Esther A

In the second year of the reign of Artaxerxes the great king, on the first day of Nisa, Mardocheus the son of Jairus, the son of Semeias, the son of Kiseus, of the tribe of Benjamin, saw a dream.

He was a Jew, dwelling in the city of Susa, a great man, serving in the king’s court; and he was of the captivity, which Nabuchodonosor the king of Babylon carried from Jerusalem with Jechonias, the king of Judaea.

And this was his dream; and behold noise and tumult, thunderings and earthquake, confusion upon the earth.

And, behold, two great dragons came forth, both of them ready to fight, and their cry was great.

And at their cry every nation made itself ready for war, to make war upon a nation of righteous men.

And behold a day of darkness and of gloom; tribulation and anguish; affliction and great confusion upon the earth.

And the whole righteous nation was troubled, fearing the evils that threatened them, and they made ready to perish.

And they cried unto God; and from their cry, as it were from a small spring, there came up a great river, even much water.

A light and the sun rose, and the humble were exalted and consumed the glorious.

And Mardocheus, having seen this dream and observed what God had determined to do, awoke and kept it in his heart, and sought by all means to understand it until the night.

And Mardocheus took his rest, as was his custom, in the court with Gabatha and Tharra, the two eunuchs of the king who kept the court.

And he heard their communings, and searched out their counsels, and learned that they were preparing to lay hands upon Artaxerxes the king; and he informed the king concerning them.

And the king examined the two eunuchs, and they confessed their intention and were led forth and executed.

And the king wrote these things for a memorial, and Mardocheus wrote concerning these things.

And the king charged Mardocheus to serve in the court, and gave him gifts in respect of these things.

And Haman, the son of Hamadathus, a ^†Bugaean^†, was in honour in the king’s sight, and sought to bring evil upon Mardocheus and his people because of the two eunuchs of the king.