Esther 10

NEW JERUSALEM	CATHOLIC PUBLIC DOMAIN
1 King Ahasuerus put not only the mainland under tribute but the Mediterranean islands as wel .	1 The king passed that night without sleep, and so he ordered the histories and chronicles of former times to be brought to him. And when they were reading them before him,
2 Al his feats of power and valour, and the account of the high honour to which he raised Mordecai: althis is recorded in the Book of the Annals of the Kings of Media and Persia.	2 they came to that place where it had been written, how Mordecai had reported the treachery of Bigthan and Teresh the eunuchs, who desired to cut the throat of king Artaxerxes.
3 And Mordecai the Jew was next in rank to King Ahasuerus. He was a man held in respect among theJews, esteemed by thousands of his brothers, a man who sought the good of his people and cared for thewelfare of his entire race. (a) And Mordecai said, 'Al this is God's doing. (b) I remember the dream I had aboutthese matters, nothing of which has failed to come true: (c) the little spring that became a river, the light thatshone, the sun, the flood of water. Esther is the river -- she whom the king married and made queen. (d) The twodragons are Haman and myself. (e) The nations are those that banded together to blot out the name of Jew. (f)The single nation, mine, is Israel, those who cried out to God and were saved. Yes, the Lord has saved hispeople, the Lord has delivered us from al these evils, God has worked such signs and great wonders as havenever occurred among the nations. (g) 'Two destinies he appointed, one for his own people, one for the nationsat large. (h) And these two destinies were worked out at the hour and time and day laid down by God, involvingal the nations. (i) In this way God has remembered his people and vindicated his heritage; (k) and for themthese days, the fourteenth and fifteenth of the month of Adar, are to be days of assembly, of joy and of gladnessbefore God, through al generations and for ever among his people Israel.' (l) In the fourth year of the reign ofPtolemy and Cleopatra, Dositheus, who affirmed that he was a priest and Levite, and Ptolemy his son broughtthe foregoing letter concerning Purim. They vouched for its authenticity, the translation having been made byLysimachus son of Ptolemy, a member of the Jerusalem community.	3 When the king had heard this, he said, “What honor and reward has Mordecai been given for this fidelity?” His servants and ministers said to him, “He has received no compensation at all.”
	4 And immediately the king said, “Who is in the atrium?” For, you see, Haman was entering the inner atrium of the king’s house to suggest to the king that he should order Mordecai to be hanged on the gallows, which had been prepared for him.
	5 The servants answered, “Haman is standing in the atrium.” And the king said, “Let him enter.”
	6 And when he had entered, he said to him, “What ought to be done for the man whom the king wishes to honor?” But Haman, thinking in his heart and supposing that the king would honor no one else but himself,
	7 answered, “The man whom the king wishes to honor,
	8 ought to be clothed with the king’s apparel, and be set upon the horse that the king rides, and receive the royal crown upon his head.
	9 And let the first of the king’s rulers and sovereigns hold his horse, and, as they advance through the street of the city, proclaim before him and say, ‘Thus shall he be honored, whom the king decides to honor.’ ”
	10 And the king said to him, “Hurry, take the robe and the horse, and do as you have said to Mordecai the Jew, who sits in front of the gate of the palace. Be careful not to omit any of those things which you have mentioned.”
	11 And so Haman took the robe and the horse, and arraying Mordecai in the street of the city, and setting him on the horse, he went before him and cried out, “He is worthy of this honor, whom the king has decided to honor.”
	12 And Mordecai returned to the palace door. And Haman hurried to go to his house, mourning and hiding his head.
	13 As they were still speaking, the king’s eunuchs arrived and compelled him to go quickly to the feast, which the queen had prepared.