Foreigners Excluded

13 On that day the Book of Moses was ^(A)read aloud ^[a]as the people listened; and there was found written in it that ^(B)no Ammonite or Moabite was ever to enter the assembly of God, ² because they did not meet the sons of Israel with bread and water, but ^(C)hired Balaam against them to curse them. However, ^(D)our God turned the curse into a blessing. ³ So when they heard the Law, ^(E)they excluded ^(F)all foreigners from Israel.

Tobiah Expelled and the Temple Cleansed

⁴ Now prior to this, Eliashib the priest, ^(G)who was appointed over the chambers of the house of our God, being ^[b]related to ^(H)Tobiah, ⁵ had prepared a large ^[c]room for him, where previously they used to put the grain offerings, the frankincense, the utensils and the tithes of grain, wine, and oil ^(I)prescribed for the Levites, the singers, and the gatekeepers, and the ^[d]contributions for the priests. ⁶ But during all this time I was not in Jerusalem, for in ^(J)the thirty-second year of ^(K)Artaxerxes king of Babylon I had come to the king. After some time, however, I requested a leave of absence from the king, ⁷ and I came to Jerusalem and ^[e]learned about the evil that Eliashib had committed for ^[f]Tobiah, ^(L)by preparing a ^[g]room for him in the courtyards of the house of God. ⁸ It was very displeasing to me, so I ^(M)threw all of Tobiah’s household articles out of the room. ⁹ Then I gave an order, and ^(N)they cleansed the rooms; and I returned the utensils of the house of God there with the grain offering and the frankincense.

Tithes Restored

¹⁰ I also ^[h]discovered that ^(O)the portions of the Levites had not been given to them, so the Levites and the singers who performed the service had ^[i]gone away, ^(P)each to his own field. ¹¹ So I ^[j](Q)reprimanded the officials and said, “^(R)Why has the house of God been neglected?” Then I gathered them together and stationed them at their posts. ¹² All Judah then brought ^(S)the tithe of the grain, wine, and oil into the storehouses. ¹³ To be in charge of the storehouses, I appointed Shelemiah the priest, Zadok the scribe, and Pedaiah from the Levites, and in addition to them was Hanan the son of Zaccur, the son of Mattaniah; for ^(T)they were considered reliable, and it was ^[k]their task to distribute to their kinsmen. ^14 (U)Remember me for this, my God, and do not wipe out my loyal deeds which I have performed for the house of my God and its services.

Sabbath Restored

¹⁵ In those days I saw in Judah people who were treading wine presses ^(V)on the Sabbath, and bringing in sacks of grain and loading them on donkeys, as well as wine, grapes, figs, and every kind of load, ^(W)and they were bringing them into Jerusalem on the Sabbath day. So ^(X)I admonished them on the day they sold food. ¹⁶ Also people of Tyre were living ^[l]there who imported fish and all kinds of merchandise, and sold them to the sons of Judah on the Sabbath, even in Jerusalem. ¹⁷ Then ^(Y)I ^[m]reprimanded the nobles of Judah and said to them, “What is this evil thing that you are doing, ^[n]by profaning the Sabbath day? ^18 (Z)Did your fathers not do the same, so that our God brought on us and on this city all this trouble? Yet you are adding to the wrath against Israel by profaning the Sabbath.”

¹⁹ And ^(AA)it came about that just as it became dark at the gates of Jerusalem before the Sabbath, I ordered that the doors be shut, ^[o]and that they were not to open them until after the Sabbath. Then I stationed some of my servants at the gates so that no load would enter on the Sabbath day. ²⁰ Once or twice the traders and merchants of every kind of merchandise spent the night outside Jerusalem. ²¹ Then ^(AB)I warned them and said to them, “Why do you spend the night in front of the wall? If you do so again, I will ^[p]use force against you.” From that time on they did not come on the Sabbath. ²² And I ordered the Levites that ^(AC)they were to purify themselves and come as gatekeepers to sanctify the Sabbath day. For this also ^(AD)remember me, my God, and have compassion on me according to the greatness of Your mercy.

