Esther

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Verses

1:1	Now it tookhappened place in the days of Ahasuerus, the Ahasuerus who reigned from India to EthiopiaCush over 127 provinces,
1:3	in the third year of his reign he gaveheld a banquet for all his princesofficials and attendants, the army officers of Persia and Media, the nobles and the princesofficials of his provinces, being in his presence.
1:4	AndAt that time he displayed the riches of his royal glory and the splendor of his great majesty for many days, 180 days.
1:5	When these days were completedfinished, the king gaveheld a banquet lasting seven days for all the people who were present at the citadel in Susa, from the greatest to the least, in the courtcourtyard of the garden of the king’s palace.
1:6	There were hangingscurtains of fine white and violet linen held by cords of fine purple linen on silver rings and marble columns, and couches of gold and silver on a mosaic pavementfloor of porphyry, marble, mother-of-pearl, and preciousmineral stones.
1:7	Drinks were served in golden vessels of various kinds, and the royal wine was plentiful accordingin proportion to the king’s bounty.
1:8	TheBut the drinking was done according to the royal law,; there was no compulsion, for so the king had given orders to each official of his household, that he shouldwas do according to thedo desiresas of each person pleased.
1:9	Queen Vashti also gaveheld a banquet for the women in the palace which belonged to King Ahasuerus.
1:10	On the seventh day, when the heart of the king was merrycheerful with wine, he commandedordered Mehuman, Biztha, Harbona, Bigtha, Abagtha, Zethar, and Carkas, the seven eunuchs who served in the presence of King Ahasuerus,
1:11	to bring Queen Vashti before the king with her royal crownturban in order to display her beauty to the people and the princesofficials, for she was beautiful.
1:12	But Queen Vashti refused to come at the king’s commandorder delivered by the eunuchs. ThenSo the king became very angry, and his wrath burned within him.
1:13	Then the king said to the wise men who understood the times—for it was the custom of the king so to speak this way before all who knew Persian law and justice
1:14	and were close to him:, namely, Carshena, Shethar, Admatha, Tarshish, Meres, Marsena, and Memucan, the seven princesofficials of Persia and Media who had access to the king’s presence and sat in the first place in the kingdom—
1:15	“According to law, what is to be done with Queen Vashti, becausesince she did not obey the command of King Ahasuerus delivered by the eunuchs?”
1:16	InAnd in the presence of the king and the princesother officials, Memucan said, “Queen Vashti has wronged not only the king but also all the princesofficials and all the peoples who are in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus.
1:17	For the queen’s conduct will become known to all the women causingso themas to lookmake withtheir contemptown onhusbands despicable in their husbandssight, bywhen sayingthey say, ‘King Ahasuerus commanded that Queen Vashti to be brought in to his presence, but she did not come.’
1:18	ThisAnd this day the ladieswives of the officials of Persia and Media who have heard ofabout the queen’s conduct will speaktalk inabout theit same way to all the king’s princesofficials, and there will be plenty of contempt and anger.
1:19	If it pleases the king, let a royal edict be issued by him and let it be written in the laws of Persia and Media so that it cannot be repealed, that Vashti may nonot longer come into the presence of King Ahasuerus, and let the king give her royal position to another who is more worthy than she.
1:20	When the king’s edict which he will make is heard throughout all his kingdom, great as it is, then all women will give honor to their husbands, great and small.”
1:21	Now Thisthis word pleased the king and the princesofficials, and the king did as Memucan proposed.
1:22	So he sent letters to all the king’s provinces, to each province according to its script and to every people according to their language, that every man shouldwas to be the masterruler in his own house and the one who speaks in the language of his own people.
2:1	After these things, when the anger of King Ahasuerus had subsided, he remembered Vashti and what she had done, and what had been decreeddecided againstregarding her.
2:3	LetAnd may the king appoint overseers in all the provinces of his kingdom, thatand theyhave maythem gatherbring every beautiful young virgin to the citadel of Susa, to the harem, into the custody of Hegai, the king’s eunuch, who is in charge of the women; and let their cosmetics be given to them.
2:4	Then let the young ladywoman who pleases the king be queen in place of Vashti.” And the mattersuggestion pleased the king, and he did accordingly.
