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EST 01:01 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:)
EST 01:02 [That] in those days, when the king Ahasuerus sat on
the throne of his kingdom, which [was] in Shushan the palace,
EST 01:03 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:
EST 01:04 When he showed the riches of his glorious kingdom and
the honour of his excellent majesty many days, [even] and
hundred and fourscore days.
EST 01:05 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;
EST 01:06 [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.
EST 01:07 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.
EST 01:08 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.
EST 01:09 Also Vashti the queen made a feast for the women [in]
the royal house which [belonged] to king Ahasuerus.
EST 01:10 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,
EST 01:11 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.
EST 01:12 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.
EST 01:13 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:
EST 01:14 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;)
EST 01:15 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?
EST 01:16 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.
EST 01:17 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.
EST 01:18 [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.
EST 01:19 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.
EST 01:20 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.
EST 01:21 And the saying pleased the king and the princes; and
the king did according to the word of Memucan:
EST 01:22 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.
EST 02:01 After these things, when the wrath of king Ahasuerus
was appeased, he remembered Vashti, and what she had done, and
what was decreed against her.
EST 02:02 Then said the king's servants that ministered unto
him, Let there be fair young virgins sought for the king:
EST 02:03 And let the king appoint officers in all the
provinces of his kingdom, that they may gather together all the
fair young virgins unto Shushan the palace, to the house of the
women, unto the custody of Hege the king's chamberlain, keeper
of the women; and let their things for purification be given
[them]:
EST 02:04 And let the maiden which pleaseth the king be queen
instead of Vashti. And the thing pleased the king; and he did so.
EST 02:05 [Now] in Shushan the palace there was a certain Jew,
whose name [was] Mordecai, the son of Jair, the son of Shimei,
the son of Kish, a Benjamite;
EST 02:06 Who had been carried away from Jerusalem with the
captivity which had been carried away with Jeconiah king of
Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried away.
EST 02:07 And he brought up Hadassah, that [is], Esther, his
uncle's daughter: for she had neither father nor mother, and the
maid [was] fair and beautiful; whom Mordecai, when her father
and mother were dead, took for his own daughter.
EST 02:08 So it came to pass, when the king's commandment and
his decree was heard, and when many maidens were gathered
together unto Shushan the palace, to the custody of Hegai, that
Esther was brought also unto the king's house, to the custody of
Hegai, keeper of the women.
EST 02:09 And the maiden pleased him, and she obtained kindness
of him; and he speedily gave her her things for purification,
with such things as belonged to her, and seven maidens, [which
were] meet to be given her, out of the king's house: and he
preferred her and her maids unto the best [place] of the house
of the women.
EST 02:10 Esther had not showed her people nor her kindred: for
Mordecai had charged her that she should not show [it].
EST 02:11 And Mordecai walked every day before the court of the
women's house, to know how Esther did, and what should become of
her.
EST 02:12 Now when every maid's turn was come to go in to king
Ahasuerus, after that she had been twelve months, according to
the manner of the women, (for so were the days of their
purifications accomplished, [to wit], six months with oil of
myrrh, and six months with sweet odours, and with [other] things
for the purifying of the women;)
EST 02:13 Then thus came [every] maiden unto the king;
whatsoever she desired was given her to go with her out of the
house of the women unto the king's house.
EST 02:14 In the evening she went, and on the morrow she
returned into the second house of the women, to the custody of
Shaashgaz, the king's chamberlain, which kept the concubines:
she came in unto the king no more, except the king delighted in
her, and that she were called by name.
EST 02:15 Now when the turn of Esther, the daughter of Abihail
the uncle of Mordecai, who had taken her for his daughter, was
come to go in unto the king, she required nothing but what Hegai
the king's chamberlain, the keeper of the women, appointed. And
Esther obtained favour in the sight of all them that looked upon
her.
EST 02:16 So Esther was taken unto king Ahasuerus into his
house royal in the tenth month, which [is] the month Tebeth, in
the seventh year of his reign.
EST 02:17 And the king loved Esther above all the women, and
she obtained grace and favour in his sight more than all the
virgins; so that he set the royal crown upon her head, and made
her queen instead of Vashti.
EST 02:18 Then the king made a great feast unto all his princes
and his servants, [even] Esther's feast; and he made a release
to the provinces, and gave gifts, according to the state of the
king.
EST 02:19 And when the virgins were gathered together the
second time, then Mordecai sat in the king's gate.
EST 02:20 Esther had not [yet] showed her kindred nor her
people; as Mordecai had charged her: for Esther did the
commandment of Mordecai, like as when she was brought up with
him.
EST 02:21 In those days, while Mordecai sat in the king's gate,
two of the king's chamberlains, Bigthan and Teresh, of those
which kept the door, were wroth, and sought to lay hand on the
king Ahasuerus.
EST 02:22 And the thing was known to Mordecai, who told [it]
unto Esther the queen; and Esther certified the king [thereof]
in Mordecai's name.
EST 02:23 And when inquisition was made of the matter, it was
found out; therefore they were both hanged on a tree: and it was
written in the book of the chronicles before the king.
EST 03:01 After these things did king Ahasuerus promote Haman
the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, and advanced him, and set his
seat above all the princes that [were] with him.
EST 03:02 And all the king's servants, that [were] in the
king's gate, bowed, and reverenced Haman: for the king had so
commanded concerning him. But Mordecai bowed not, nor did [him]
reverence.
EST 03:03 Then the king's servants, which [were] in the king's
gate, said unto Mordecai, Why transgressest thou the king's
commandment?
EST 03:04 Now it came to pass, when they spake daily unto him,
and he hearkened not unto them, that they told Haman, to see
whether Mordecai's matters would stand: for he had told them
that he [was] a Jew.
EST 03:05 And when Haman saw that Mordecai bowed not, nor did
him reverence, then was Haman full of wrath.
EST 03:06 And he thought scorn to lay hands on Mordecai alone;
for they had showed him the people of Mordecai: wherefore Haman
sought to destroy all the Jews that [were] throughout the whole
kingdom of Ahasuerus, [even] the people of Mordecai.
EST 03:07 In the first month, that [is], the month Nisan, in
the twelfth year of king Ahasuerus, they cast Pur, that [is],
the lot, before Haman from day to day, and from month to month,
[to] the twelfth [month], that [is], the month Adar.
EST 03:08 And Haman said unto king Ahasuerus, There is a
certain people scattered abroad and dispersed among the people
in all the provinces of thy kingdom; and their laws [are]
diverse from all people; neither keep they the king's laws:
therefore it [is] not for the king's profit to suffer them.
EST 03:09 If it please the king, let it be written that they
may be destroyed: and I will pay ten thousand talents of silver
to the hands of those that have the charge of the business, to
bring [it] into the king's treasuries.
EST 03:10 And the king took his ring from his hand, and gave it
unto Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the Jews' enemy.
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