father or mother. ²⁶Yea, many there be that have run out of their wits for women, and ^hbecome servants for their sakes. ²⁷Many also have perished, have erred, and sinned, for women. ²⁸And now do ye not believe me? is not the king great in his power? do not all regions fear to touch him? ²⁹Yet did I see him and Apame the king’s concubine, the daughter of the admirable Bartacus, sitting ⁱat the right hand of the king, ³⁰and taking the crown from the king’s head, and setting it upon her own head; she also ^kstrooke the king with her left hand. ³¹And yet for all this the king ^fgaped and gazed upon her with open mouth: if she laughed upon him, he laughed also: but if she took any displeasure at him, the king was fain to flatter, that she might be reconciled to him again. ³²O ye men, how can it be but women should be strong, seeing they do thus?

³³Then the king and the ^lprinces looked one upon another: so he began to speak of the truth. ³⁴O ye men, are not women strong? great is the earth, high is the heaven, swift is the sun in his course, for he compasseth the heavens round about, and fetcheth his course again to his own place in one day. ³⁵Is he not great that maketh these things? therefore great is the truth, and stronger than all things. ³⁶All the earth calleth upon the truth, and the heaven blesseth it: all works shake and tremble at it, and with it is no unrighteous thing. ³⁷Wine is wicked, the king is wicked, women are wicked, all the children of men are wicked, and such are all their wicked works; and ^mthere is no truth in them; in their unrighteousness also they shall perish. ³⁸As for the truth, it endureth, and is always strong; it liveth and conquereth for evermore. ³⁹With her there is no ⁿaccepting of persons or rewards; but she doeth the things that are just, and refraineth from all unjust and wicked things; and all men ^odo well like of her works. ⁴⁰Neither in her judgment is any unrighteousness; and she is the strength, ^pkingdom, power, and majesty, of all ages. Blessed be ^qthe God of truth.

⁴¹And with that he held his peace. And all the people then shouted, and said, Great is Truth, and mighty above all things. ⁴²Then said the king unto him, Ask what thou will more ^rthan is appointed in the writing, and we will give it thee, because thou art found wisest; and ^sthou shalt sit next me, and ^sshalt be called my cousin. ⁴³Then said he unto the king, Remember thy vow, which thou hast vowed to build Jerusalem, in the day when thou camest to thy kingdom, ⁴⁴and to send away all the vessels that were taken away out of Jerusalem, ^twhich Cyrus set apart, when he vowed to destroy Babylon, and to send them again thither. ⁴⁵Thou also hast vowed to build up the temple, which ^uthe Edomites burnt when Judea was made desolate by the Chaldees. ⁴⁶And now, O lord the king, this is that which I require, and which I desire of thee, and this is the princely liberality ^xproceeding from thyself: I desire therefore that thou make good the vow, the performance whereof with thine own mouth thou hast vowed to ^ythe King of heaven. ⁴⁷Then Darius the king stood up, and kissed him, and wrote letters for him unto all the ^ztreasurers and ^zlieutenants and captains and governors, that they should safely convey on their way both him, and all those that go up with him to build Jerusalem. ⁴⁸He wrote letters also unto the ^zlieutenants that were in ^aCoelosyria and Phenice, and unto them in Libanus, that they should bring ^bcedar wood from Libanus unto Jerusalem, and that they should build the city with him. ⁴⁹Moreover he wrote for all the Jews that went out of his realm up into Jewry, concerning their freedom, that no officer, no ^zruler, no lieutenant, nor treasurer, should forcibly enter into their doors; ⁵⁰and that all the country which they hold should be free without tribute; and that ^uthe Edomites should give over the villages of the Jews which then they held: ⁵¹yea, that there should be yearly…