^1:5When those days¹⁵ were completed, the king then provided a seven-day¹⁶ banquet for all the people who were present¹⁷ in Susa the citadel, for those of highest standing to the most lowly.¹⁸ It was held in the court located in the garden of the royal palace. ^1:6The furnishings included linen and purple curtains hung by cords of the finest linen¹⁹ and purple wool on silver rings, alabaster columns, gold and silver couches²⁰ displayed on a floor made of valuable stones of alabaster, mother-of-pearl, and mineral stone.

Read in Logos

Footnotes

15 The Hebrew text of Esther does not indicate why this elaborate show of wealth and power was undertaken. According to the these were “the days of the wedding” (αἱ ἡμέραι τοῦ γάμου, hai hēmerai tou gamou), presumably the king’s wedding. However, a number of scholars have called attention to the fact that this celebration takes place just shortly before Xerxes’ invasion of Greece. It is possible that the banquet was a rallying for the up-coming military effort. See Herodotus, Histories 7.8. There is no reason to adopt the longer reading of the here.
16 The has ἕξ (hex, “six”) instead of “seven.” Virtually all English versions follow the reading of the here, “seven.”
17 Heb “were found.”
18 Heb “from the great and unto the small.”
19 The finest linen was byssus, a fine, costly, white fabric made in Egypt, Palestine, and Edom, and imported into Persia ( 101 בּוּץ; בּוּץ).
20 The Hebrew noun מִטָּה (mittah) refers to a reclining couch (cf. “beds”) spread with covers, cloth and pillow for feasting and carousing (Ezek 23:41; Amos 3:12; 6:4; Esth 1:6; 7:8). See 641–42 ;

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

And when these days were completed, the king gave for all the people present in Susa the citadel, both great and small, a feast lasting for seven days in the court of the garden of the king’s palace. There were white cotton curtains and violet hangings fastened with cords of fine linen and purple to silver rods and marble pillars, and also couches of gold and silver on a mosaic pavement of porphyry, marble, mother-of-pearl, and precious stones.

NIVNew International Version (2011)

When these days were over, the king gave a banquet, lasting seven days, in the enclosed garden of the king’s palace, for all the people from the least to the greatest who were in the citadel of Susa. The garden had hangings of white and blue linen, fastened with cords of white linen and purple material to silver rings on marble pillars. There were couches of gold and silver on a mosaic pavement of porphyry, marble, mother-of-pearl and other costly stones.

CSBChristian Standard Bible

At the end of this time, the king held a week-long banquet in the garden courtyard of the royal palace for all the people, from the greatest to the least, who were present in the fortress of Susa. White and blue linen hangings were fastened with fine white and purple linen cords to silver rods on marble columns. Gold and silver couches were arranged on a mosaic pavement of red feldspar, marble, mother-of-pearl, and precious stones.

NLTNew Living Translation

When it was all over, the king gave a banquet for all the people, from the greatest to the least, who were in the fortress of Susa. It lasted for seven days and was held in the courtyard of the palace garden. The courtyard was beautifully decorated with white cotton curtains and blue hangings, which were fastened with white linen cords and purple ribbons to silver rings embedded in marble pillars. Gold and silver couches stood on a mosaic pavement of porphyry, marble, mother-of-pearl, and other costly stones.

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

And when those days were completed, the king gave for all the people that were present at the citadel of Susa, both great and small, a banquet in the courtyard of the king’s palace garden that lasted seven days. There were curtains of finely woven linen and blue cloth tied with cords of fine white linen and purple cloth to silver curtain rings and pillars of alabaster, and couches of gold and silver on a paved floor of alabaster, precious stone, mother-of-pearl, and costly stones.

KJV 1900King James Version

And when these days were expired, the king made a feast unto all the people that were present in Shushan the palace, both unto great and small, seven days, in the court of the garden of the king’s palace; Where were white, green, and blue, hangings, fastened with cords of fine linen and purple to silver rings and pillars of marble: the beds were of gold and silver, upon a pavement of red, and blue, and white, and black, marble.

Public Domain