Esther 15

VULGATA	CATHOLIC PUBLIC DOMAIN
1 Et mandavit ei (haud dubium quin esset Mardochæus) ut ingrederetur ad regem, et rogaret pro populo suo et pro patria sua.	1 Truly, king Artaxerxes made all the land, and all the islands of the sea, tributaries.
2 Memorare, inquit, dierum humilitatis tuæ, quomodo nutrita sis in manu mea, quia Aman secundus a rege locutus est contra nos in mortem :	2 And his strength and his authority, and the dignity and supremacy with which he exalted Mordecai, have been written in the books of the Medes and the Persians,
3 et tu invoca Dominum, et loquere regi pro nobis, et libera nos de morte.	3 and how Mordecai of Jewish birth, was second after king Artaxerxes, and great among the Jews, and acceptable to the people of his brethren, seeking the good of his people, and speaking about things which pertained to peace for their descendents.
4 Die autem tertio deposuit vestimenta ornatus sui, et circumdata est gloria sua.	4 And Mordecai said, “By God have these things been done.
5 Cumque regio fulgeret habitu, et invocasset omnium rectorem et salvatorem Deum, assumpsit duas famulas,	5 I remember a dream that I saw, which signified these same things, and nothing of this whatsoever has failed to occur.
6 et super unam quidem innitebatur, quasi præ deliciis et nimia teneritudine corpus suum ferre non sustinens :	6 The little fountain which grew into a river, and had turned into light and into the sun, and overflowed into many waters, is Esther, whom the king received as wife and whom he preferred to be queen.
7 altera autem famularum sequebatur dominam, defluentia in humum indumenta sustentans.	7 But the two dragons are I and Haman.
8 Ipsa autem roseo colore vultum perfusa, et gratis ac nitentibus oculis, tristem celabat animum, et nimio timore contractum.	8 The peoples who gathered together are those who had attempted to erase the name of the Jews.
9 Ingressa igitur cuncta per ordinem ostia, stetit contra regem, ubi ille residebat super solium regni sui, indutus vestibus regiis, auroque fulgens, et pretiosis lapidibus : eratque terribilis aspectu.	9 And my people is Israel, who cried out to the Lord, and the Lord brought salvation to his people, and he freed us from all evils, and he created great signs and portents among the nations.
10 Cumque elevasset faciem, et ardentibus oculis furorem pectoris indicasset, regina corruit, et in pallorem colore mutato, lassum super ancillulam reclinavit caput.	10 And he commanded there to be two lots, one for the people of God and the other for all the nations.
11 Convertitque Deus spiritum regis in mansuetudinem, et festinus ac metuens exilivit de solio, et sustentans eam ulnis suis donec rediret ad se, his verbis blandiebatur :	11 And both lots arrived at the day appointed before God, even from that past time, for all peoples.
12 Quid habes, Esther ? ego sum frater tuus : noli metuere.	12 And the Lord remembered his people and had mercy on his inheritance.
13 Non morieris : non enim pro te, sed pro omnibus hæc lex constituta est.	13 And these days shall be observed in the month of Adar, on the fourteenth and fifteenth day of the same month, with all zealousness and joy, by the people gathered together into one union, throughout all the generations hereafter of the people of Israel.”
14 Accede igitur, et tange sceptrum.	14 In the fourth year of the reigns of Ptolemy and Cleopatra, Dositheus, who was himself a priest and born of the Levites, and Ptolemy his son, brought this epistle of Purim, which they said was a translation by Lysimachus the son of Ptolemy in Jerusalem.
15 Cumque illa reticeret, tulit auream virgam, et posuit super collum ejus, et osculatus est eam, et ait : Cur mihi non loqueris ?
16 Quæ respondit : Vidi te, domine, quasi angelum Dei, et conturbatum est cor meum præ timore gloriæ tuæ.
17 Valde enim mirabilis es, domine, et facies tua plena est gratiarum.
18 Cumque loqueretur, rursus corruit, et pene exanimata est.
19 Rex autem turbabatur, et omnes ministri ejus consolabantur eam.