2:5	There Nowwas therea wasJew at the citadel in Susa a Jew whose name was Mordecai, the son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish, a BenjamiteBenjaminite,
2:6	who had been taken into exile from Jerusalem with the captivesexiles who had been exileddeported with Jeconiah king of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had exileddeported.
2:7	He was bringingthe upguardian to Hadassah, that is Esther, his uncle’s daughter, for she had no father or mother. Now the young ladywoman was beautiful of form and face, and when her father and her mother died, Mordecai took her as his own daughter.
2:8	So it came about, when the command and decree of the king were heard and many young ladies were gathered to the citadel of Susa into the custody of Hegai, that Esther was taken to the king’s palace into the custody of Hegai, who was in charge of the women.
2:9	Now the young lady pleased him and found favor with him. So he quickly provided her with her cosmetics and food, gave her seven choice maidsfemale attendants from the king’s palace, and transferred her and her maidsattendants to the best place in the harem.
2:10	Esther did not makereveal known her people or her kindred, forbecause Mordecai had instructed her that she shouldwas not maketo reveal them known.
2:11	EveryAnd every day Mordecai walked back and forth in front of the courtcourtyard of the harem to learn how Esther was and howwhat shewas faredhappening to her.
2:12	Now when the turn ofcame for each young ladywoman came to go in to King Ahasuerus, after the end of her twelve months under the regulations for the women—for the days of their beautificationbeauty treatment were completed as follows: six months with oil of myrrh and six months with spicesbalsam oil and the cosmetics for women—
2:13	the young ladywoman would go in to the king in this way: anything that she desired was given her to take with her from the harem to the king’s palace.
2:14	In the evening she would goenter in and in the morning she would return to the second harem, to the custody of Shaashgaz, the king’s eunuch who was in charge of the concubines. She would not again go in to the king again, unless the king delighted in her and she was summoned by name.
2:15	Now when the turn of Esther, the daughter of Abihail the uncle of Mordecai who had taken her as his daughter, came to go in to the king, she did not request anything except what Hegai, the king’s eunuch who was in charge of the women, advised. And Esther foundwas finding favor in the eyes of all who saw her.
2:16	So Esther was taken to King Ahasuerus toin his royal palace in the tenth month, which is the month Tebeth, in the seventh year of his reign.
2:17	The king loved Esther more than all the women, and she found favor and kindness with him more than all the virgins, so that he set the royal crownturban on her head and made her queen insteadin place of Vashti.
2:18	Then the king gaveheld a great banquet, Esther’s banquet, for all his princesofficials and his servants; he also made a holiday for the provinces and gave gifts accordingin proportion to the king’s bounty.
2:19	WhenNow when the virgins were gathered together for the second time, then Mordecai was sitting at the king’s gate.
2:20	Esther still had not yetrevealed made known her kindredrelatives or her people, evenjust as Mordecai had commandedinstructed her; for Esther did what Mordecai told her just as she had done when under his care.
2:21	In those days, while Mordecai was sitting at the king’s gate, Bigthan and Teresh, two of the king’s officials from those who guarded the door, became angry and sought to layattack hands on King Ahasuerus.
2:22	But the plot became known to Mordecai and he toldinformed Queen Esther, and Esther informedtold the king in Mordecai’s name.
2:23	NowThen when the plot was investigated and found to be so, they were both hanged on a wooden gallows; and it was written in the Book of the Chronicles in the king’s presence.
3:1	After these events King Ahasuerus promotedhonored Haman, the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, and advancedpromoted him and established his authority over all the princesofficials who were with him.
3:2	All the king’s servants who were at the king’s gate bowed down and paid homage to Haman; for so the king had commanded concerningregarding him. But Mordecai neither bowed down nor paid homage.
3:3	Then the king’s servants who were at the king’s gate said to Mordecai, “Why are you transgressingviolating the king’s command?”
3:6	But he disdainedconsidered toit laybeneath handshis ondignity to kill Mordecai alone, for they had told him who the people of Mordecai were; thereforeso Haman sought to destroyannihilate all the Jews, the people of Mordecai, who were found throughout the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus.
3:8	Then Haman said to King Ahasuerus, “There is a certain people scattered and dispersed among the peoples in all the provinces of your kingdom; their laws are different from those of all other people and they do not observecomply with the king’s laws, so it is not in the king’s interest to let them remain.
3:9	If it is pleasing to the king, let it be decreed that they be destroyedeliminated, and I will pay ten thousand talents of silver into the hands of those who carry onout the king’s business, to put into the king’s treasuries.”
