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Queen Vashti Deposed
This is what happened during the time of Xerxes, the Xerxes who ruled over 127 provinces stretching from India to Cush:
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Queen Vashti also gave a banquet for the women in the royal palace of King Xerxes.
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to bring before him Queen Vashti, wearing her royal crown, in order to display her beauty to the people and nobles, for she was lovely to look at.
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But when the attendants delivered the king’s command, Queen Vashti refused to come. Then the king became furious and burned with anger.
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“According to law, what must be done to Queen Vashti?” he asked. “She has not obeyed the command of King Xerxes that the eunuchs have taken to her.”
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Then Memukan replied in the presence of the king and the nobles, “Queen Vashti has done wrong, not only against the king but also against all the nobles and the peoples of all the provinces of King Xerxes.
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For the queen’s conduct will become known to all the women, and so they will despise their husbands and say, ‘King Xerxes commanded Queen Vashti to be brought before him, but she would not come.’
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This very day the Persian and Median women of the nobility who have heard about the queen’s conduct will respond to all the king’s nobles in the same way. There will be no end of disrespect and discord.
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Esther Made Queen
Later when King Xerxes’ fury had subsided, he remembered Vashti and what she had done and what he had decreed about her.
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Then let the young woman who pleases the king be queen instead of Vashti.” This advice appealed to the king, and he followed it.
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Now the king was attracted to Esther more than to any of the other women, and she won his favor and approval more than any of the other virgins. So he set a royal crown on her head and made her queen instead of Vashti.
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But Mordecai found out about the plot and told Queen Esther, who in turn reported it to the king, giving credit to Mordecai.
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When he saw Queen Esther standing in the court, he was pleased with her and held out to her the gold scepter that was in his hand. So Esther approached and touched the tip of the scepter.
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Then the king asked, “What is it, Queen Esther? What is your request? Even up to half the kingdom, it will be given you.”
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“And that’s not all,” Haman added. “I’m the only person Queen Esther invited to accompany the king to the banquet she gave. And she has invited me along with the king tomorrow.
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Haman Impaled
So the king and Haman went to Queen Esther’s banquet,
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and as they were drinking wine on the second day, the king again asked, “Queen Esther, what is your petition? It will be given you. What is your request? Even up to half the kingdom, it will be granted.”
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Then Queen Esther answered, “If I have found favor with you, Your Majesty, and if it pleases you, grant me my life—this is my petition. And spare my people—this is my request.
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King Xerxes asked Queen Esther, “Who is he? Where is he—the man who has dared to do such a thing?”
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Esther said, “An adversary and enemy! This vile Haman!” Then Haman was terrified before the king and queen.
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The king got up in a rage, left his wine and went out into the palace garden. But Haman, realizing that the king had already decided his fate, stayed behind to beg Queen Esther for his life.
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Just as the king returned from the palace garden to the banquet hall, Haman was falling on the couch where Esther was reclining. The king exclaimed, “Will he even molest the queen while she is with me in the house?” As soon as the word left the king’s mouth, they covered Haman’s face.
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The King’s Edict in Behalf of the Jews
That same day King Xerxes gave Queen Esther the estate of Haman, the enemy of the Jews. And Mordecai came into the presence of the king, for Esther had told how he was related to her.
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King Xerxes replied to Queen Esther and to Mordecai the Jew, “Because Haman attacked the Jews, I have given his estate to Esther, and they have impaled him on the pole he set up.
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The king said to Queen Esther, “The Jews have killed and destroyed five hundred men and the ten sons of Haman in the citadel of Susa. What have they done in the rest of the king’s provinces? Now what is your petition? It will be given you. What is your request? It will also be granted.”
