¹³ And ^(A)I appointed as treasurers over the storehouses Shelemiah the priest, Zadok the scribe, and Pedaiah of the Levites, and as their assistant Hanan the son of Zaccur, son of Mattaniah, ^(B)for they were considered reliable, and their duty was to distribute to their brothers. ^14 (C)Remember me, O my God, concerning this, and do not wipe out my good deeds that I have done for the house of my God and for his service.

¹⁵ In those days I saw in Judah people treading winepresses ^(D)on the Sabbath, and bringing in heaps of grain and loading them on donkeys, and also wine, grapes, figs, and all kinds of loads, ^(E)which they brought into Jerusalem on the Sabbath day. And ^(F)I warned them on the day when they sold food. ¹⁶ Tyrians also, who lived in the city, brought in fish and all kinds of goods and sold them on the Sabbath to the people of Judah, in Jerusalem itself! ^17 (G)Then I confronted the nobles of Judah and said to them, “What is this evil thing that you are doing, ^(H)profaning the Sabbath day? ^18 (I)Did not your fathers act in this way, and did not our God bring all this disaster^[a] on us and on this city? Now you are bringing more wrath on Israel by profaning the Sabbath.”

¹⁹ As soon as it ^(J)began to grow dark at the gates of Jerusalem before the Sabbath, I commanded that the doors should be shut and gave orders that they should not be opened until after the Sabbath. And I stationed some of my servants at the gates, that no load might be brought in on the Sabbath day. ²⁰ Then the merchants and sellers of all kinds of wares lodged outside Jerusalem once or twice. ^21 (K)But I warned them and said to them, “Why do you lodge outside the wall? If you do so again, I will lay hands on you.” From that time on they did not come on the Sabbath. ²² Then I commanded the Levites ^(L)that they should purify themselves and come and guard the gates, to keep the Sabbath day holy. ^(M)Remember this also in my favor, O my God, and spare me according to the greatness of your steadfast love.

²³ In those days also I saw the Jews ^(N)who had married women ^(O)of Ashdod, ^(P)Ammon, and ^(Q)Moab. ²⁴ And half of their children spoke the language of Ashdod, and they could not speak the language of Judah, but only the language of each people. ^25 (R)And I confronted them and cursed them and beat some of them and pulled out their hair. ^(S)And I made them take an oath in the name of God, saying, “You shall not give your daughters to their sons, or take their daughters for your sons or for yourselves. ^26 (T)Did not Solomon king of Israel sin on account of such women? ^(U)Among the many nations there was no king like him, and he was ^(V)beloved by his God, and God made him king over all Israel. Nevertheless, foreign women made even him to sin. ²⁷ Shall we then listen to you and do all this great evil and ^(W)act treacherously against our God by marrying foreign women?”

²⁸ And one of the sons of ^(X)Jehoiada, the son of ^(Y)Eliashib the high priest, was the son-in-law of ^(Z)Sanballat the Horonite. Therefore I chased him from me. ^29 (AA)Remember them, O my God, because they have desecrated the priesthood ^(AB)and the covenant of the priesthood and the Levites.

^30 (AC)Thus I cleansed them from everything foreign, and I established the duties of the priests and Levites, each in his work; ³¹ and I provided ^(AD)for the wood offering ^(AE)at appointed times, and for the firstfruits.

^(AF)Remember me, O my God, for good.

The King's Banquets

1 Now in the days of Ahasuerus, the Ahasuerus who reigned ^(AG)from India to Ethiopia over ^(AH)127 provinces, ² in those days when King Ahasuerus ^(AI)sat on his royal throne in ^(AJ)Susa, the citadel, ³ in the third year of his reign ^(AK)he gave a feast for all his officials and servants. The army of Persia and Media and the nobles and governors of the provinces were before him, ⁴ while he showed the riches of his royal glory and the splendor and pomp of his greatness for many days, 180 days. ⁵ 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 ^(AL)the garden of the king's palace. ⁶ There were white cotton curtains and violet hangings fastened with cords of fine linen and purple to silver rods^[b] and marble pillars, and also ^(AM)couches of gold and silver on a mosaic pavement of porphyry, marble, mother-of-pearl, and precious stones. ⁷ Drinks were served in golden vessels, vessels of different kinds, and the royal wine was lavished according to the bounty of the king. ⁸ And drinking was according to this edict: “There is no compulsion.” For the king had given orders to all the staff of his palace to do as each man desired. ⁹ Queen Vashti also gave a feast for the women in the palace that belonged to King Ahasuerus.

Queen Vashti's Refusal

¹⁰ On the seventh day, ^(AN)when the heart of the king was merry with wine, he commanded Mehuman, Biztha, ^(AO)Harbona, ^(AP)Bigtha and Abagtha, Zethar and Carkas, the seven eunuchs who served in the presence of King Ahasuerus, ¹¹ to bring Queen Vashti before the king with ^(AQ)her royal crown,^[c] in order to show the peoples and the princes her beauty, for she was lovely to look at. ¹² But Queen Vashti refused to come at the king's command delivered by the eunuchs. At this the king became enraged, and his anger burned within him.

¹³ Then the king said to ^(AR)the wise men ^(AS)who knew the times (for this was the king's procedure toward all who were versed in law and judgment, ¹⁴ the men next to him being Carshena, Shethar, Admatha, Tarshish, Meres, Marsena, and ^(AT)Memucan, ^(AU)the seven princes of Persia and Media, ^(AV)who saw the king's face, and sat first in the kingdom): ¹⁵ “According to the law, what is to be done to Queen Vashti, because she has not performed the command of King Ahasuerus delivered by the eunuchs?” ¹⁶ Then Memucan said in the presence of the king and the officials, “Not only against the king has Queen Vashti done wrong, but also against all the officials and all the peoples who are in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus. ¹⁷ For the queen's behavior will be made known to all women, causing them to look at their husbands with contempt,^[d] since they will say, ‘King Ahasuerus commanded Queen Vashti to be brought before him, and she did not come.’ ¹⁸ This very day the noble women of Persia and Media who have heard of the queen's behavior will say the same to all the king's officials, and there will be contempt and wrath in plenty. ¹⁹ If it please the king, let a royal order go out from him, and let it be written among the laws of the Persians and the Medes so ^(AW)that it may not be repealed, that Vashti is never again to come before King Ahasuerus. And let the king give her royal position to another who is better than she. ²⁰ So when the decree made by the king is proclaimed throughout all his kingdom, for it is vast, ^(AX)all women will give honor to their husbands, high and low alike.” ²¹ This advice pleased the king and the princes, and the king did as Memucan proposed. ²² He sent letters to all the royal provinces, ^(AY)to every province in its own script and to every people in its own language, that every man be master in his own household and speak according to the language of his people.