Esther 1

NEW JERUSALEM	KING JAMES BIBLE
1 It was in the days of Ahasuerus, the Ahasuerus whose empire stretched from India to Ethiopia andcomprised one hundred and twenty-seven provinces. (a) In the second year of the reign of the Great King,Ahasuerus, on the first day of Nisan, a dream came to Mordecai son of Jair, son of Shimei, son of Kish, of thetribe of Benjamin, (b) a Jew living at Susa and holding high office at the royal court. (c) He was one of thecaptives whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had deported from Jerusalem with Jeconiah king of Judah. (d)This was his dream. There were cries and noise, thunder and earthquakes, and disorder over the whole earth.(e) Then two great dragons came forward, each ready for the fray, and set up a great roar. (f) At the sound ofthem every nation made ready to wage war against the nation of the just. (g) A day of darkness and gloom, ofaffliction and distress, oppression and great disturbance on earth! (h) The entire upright nation was thrown intoconsternation at the fear of the evils awaiting it and prepared for death, crying out to God. (i) Then from its cry,as from a little spring, there grew a great river, a flood of water. (j) Light came as the sun rose, and the humblewere raised up and devoured the mighty. (k) On awakening from this dream and vision of God's designs,Mordecai thought deeply about the matter, trying his b Est al day to discover what its meaning might be. (l)Mordecai was lodging at court with Bigthan and Teresh, two of the king's eunuchs who guarded the palace. (m)Having got wind of their plotting and gained knowledge of their designs, he discovered that they were preparingto assassinate King Ahasuerus, and he warned the king against them. (n) The king gave orders for the twoofficers to be tortured; they confessed and were executed. (o) He then had these events entered in his RecordBook, while Mordecai himself also wrote an account of them. (p) The king then appointed Mordecai to an officeat court and rewarded him with presents. (q) But Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, who enjoyed highfavour with the king, determined to injure Mordecai in revenge for the affair of the king's two officers.	1 Then Mardocheus said, God hath done these things.
2 In those days, when King Ahasuerus was sitting on his royal throne in the citadel of Susa,	2 For I remember a dream which I saw concerning these matters, and nothing thereof hath failed.
3 in the third year of his reign, he gave a banquet at his court for al his officers-of-state and ministers,Persian and Median army-commanders, nobles and provincial governors.	3 A little fountain became a river, and there was light, and the sun, and much water: this river is Esther, whom the king married, and made queen:
4 Thus he displayed the riches and splendour of his empire and the pomp and glory of his majesty; thefestivities went on for a long time, a hundred and eighty days.	4 And the two dragons are I and Aman.
5 When this period was over, for seven days the king gave a banquet for al the people living in the citadelof Susa, to high and low alike, on the esplanade in the gardens of the royal palace.	5 And the nations were those that were assembled to destroy the name of the Jews:
6 There were white and violet hangings fastened with cords of fine linen and purple thread to silver ringson marble columns, couches of gold and silver on a pavement of porphyry, marble, mother-of-pearl and preciousstones.	6 And my nation is this Israel, which cried to God, and were saved: for the Lord hath saved his people, and the Lord hath delivered us from all those evils, and God hath wrought signs and great wonders, which have not been done among the Gentiles.
7 For drinking there were golden cups of various design and plenty of wine provided by the king with royalliberality.	7 Therefore hath he made two lots, one for the people of God, and another for all the Gentiles.
8 The royal edict did not, however, make drinking obligatory, the king having instructed the officials of hishousehold to treat each guest according to the guest's own wishes.	8 And these two lots came at the hour, and time, and day of judgment, before God among all nations.
9 Queen Vashti, for her part, gave a banquet for the women in the royal palace of King Ahasuerus.	9 So God remembered his people, and justified his inheritance.
10 On the seventh day, when the king was merry with wine, he commanded Mehuman, Biztha, Harbona,Bigtha, Abagtha, Zethar and Carkas, the seven officers in attendance on the person of King Ahasuerus,	10 Therefore those days shall be unto them in the month Adar, the fourteenth and fifteenth day of the same month, with an assembly, and joy, and with gladness before God, according to the generations for ever among his people.
