ES-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:)

ES-1:2  [That] in those days, when the king Ahasuerus sat on the

throne of his

kingdom, which [was] in Shushan the palace,

ES-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:

ES-1:4  When he showed the riches of his glorious kingdom and

the honour of his

excellent majesty many days, [even] and hundred and fourscore

days.

ES-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;

ES-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.

ES-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.

ES-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.

ES-1:9  Also Vashti the queen made a feast for the women [in]

the royal house which

[belonged] to king Ahasuerus.

ES-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,

ES-1:11  To bring Vashti the queen before the king with the

crown royal, to show the

people and the princes her beauty: for she [was] fair to look on.

ES-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.

ES-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:

ES-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;)

ES-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?

ES-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.

ES-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.

ES-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.

ES-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.

ES-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.

ES-1:21  And the saying pleased the king and the princes; and

the king did according

to the word of Memucan:

ES-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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