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Chapter 1
- 1:1
- Now it came to pass in the days of
Ahasuerus, (this is Ahasuerus which reigned, from India even unto
Ethiopia, over an hundred and seven and twenty provinces:)
- 1:2
- That in those days, when the king
Ahasuerus sat on the throne of his kingdom, which was in Shushan the
palace,
- 1:3
- In the third year of his reign, he
made a feast unto all his princes and his servants; the power of
Persia and Media, the nobles and princes of the provinces, being
before him:
- 1:4
- When he shewed the riches of his
glorious kingdom and the honour of his excellent majesty many days,
even an hundred and fourscore days.
- 1:5
- And when these days were expired,
the king made a feast unto all the people that were present in Shushan
the palace, both unto great and small, seven days, in the court of the
garden of the king's palace;
- 1:6
- Where were white, green, and blue,
hangings, fastened with cords of fine linen and purple to silver rings
and pillars of marble: the beds were of gold and silver, upon a
pavement of red, and blue, and white, and black, marble.
- 1:7
- And they gave them drink in
vessels of gold, (the vessels being diverse one from another,) and
royal wine in abundance, according to the state of the king.
- 1:8
- And the drinking was according to
the law; none did compel: for so the king had appointed to all the
officers of his house, that they should do according to every man's
pleasure.
- 1:9
- Also Vashti the queen made a feast
for the women in the royal house which belonged to king Ahasuerus.
- 1:10
- On the seventh day, when the heart
of the king was merry with wine, he commanded Mehuman, Biztha, Harbona,
Bigtha, and Abagtha, Zethar, and Carcas, the seven chamberlains that
served in the presence of Ahasuerus the king,
- 1:11
- To bring Vashti the queen before
the king with the crown royal, to shew the people and the princes her
beauty: for she was fair to look on.
- 1:12
- But the queen Vashti refused to
come at the king's commandment by his chamberlains: therefore was the
king very wroth, and his anger burned in him.
- 1:13
- Then the king said to the wise
men, which knew the times, (for so was the king's manner toward all
that knew law and judgment:
- 1:14
- And the next unto him was Carshena,
Shethar, Admatha, Tarshish, Meres, Marsena, and Memucan, the seven
princes of Persia and Media, which saw the king's face, and which sat
the first in the kingdom;)
- 1:15
- What shall we do unto the queen
Vashti according to law, because she hath not performed the
commandment of the king Ahasuerus by the chamberlains?
- 1:16
- And Memucan answered before the
king and the princes, Vashti the queen hath not done wrong to the king
only, but also to all the princes, and to all the people that are in
all the provinces of the king Ahasuerus.
- 1:17
- For this deed of the queen shall
come abroad unto all women, so that they shall despise their husbands
in their eyes, when it shall be reported, The king Ahasuerus commanded
Vashti the queen to be brought in before him, but she came not.
- 1:18
- Likewise shall the ladies of
Persia and Media say this day unto all the king's princes, which have
heard of the deed of the queen. Thus shall there arise too much
contempt and wrath.
- 1:19
- If it please the king, let there
go a royal commandment from him, and let it be written among the laws
of the Persians and the Medes, that it be not altered, That Vashti
come no more before king Ahasuerus; and let the king give her royal
estate unto another that is better than she.
- 1:20
- And when the king's decree which
he shall make shall be published throughout all his empire, (for it is
great,) all the wives shall give to their husbands honour, both to
great and small.
- 1:21
- And the saying pleased the king
and the princes; and the king did according to the word of Memucan:
- 1:22
- For he sent letters into all the
king's provinces, into every province according to the writing
thereof, and to every people after their language, that every man
should bear rule in his own house, and that it should be published
according to the language of every people.
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