Mixed Marriages Forbidden

²³ In those days I also saw that the Jews had ^[q](AE)married women from ^(AF)Ashdod, ^(AG)Ammon, and Moab. ²⁴ As for their children, half spoke in the language of Ashdod, and none of them knew how to speak the language of Judah, but ^[r]only the language of his own people. ²⁵ So ^(AH)I quarreled with them and cursed them, and ^(AI)struck some of them and pulled out their hair, and ^(AJ)made them swear by God, “You shall not give your daughters to their sons, nor take any of their daughters for your sons or for yourselves. ^26 (AK)Did Solomon the king of Israel not sin regarding these things? ^(AL)Yet among the many nations there was no king like him, and ^(AM)he was loved by his God, and God made him king over all Israel; yet the foreign women caused even him to sin. ²⁷ Has it not then been reported about you that you have committed all this great evil ^(AN)by acting unfaithfully against our God, by ^[s]marrying foreign women?” ²⁸ Even one of the sons of Joiada, the son of Eliashib the high priest, became a son-in-law of ^(AO)Sanballat the Horonite, so I chased him away from me. ^29 (AP)Remember them, my God, ^[t]because they have defiled the priesthood and the ^(AQ)covenant of the priesthood and the Levites.

^30 (AR)So I purified them from everything foreign, and assigned duties to the priests and the Levites, each in his work, ³¹ and I arranged ^(AS)for the delivery of wood at appointed times and for the first fruits. ^(AT)Remember me, my God, for good.

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, ^(A)when the anger of King Ahasuerus had subsided, he remembered Vashti and what she had done, and ^(B)what had been decided regarding her. ² Then the king’s attendants, who served him, said, “^(C)Let beautiful young virgins be sought for the king. ³ And may the king appoint overseers in ^(D)all the provinces of his kingdom, and have them ^[a]bring every beautiful young virgin to the citadel of Susa, to the harem, into the custody of ^(E)Hegai, the king’s eunuch, who is in charge of the women; and ^(F)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 ^[b]suggestion pleased the king, and he did accordingly.

⁵ There was a Jew at the citadel in Susa whose name was ^(G)Mordecai, the son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish, a Benjaminite, ^6 (H)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 ^(I)Esther, his uncle’s daughter, for she had no father or mother. Now the young woman was beautiful of form and ^[c]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 ^(J)many young ladies were gathered to the citadel of Susa into the ^[d]custody of ^(K)Hegai, that Esther was taken to the king’s ^[e]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 ^(L)cosmetics and ^[f]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 (M)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 ^[g]desired was given her to ^[h]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 ^[i]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, ^(N)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 ^(O)Hegai, the king’s eunuch who was in charge of the women, ^[j]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 ^(P)he set the royal turban on her head and made her queen in place of Vashti. ¹⁸ Then ^(Q)the king held a great banquet, Esther’s banquet, for all his officials and his servants; he also made a holiday for the provinces and gave gifts ^(R)in proportion to the king’s bounty.

^19 (S)Now when the virgins were gathered together for the second time, then Mordecai ^(T)was sitting at the king’s gate. ^20 (U)Esther still had not revealed her relatives or her people, just as Mordecai had instructed her; for Esther did ^[k]what Mordecai told her just as she had ^(V)when under his care.

Mordecai Saves the King

²¹ In those days, while Mordecai was sitting at the king’s gate, ^(W)Bigthan and Teresh, two of the king’s officials from those who guarded the door, became angry and sought to ^[l]attack King Ahasuerus. ²² But the ^[m]plot became known to Mordecai and ^(X)he informed Queen Esther, and Esther told the king in Mordecai’s name. ²³ Then when the plot was investigated and found to be so, they were both hanged on a wooden gallows; and it was written in ^(Y)the Book of the Chronicles in the king’s presence.