The Banquets of the King

1 Now it happened in the days of ^(A)Ahasuerus, the Ahasuerus who reigned ^(B)from India to ^[a]Cush over ^(C)127 provinces, ² in those days as King Ahasuerus ^(D)sat on his royal throne which was at the citadel in ^(E)Susa, ³ in the third year of his reign ^(F)he held a banquet for all his officials and attendants, the army officers of Persia and Media, the nobles and the officials of his provinces, in his presence. ^4 [b]At that time he displayed the riches of his royal glory and the splendor of his great majesty for many days, 180 days.

⁵ When these days were finished, the king held a banquet lasting seven days for all the people who were present at the citadel in Susa, from the greatest to the least, in the courtyard of ^(G)the garden of the king’s palace. ⁶ There were curtains of fine white and violet linen held by cords of fine purple linen on silver rings and marble columns, and ^(H)couches of gold and silver on a mosaic floor of porphyry, marble, mother-of-pearl, and mineral stones. ⁷ Drinks were served in golden vessels of various kinds, and the royal wine was plentiful ^(I)in proportion to the king’s ^[c]bounty. ⁸ But the drinking was done according to the royal law; there was no compulsion, for so the king had given orders to each official of his household, that he was to do as each person pleased. ⁹ Queen Vashti also held a banquet for the women in the ^[d]palace which belonged to King Ahasuerus.

Queen Vashti’s Refusal

¹⁰ On the seventh day, when the heart of the king was ^(J)cheerful with wine, he ordered Mehuman, Biztha, Harbona, Bigtha, Abagtha, Zethar, and Carkas, the seven eunuchs who served in the presence of King Ahasuerus, ¹¹ to bring Queen Vashti before the king with her royal ^(K)turban in order to display her beauty to the people and the officials, for she was beautiful. ¹² But Queen Vashti refused to come at the king’s order ^[e]delivered by the eunuchs. So the king became very angry, and his wrath burned within him.

¹³ Then the king said to ^(L)the wise men ^(M)who understood the times—for it was the custom of the king to speak this way before all who knew Persian law and justice ¹⁴ and were close to him, namely, Carshena, Shethar, Admatha, Tarshish, Meres, Marsena, and Memucan, the seven officials of Persia and Media ^(N)who ^[f]had access to the king’s presence and sat in the first place in the kingdom— ¹⁵ “According to law, what is to be done with Queen Vashti, since she did not ^[g]obey the command of King Ahasuerus ^[h]delivered by the eunuchs?” ¹⁶ And in the presence of the king and the other officials, Memucan said, “Queen Vashti has wronged not only the king but also all the officials and all the peoples who are in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus. ¹⁷ For the queen’s conduct will ^[i]become known to all the women so as to make their own husbands despicable in their sight, when they say, ‘King Ahasuerus ^[j]commanded that Queen Vashti be brought in to his presence, but she did not come.’ ¹⁸ And this day the wives of the officials of Persia and Media who have heard about the queen’s conduct will talk about it to all the king’s officials, and there will be plenty of contempt and anger. ¹⁹ If it pleases the king, let a royal ^[k]edict be issued by him and let it be written in the laws of Persia and Media so ^(O)that it cannot ^[l]be repealed, that Vashti may not come into the presence of King Ahasuerus, and let the king give her royal position to ^[m]another who is more worthy than she. ²⁰ When the king’s edict which he will make is heard throughout his kingdom, ^[n]great as it is, then ^(P)all women will give honor to their husbands, great and small.”

²¹ Now this word pleased the king and the officials, and the king did ^[o]as Memucan proposed. ²² So he sent letters to all the king’s provinces, ^(Q)to each province according to its script and to every people according to their language, that every man was to ^(R)be the ruler in his own house and the one who speaks in the language of his own people.

Vashti’s Successor Sought

2 After these things, ^(S)when the anger of King Ahasuerus had subsided, he remembered Vashti and what she had done, and ^(T)what had been decided regarding her. ² Then the king’s attendants, who served him, said, “^(U)Let beautiful young virgins be sought for the king. ³ And may the king appoint overseers in ^(V)all the provinces of his kingdom, and have them ^[p]bring every beautiful young virgin to the citadel of Susa, to the harem, into the custody of ^(W)Hegai, the king’s eunuch, who is in charge of the women; and ^(X)let their cosmetics be given to them. ⁴ Then let the young woman who pleases the king be queen in place of Vashti.” And the ^[q]suggestion pleased the king, and he did accordingly.

⁵ There was a Jew at the citadel in Susa whose name was ^(Y)Mordecai, the son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish, a Benjaminite, ^6 (Z)who had been taken from Jerusalem with the exiles who had been deported with Jeconiah king of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had deported. ⁷ He was the guardian to Hadassah, that is ^(AA)Esther, his uncle’s daughter, for she had no father or mother. Now the young woman was beautiful of form and ^[r]face, and when her father and her mother died, Mordecai took her as his own daughter.

Esther Finds Favor

⁸ So it came about, when the command and decree of the king were heard and ^(AB)many young ladies were gathered to the citadel of Susa into the ^[s]custody of ^(AC)Hegai, that Esther was taken to the king’s ^[t]palace into the custody of Hegai, who was in charge of the women. ⁹ Now the young lady pleased him and found favor with him. So he quickly provided her with her ^(AD)cosmetics and ^[u]food, gave her seven choice female attendants from the king’s palace, and transferred her and her attendants to the best place in the harem. ^10 (AE)Esther did not reveal her people or her kindred, because Mordecai had instructed her that she was not to reveal them. ¹¹ And every day Mordecai walked back and forth in front of the courtyard of the harem to learn how Esther was and what was happening to her.

¹² Now when the turn came for each young woman to go in to King Ahasuerus, after the end of her twelve months under the regulations for the women—for the days of their beauty treatment were completed as follows: six months with oil of myrrh and six months with balsam oil and the cosmetics for women— ¹³ the young woman would go in to the king in this way: anything that she ^[v]desired was given her to ^[w]take with her from the harem to the king’s palace. ¹⁴ In the evening she would enter and in the morning she would return to the second harem, to the ^[x]custody of Shaashgaz, the king’s eunuch who was in charge of the concubines. She would not go in to the king again, unless the king delighted in her and she was summoned by name.

¹⁵ Now when the turn of Esther, ^(AF)the daughter of Abihail the uncle of Mordecai who had taken her as his daughter, came to go in to the king, she did not request anything except what ^(AG)Hegai, the king’s eunuch who was in charge of the women, ^[y]advised. And Esther was finding favor in the eyes of all who saw her. ¹⁶ So Esther was taken to King Ahasuerus in his royal palace in the tenth month, which is the month Tebeth, in the seventh year of his reign.

Esther Becomes Queen

¹⁷ The king loved Esther more than all the women, and she found favor and kindness with him more than all the virgins, so that ^(AH)he set the royal turban on her head and made her queen in place of Vashti.