Esther 1:16–21

¹⁶Then in the presence of the king and the princes, Memucan said, “Queen Vashti has committed iniquity against not only the king but also against all the princes and all the peoples who are in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus.

¹⁷“For the word about the queen will get out to all the women causing them to despise their husbands in their eyes by saying, ‘King Ahasuerus said for Queen Vashti to be brought in to his presence, but she did not come.’

¹⁸“This day the ladies of Persia and Media who have heard of the word about the queen will speak in the same way to all the king’s princes, and there will be plenty of spite and indignation.

¹⁹“If it seems good to the king, let a royal word go forth from him, and let it be written in the laws of Persia and Media so ^athat it cannot ¹be repealed, that Vashti may no longer come into the presence of King Ahasuerus, and let the king give her royal position to ²another who is better than she.

²⁰“And the king’s sentence, which he will make, will be heard throughout all his kingdom, for it is ¹vast, and ^aall women will give respect to their husbands, great and small.”

²¹And this word was good in the eyes of the king and the princes, and the king did according to the word of Memucan.