Esther 1
1
Queen Vashti Defies King Xerxes
1-2 #
Ezra 4.6
From his royal throne in Persia's capital city of Susa, King Xerxes ruled over 127 provinces, all the way from India to Ethiopia#1.1 Ethiopia: See Word List..
3In the third year of his reign he gave a banquet for all his officials and administrators. The armies of Persia and Media were present, as well as the governors and noblemen of the provinces. 4For six whole months he made a show of the riches of the imperial court with all its splendour and majesty.
5After that, the king gave a banquet for all the people in the capital city of Susa, rich and poor alike. It lasted a whole week and was held in the gardens of the royal palace. 6The courtyard there was decorated with blue and white cotton curtains, tied by cords of fine purple linen to silver rings on marble columns. Couches made of gold and silver had been placed in the courtyard, which was paved with white marble, red feldspar, shining mother-of-pearl, and blue turquoise. 7Drinks were served in gold cups, no two of them alike, and the king was generous with the royal wine. 8There were no limits on the drinks; the king had given orders to the palace servants that everyone could have as much as he wanted.#1.8 There were no limits… wanted; or But no one was forced to drink; the king had given orders to the palace servants that everyone could have as much or as little as he wanted.
9Meanwhile, inside the royal palace Queen Vashti was giving a banquet for the women.
10On the seventh day of his banquet the king was drinking and feeling merry, so he called in the seven eunuchs who were his personal servants, Mehuman, Biztha, Harbona, Bigtha, Abagtha, Zethar, and Carkas. 11He ordered them to bring in Queen Vashti, wearing her royal crown. The queen was a beautiful woman, and the king wanted to show off her beauty to the officials and all his guests. 12But when the servants told Queen Vashti of the king's command, she refused to come. This made the king furious.
13Now it was the king's custom to ask for expert opinion on questions of law and order, so he called for his advisers, who would know what should be done. 14Those he most often turned to for advice were Carshena, Shethar, Admatha, Tarshish, Meres, Marsena, and Memucan — seven officials of Persia and Media who held the highest offices in the kingdom. 15He said to these men, “I, King Xerxes, sent my servants to Queen Vashti with a command, and she refused to obey it! What does the law say that we should do with her?”
16Then Memucan declared to the king and his officials: “Queen Vashti has insulted not only the king but also his officials — in fact, every man in the empire! 17Every woman in the empire will begin to look down on her husband as soon as she hears what the queen has done. They'll say, ‘King Xerxes commanded Queen Vashti to come to him, and she refused.’ 18When the wives of the royal officials of Persia and Media hear about the queen's behaviour they will be telling their husbands about it before the day is out. Wives everywhere will have no respect for their husbands, and husbands will be angry with their wives. 19If it please Your Majesty, issue a royal proclamation that Vashti may never again appear before the king. Order it to be written into the laws of Persia and Media, so that it can never be changed. Then give her place as queen to some better woman. 20When your proclamation is made known all over this huge empire, every woman will treat her husband with proper respect, whether he's rich or poor.”
21The king and his officials liked this idea, and the king did what Memucan suggested. 22To each of the royal provinces he sent a message in the language and the system of writing of that province, saying#1.22 saying; or in order. that every husband should be the master of his home and speak with final authority.
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Esther 1: GNBDC
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Good News Bible. Scripture taken from the Good News Bible (r) (Today's English Version Second Edition, UK/British Edition). Copyright © 1992 British & Foreign Bible Society. Used by permission.
Esther 1
1
1And it came to pass in the days of Ahasuerus (that is, the Ahasuerus that reigned from India even to Ethiopia, over a hundred and twenty-seven provinces), 2in those days, when the king Ahasuerus sat on the throne of his kingdom, which was in Shushan the fortress, 3in the third year of his reign, he made a feast to all his princes and his servants; the power of Persia and Media, the nobles and the princes of the provinces being before him; 4when he shewed the glorious wealth of his kingdom and the splendid magnificence of his grandeur many days, a hundred and eighty days. 5And when these days were expired, the king made a feast to all the people that were present in Shushan the fortress, both to great and small, seven days, in the court of the garden of the king's palace. 6White, green, and blue hangings were fastened with cords of byssus and purple to silver rings and pillars of white marble; couches of gold and silver lay upon a pavement of red and white marble, and alabaster, and black marble. 7And they gave drink in vessels of gold (the vessels being diverse one from another), and royal wine in abundance, according to the king's bounty. 8And the drinking was, according to commandment, without constraint; for so the king had appointed to all the magnates of his house, that they should do according to every man's pleasure. 9Also the queen Vashti made a feast for the women of the royal house which belonged to king Ahasuerus.
10On the seventh day, when the king's heart was merry with wine, he commanded Mehuman, Biztha, Harbona, Bigtha, and Abagtha, Zethar, and Carcas, the seven chamberlains that served in the presence of king Ahasuerus, 11to bring Vashti the queen before the king with the royal crown to shew the peoples and the princes her beauty; for she was of beautiful countenance. 12But the queen Vashti refused to come at the word of the king which was sent by the chamberlains; and the king was very wroth, and his fury burned in him. 13And the king said to the wise men who knew the times (for so was the king's business conducted before all that knew law and judgment; 14and the next to him were Carshena, Shethar, Admatha, Tarshish, Meres, Marsena, and Memucan, the seven princes of Persia and Media, who saw the king's face, and who sat first in the kingdom), 15What shall be done to the queen Vashti according to law, because she has not performed the word of the king Ahasuerus by the chamberlains? 16Then said Memucan before the king and the princes, The queen Vashti has not done wrong to the king only, but also to all the princes, and to all the peoples that are in all the provinces of the king Ahasuerus. 17For the act of the queen will come abroad to all women, so as to render their husbands contemptible in their eyes, when they shall say, The king Ahasuerus commanded the queen Vashti to be brought in before him, and she came not! 18And the princesses of Persia and Media who have heard of the queen's act, will say it this day to all the king's princes, and there will be contempt and anger enough. 19If it please the king, let a royal order go forth from him, and let it be written among the laws of the Persians and the Medes, that it may not pass, That Vashti come no more before king Ahasuerus; and let the king give her royal estate to another that is better than she; 20and when the king's edict which he shall make shall be heard throughout his realm — for it is great — all the wives shall give to their husbands honour, from the greatest to the least. 21And the saying pleased the king and the princes; and the king did according to the word of Memucan. 22And he sent letters into all the king's provinces, into every province according to the writing thereof, and to every people according to their language, That every man should bear rule in his own house, and should speak according to the language of his people.
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First published in 1890. This edition is maintained by the British and Foreign Bible Society.