11 to bring Queen Vashti before the king, crowned with her royal diadem, in order to display her beauty tothe people and the officers-of-state, since she was very beautiful.	11 To bring Vashti the queen before the king with the crown royal, to shew the people and the princes her beauty: for she was fair to look on.
12 But Queen Vashti refused to come at the king's command delivered by the officers. The king was veryangry at this and his rage grew hot.	12 But the queen Vashti refused to come at the king's commandment by his chamberlains: therefore was the king very wroth, and his anger burned in him.
13 Addressing himself to the wise men who were versed in the law -- it being the practice to refer mattersaffecting the king to expert lawyers and jurists-	13 Then the king said to the wise men, which knew the times, (for so was the king's manner toward all that knew law and judgment:
14 he summoned Carshena, Shethar, Admatha, Tarshish, Meres, Marsena and Memucan, seven Persianand Median officers-of-state who had privileged access to the royal presence and occupied the leading positionsin the kingdom.	14 And the next unto him was Carshena, Shethar, Admatha, Tarshish, Meres, Marsena, and Memucan, the seven princes of Persia and Media, which saw the king's face, and which sat the first in the kingdom;)
15 'According to law,' he said, 'what is to be done to Queen Vashti for not obeying the command of KingAhasuerus delivered by the officers?'	15 What shall we do unto the queen Vashti according to law, because she hath not performed the commandment of the king Ahasuerus by the chamberlains?
16 In the presence of the king and the officers-of-state, Memucan replied, 'Queen Vashti has wronged notonly the king but also al the officers-of-state and all the peoples inhabiting the provinces of King Ahasuerus.	16 And Memucan answered before the king and the princes, Vashti the queen hath not done wrong to the king only, but also to all the princes, and to all the people that are in all the provinces of the king Ahasuerus.
17 The queen's conduct wil soon become known to al the women, who wil adopt a contemptuousattitude towards their own husbands. They wil say, "King Ahasuerus himself commanded Queen Vashti toappear before him and she did not come."	17 For this deed of the queen shall come abroad unto all women, so that they shall despise their husbands in their eyes, when it shall be reported, The king Ahasuerus commanded Vashti the queen to be brought in before him, but she came not.
18 Before the day is out, the wives of the Persian and Median officers-of-state wil be tel ing every one ofthe king's officers-of-state what they have heard about the queen's behaviour; and that wil mean contempt andanger all round.	18 Likewise shall the ladies of Persia and Media say this day unto all the king's princes, which have heard of the deed of the queen. Thus shall there arise too much contempt and wrath.
19 If it is the king's pleasure, let him issue a royal edict, to be irrevocably incorporated into the laws of thePersians and Medes, to the effect that Vashti is never to appear again before King Ahasuerus, and let the kingconfer her royal dignity on a worthier woman.	19 If it please the king, let there go a royal commandment from him, and let it be written among the laws of the Persians and the Medes, that it be not altered, That Vashti come no more before king Ahasuerus; and let the king give her royal estate unto another that is better than she.
20 Let this edict issued by the king be proclaimed throughout his empire -- which is great -- and al thewomen wil henceforth bow to the authority of their husbands, both high and low alike.'	20 And when the king's decree which he shall make shall be published throughout all his empire, (for it is great,) all the wives shall give to their husbands honour, both to great and small.
21 This speech pleased the king and the officers-of-state, and the king did as Memucan advised.	21 And the saying pleased the king and the princes; and the king did according to the word of Memucan:
22 He sent letters to all the provinces of the kingdom, to each province in its own script and to each nationin its own language, ensuring that every husband should be master in his own house.	22 For he sent letters into all the king's provinces, into every province according to the writing thereof, and to every people after their language, that every man should bear rule in his own house, and that it should be published according to the language of every people.