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The Book of Esther 1

1 This is the story of something that happened during the time that a king named Ahasuerus ruled the land of Persia. The empire of this King Ahasuerus had 127 provinces and included all of the territory between India in the east and Ethiopia in the west. 2 At that time King Ahasuerus was ruling his empire from Susa, the capital city of Persia. 3 During the third year that Ahasuerus ruled his empire, he hosted a feast for all of his officials and for every important person who worked for him. He also invited the officers who served in the combined army of the kingdoms of Persia and Media, the wealthy landowners, and the officials of the provinces. The king was present in person to host the feast. 4 Ahasuerus entertained his guests fabulously because he wanted to demonstrate that his empire was extremely wealthy and that he was a very rich and powerful king. The feast lasted for six months.

5 At the end of those six months, after that feast was over, the king hosted a second feast. This feast was for all of the people in the royal stronghold in Susa, including both rich and poor. He held this feast in the courtyard of his palace garden. It lasted for a whole week. 6 In the courtyard, white and blue curtains were hanging from white and purple cords attached to silver rings on marble pillars. The guests reclined on couches made of gold and silver. These were set on a mosaic floor that was made of red marble, white marble, and pearl bordered with black marble. 7 The attendants served wine in golden cups. The king was so rich that he had a great many of these cups, and no two of them were alike. The king had the attendants serve great amounts of his own royal wine to the guests. 8 Ahasuerus gave his guests a special privilege. He made the attendants who served the wine follow this rule: “No one has to drink if they do not want to.” All the guests could drink as little or as much as they wanted. 9 While the king was entertaining the men in the courtyard, Queen Vashti, his wife, was hosting a feast for the women. She hosted it inside the royal palace where King Ahasuerus lived.

10 On the seventh day, when King Ahasuerus was feeling good from drinking wine, he called the seven castrated guardians who served him personally. (Their names were Mehuman, Biztha, Harbona, Bigtha, Abagtha, Zethar, and Karkas.) 11 Queen Vashti was a very beautiful woman. Ahasuerus wanted the people and officials who served in the royal court to see how beautiful she was. So the king told his seven personal servants to bring Queen Vashti to him. He told them to have her wear her royal crown. 12 But when the guardians came and told Queen Vashti what the king had commanded, she refused to come. The guardians reported this to the king, and the king became very enraged. 13 It was the habit of the king to consult with certain advisors who knew the law and could make good decisions. So he spoke to those advisors, who knew the right way to do things. 14 The king’s closest advisors were Karshena, Shethar, Admatha, Tarshish, Meres, Marsena, and Memukan. These seven officials were from various places in the kingdoms of Persia and Media. They advised the king personally. They were the most powerful officials in the empire. 15 The king said to them, “I sent those guardians to Queen Vashti with a command, but she did not obey me. According to the law, what should we do with her?”

16 Then Memukan answered the king, speaking loud enough that both he and his officials could hear. He said, “Queen Vashti has done wrong, and not only against the king. She has also done wrong against all the officials and people groups in all the provinces that King Ahasuerus rules! 17 This is what will happen. Women all over the empire will hear about what the queen did. They will say, ‘King Ahasuerus commanded his servants to bring Queen Vashti to him, but she did not come! So if even the queen can disobey the king, why should I have to obey my husband?’ Then women will stop respecting their husbands. 18 Even today, the leading women of Persia and Media will hear what the queen did. They will start to disobey their husbands, even though they are officials of the king. They will treat them with disrespect, and this will make their husbands angry with them. That will be bad enough by itself, even if the news does not spread any farther. 19 If it pleases you to do so, O king, you should personally issue a royal decree and have scribes add it to the laws of Persia and Media, which no one can change. This decree should say that Vashti can never come into your presence again. Then you should choose a different woman to be your queen, one who will obey you. 20 That way, even though your empire is very large, everyone in it will hear about your decree and know that if any wife disobeys her husband, he can banish and divorce her just as you did to Vashti. Then all the women will respect and obey their husbands. This will be true of every husband in the empire.”

21 This seemed like a good idea to the king and his officials. So King Ahasuerus followed the advice of Memukan. 22 The king sent letters to every province in his empire. He wrote to every province using its own alphabet and to each people group in its own language. The letters said that men should be the masters over their wives and children. They also said that a husband should be able to give orders to his wife in his own native language and that she should understand and obey.

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