OET-RV GEN EXO LEV NUM DEUT JOB YEHO (JOS) HERO (JDG) RUTH 1 SAM 2 SAM PSA AMOS HOS 1 KI 2 KI 1 CHR 2 CHR PROV ECC SNG YOEL (JOEL) MIC ISA ZEP HAB YIR (JER) LAM YNA (JNA) NAH OBAD DAN EZEK EZRA EST NEH HAG ZEC MAL 2 PS WIS TOB MAN BAR G DAN G ESD L ESD ESG JDT 3 MAC SIR 1 MAC 2 MAC 4 MAC YHN (JHN) MARK MAT LUKE ACTs YAC (JAM) GAL 1 TH 2 TH 1 COR 2 COR ROM COL LAOD PHM EPH PHP 1 TIM TIT 1 PET 2 PET 2 TIM HEB YUD (JUD) 1 YHN (1 JHN) 2 YHN (2 JHN) 3 YHN (3 JHN) REV
OET-RV G ESD Intro C1 C2 C4 C5 C6 C7 C8 C9
OET-RV GES 3 V1 V2 V3 V4 V5 V6 V7 V8 V9 V10 V11 V12 V13 V14 V15 V16 V17 V18 V19 V20 V21 V22 V23 V24
This OET Readers’ Version was designed to be used with the Literal Version alongside, so you won’t get the best understanding from this single viewpoint. This is still an early look into the drafted text of the Open English Translation of the Bible. Please double-check the text in advance before using in public.
3 Now King Dareyavesh made a great feast for all his subjects, for all who were born in his house, for all the princes of Maday (Media) and of Paras (Persia), 2 and for all the local governors and captains and governors who were under him, from Hodu to Kush (Ethiopia), in the one hundred and twenty seven provinces. 3 They ate and drank, and when they were satisfied went home. Then King Dareyavesh went into his bedchamber slept, but awakened out of his sleep.
4 Then the three young men of the bodyguard, who guarded the king, spoke one to another: 5 “Let every one of us state what one thing is strongest. King Dareyavesh will give he whose statement seems wiser than the others great gifts and great honours in token of victory. 6 He’ll be clothed in purple, drink from gold cups, sleep on a gold bed, and have a chariot with bridles of gold, a fine linen turban, and a chain around his neck. 7 He’ll sit next to Dareyavesh because of his wisdom, and will be called cousin of Dareyavesh.”
8 Then they each wrote his sentence, sealed them, and laid them under King Dareyavesh’ pillow, 9 and said, “When the king wakes up, someone will give him the writing. The one who the king and the three princes of Paras (Persia) judge that his sentence is the wisest, to him will the victory be given, as it’s written.” 10 The first wrote, “Wine is the strongest.” 11 The second wrote, “The king is strongest.” 12 The third wrote, “Women are strongest, but above all things Truth is the victor.”
13 Now when the king woke up, they took the writing and gave it to him, so he read it. 14 Sending out, he called all the princes of Paras and of Maday (Media), the local governors, the captains, the governors, and the chief officers 15 and sat himself down in the royal seat of judgement; and the writing was read before them. 16 He said, “Call the young men, and they’ll explain their own sentences. So they were called and came in.
17 They said to them, “Explain what you’ve written.”
Then the first, who’d spoken of the strength of wine, began 18 and said this: “Oh sirs, how extremely strong wine is! It causes all men who drink it to go astray. 19 It makes the mind of the king and of the fatherless child to be the same, likewise of the bondman and of the freeman, of the poor man and of the rich. 20 It also turns every thought into cheer and mirth, so that a man remembers neither sorrow nor debt. 21 It makes every heart rich, so that a man remembers neither king nor local governor. It makes people say things in large amounts. 22 When they’re in their cups, they forget their love both to friends and kindred, and before long draw their swords. 23 But when they awake from their wine, they don’t remember what they’ve done. 24 Oh sirs, isn’t wine the strongest, seeing that it forces people to do this?” And when he’d said this, he stopped speaking.
