Esther 1

Chapter 1

The Banquets of the King

¹Now it took place in the days of ^aAhasuerus, the Ahasuerus who reigned ^bfrom India to ¹Ethiopia over ^c127 provinces,

²in those days as King Ahasuerus ^asat on his royal throne which was at the citadel in ^bSusa,

³in the third year of his reign ^ahe gave a banquet for all his princes and attendants, the army officers of Persia and Media, the nobles and the princes of his provinces being in his presence.

⁴¹And he displayed the riches of his royal glory and the splendor of his great majesty for many days, 180 days.

⁵When these days were completed, the king gave a banquet lasting seven days for all the people who were present at the citadel in Susa, from the greatest to the least, in the court of ^athe garden of the king’s palace.

⁶There were hangings of fine white and violet linen held by cords of fine purple linen on silver rings and marble columns, and ^acouches of gold and silver on a mosaic pavement of porphyry, marble, mother-of-pearl and precious stones.

⁷Drinks were served in golden vessels of various kinds, and the royal wine was plentiful ^aaccording to the king’s ¹bounty.

⁸The drinking was done according to the law, there was no compulsion, for so the king had given orders to each official of his household that he should do according to the desires of each person.

⁹Queen Vashti also gave a banquet for the women in the ¹palace which belonged to King Ahasuerus.

Queen Vashti’s Refusal

¹⁰On the seventh day, when the heart of the king was ^amerry with wine, he commanded Mehuman, Biztha, Harbona, Bigtha, Abagtha, Zethar and Carkas, the seven eunuchs who served in the presence of King Ahasuerus,

¹¹to bring Queen Vashti before the king with her royal ^acrown in order to display her beauty to the people and the princes, for she was beautiful.

¹²But Queen Vashti refused to come at the king’s command delivered by the eunuchs. Then the king became very angry and his wrath burned within him.

¹³Then the king said to ^athe wise men ^bwho understood the times—for it was the custom of the king so to speak before all who knew law and justice

¹⁴and were close to him: Carshena, Shethar, Admatha, Tarshish, Meres, Marsena and Memucan, the seven princes of Persia and Media ^awho ¹had access to the king’s presence and sat in the first place in the kingdom—

¹⁵“According to law, what is to be done with Queen Vashti, because she did not ¹obey the command of King Ahasuerus delivered by the eunuchs?”

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

¹⁷“For the queen’s conduct will ¹become known to all the women causing them ²to look with contempt on their husbands by saying, ‘King Ahasuerus commanded 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 queen’s conduct will speak in the same way to all the king’s princes, and there will be plenty of contempt and anger.

¹⁹“If it pleases the king, let a royal ¹edict be issued by him and let it be written in the laws of Persia and Media so ^athat it cannot ²be repealed, that Vashti may no longer come into the presence of King Ahasuerus, and let the king give her royal position to ³another who is more worthy than she.

²⁰“When the king’s edict which he will make is heard throughout all his kingdom, ¹great as it is, then ^aall women will give honor to their husbands, great and small.”

²¹This word pleased the king and the princes, and the king did ¹as Memucan proposed.

²²So he sent letters to all the king’s provinces, ^ato each province according to its script and to every people according to their language, that every man should ^bbe the master in his own house and the one who speaks in the language of his own people.