Esther (Greek) 1 — UBES
1Verse 1In the second year of the reign of Artaxerxes the great king, on the first day of Nisan, Mordecai the son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish, of the tribe of Benjamin,Verse 1a Jew dwelling in the city Susa, a great man, serving in the king’s palace, saw a vision.Verse 1Now he was of the captivity which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had carried captive from Jerusalem, with Jechoniah the king of Judea.Verse 1And this was his dream: Behold, voices and a noise, thunders and earthquake, tumult upon the earth.Verse 1And, behold, two great serpents came forth, both ready for conflict, and there came from them a great voice,Verse 1and by their voice every nation was prepared for battle, even to fight against the nation of the just.Verse 1And, behold, a day of darkness and blackness, tribulation and anguish, affliction and great tumult upon the earth.Verse 1And all the righteous nation was troubled, fearing their own afflictions; and they prepared to die, and cried to God:Verse 1and from their cry there came as it were a great river from a little fountain, even much water.Verse 1And light and the sun arose, and the lowly were exalted, and devoured the honorable.Verse 1And Mordecai who had seen this vision and what God designed to do, having awoke, kept it in his heart, and desired by all means to interpret it, even till night.Verse 1And Mordecai rested quiet in the palace with Gabatha and Tharra the king’s two chamberlains, eunuchs who guarded the palace.Verse 1And he heard their reasonings and searched out their plans, and learned that they were preparing to lay hands on King Artaxerxes: and he informed the king concerning them.Verse 1And the king examined the two chamberlains, and they confessed, and were executed.Verse 1And the king wrote these things for a memorial; also Mordecai wrote concerning these matters.Verse 1And the king commanded Mordecai to attend in the palace, and gave him gifts for this service.Verse 1And Haman the son of Hammedatha the Bougean was honorable in the sight of the king, and he endeavored to hurt Mordecai and his people, because of the two chamberlains of the king.Verse 1And it came to pass after these things in the days of Artaxerxes (this Artaxerxes ruled over a hundred and twenty-seven provinces from India)—Verse 2in those days, when King Artaxerxes was on the throne in the city of Susa,Verse 3in the third year of his reign, he made a feast to his friends, and the other nations, and to the nobles of the Persians and Medes, and the chief of the satraps.Verse 4And after this, after he had shown to them the wealth of his kingdom, and the abundant glory of his wealth during a hundred and eighty days,Verse 5when, I say, the days of the marriage feast were completed, the king made a banquet to the nations who were present in the city six days, in the court of the king’s house,Verse 6which was adorned with hangings of fine linen and flax on cords of fine linen and purple, fastened to golden and silver studs, on pillars of parian marble and stone: there were golden and silver couches on a pavement of emerald stone, and of pearl, and of parian stone, and open-worked coverings variously flowered, having roses worked round about;Verse 7gold and silver cups, and a small cup of carbuncle set out of the value of thirty thousand talents, abundant and sweet wine, which the king himself drank.Verse 8And this banquet was not according to the appointed law; but so the king would have it: and he charged the stewards to perform his will and that of the company.Verse 9Also Vashti the queen made a banquet for the women in the palace where King Artaxerxes dwelt.Verse 10Now on the seventh day the king, being merry, told Haman, and Bazan, and Tharra, and Boraze, and Zatholtha, and Abataza, and Tharaba, the seven chamberlains, servants of King Artaxerxes,Verse 11to bring in the queen to him, to enthrone her, and crown her with the diadem, and to show her to the princes, and her beauty to the nations: for she was beautiful.Verse 12But queen Vashti hearkened not to him to come with the chamberlains: so the king was grieved and angered.Verse 13And he said to his friends, Thus has Vashti spoken: pronounce therefore upon this case law and judgment.Verse 14So Arkesaeus, and Sarsathaeus, and Malesear, the princes of the Persians and Medes, who were near the king, who sat chief in rank by the king, drew near to him,Verse 15and reported to him according to the laws how it was proper to do to queen Vashti, because she had not done the things commanded of the king by the chamberlains.Verse 16And Memucan said to the king and to the princes, Queen Vashti has not wronged the king only, but also all the king’s rulers and princes:Verse 17for he has told them the words of the queen, and how she disobeyed the king. As then, said he, she refused to obey King Artaxerxes,Verse 18so this day shall the other ladies of the chiefs of the Persians and Medes, having heard what she said to the king, dare in the same way to dishonor their husbands.Verse 19If then it seem good to the king, let him make a royal decree, and let it be written according to the laws of the Medes and Persians, and let him not alter it: and let not the queen come in to him anymore; and let the king give her royalty to a woman better than she.Verse 20And let the law of the king which he shall have made, be widely proclaimed, in his kingdom: and so shall all the women give honor to their husbands, from the poor even to the rich.Verse 21And the saying pleased the king and the princes; and the king did as Memucan had said,Verse 22and sent into all his kingdom through the several provinces, according to their language, in order that men might be feared in their own houses.