3:11	TheAnd the king said to Haman, “The silver is yours, and the people also, to do with them as you please.”
3:12	Then the king’s scribes were summoned on the thirteenth day of the first month, and it was written just as Haman commanded to the king’s satraps, to the governors who were over each province and to the princesofficials of each people, each province according to its script, each people according to its language, being written in the name of King Ahasuerus and sealed with the king’s signet ring.
3:13	Letters were sent by couriers to all the king’s provinces to destroyannihilate, to kill, and todestroy annihilate all the Jews, both young and old, women and children, in one day, the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month Adar, and to seize their possessions as plunder.
3:14	A copy of the edict to be issued as law in every province was published to all the peoples so that they shouldwould be ready for this day.
3:15	The couriers went out, impelledspeeded by the king’s commandorder while the decree was issued at the citadel in Susa; and while the king and Haman sat down to drink, the city of Susa was in confusionagitated.
4:1	When Mordecai learned allof everything that had been done, he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and ashes, and went out into the midst of the city and wailed loudly and bitterly.
4:2	HeAnd wenthe came as far as the king’s gate, for no one was to enter the king’s gate clothed in sackcloth.
4:3	In each and every province where the command and decree of the king came, there was great mourning among the Jews, with fasting, weeping, and wailingmourning rites; and many layhad on sackcloth and ashes spread out as a bed.
4:4	Then Esther’s maidensattendants and her eunuchs came and toldinformed her, and the queen writhedwas inseized by great anguishfear. And she sent garments to clothe Mordecai so that he mightwould remove his sackcloth from him, but he did not accept them.
4:5	Then Esther summoned Hathach from the king’s eunuchs, whom the king had appointed to attend her, and ordered him to go to Mordecai to learn what this mourning was and why it was happening.
4:6	So Hathach went out to Mordecai toin the city square, in front of the king’s gate.
4:7	Mordecai told him alleverything that had happened to him, and the exact amount of money that Haman had promised to pay to the king’s treasuries for the destructionelimination of the Jews.
4:8	He also gave him a copy of the text of the edict which had been issued in Susa for their destructionannihilation, so that he might show Esther and inform her, and to order her to go in to the king to implore his favor and to plead with him for her people.
4:9	So Hathach came back and relatedreported Mordecai’s words to Esther.
4:11	“All the king’s servants and the people of the king’s provinces know that for any man or woman who comes to the king toin the inner courtcourtyard, who is not summoned, he has butonly one law, that he be put to death, unless the king holds out to him the golden scepter so that he may live. And I have not been summoned to come to the king for these thirty days.”
4:12	TheyAnd relatedthey reported Esther’s words to Mordecai.
4:13	Then Mordecai told them to reply to Esther, “Do not imagine that you in the king’s palace can escape any more than all the other Jews.
4:14	For if you remainkeep silent at this time, reliefliberation and deliverancerescue will arise for the Jews from another place, and you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows whether you have not attained royalty for such a time as this?”
4:16	“Go, assemblegather all the Jews who are found in Susa, and fast for me; do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my maidensattendants also will fast in the same way. And thusthen I will go in to the king, which is not accordingin toaccordance with the law; and if I perish, I perish.”
5:1	Now it came about on the third day that Esther put on her royal robes and stood in the inner courtcourtyard of the king’s palace in front of the king’s rooms, and the king was sitting on his royal throne in the throne room, opposite the entrance to the palace.
5:2	When the king saw Esther the queen standing in the courtcourtyard, she obtained favor in his sight; and the king extended to Esther the golden scepter which was in his hand. So Esther cameapproached near and touched the top of the scepter.
5:3	Then the king said to her, “What is troubling you, Queen Esther? And what is your request? EvenUp to half of the kingdom it shall be given to you.”
5:5	Then the king said, “Bring Haman quickly so that we may do as Esther desires.” So the king and Haman came to the banquet which Esther had prepared.
5:6	As they drank their wine at the banquet, the king said to Esther, “What is your petitionrequest, for it shall be granted to you. And what is your requestwish? EvenUp to half of the kingdom it shall be done.”
5:7	So Esther replied, “My petitionrequest and my requestwish is:
5:8	if I have found favor in the sight of the king, and if it pleases the king to grant my petitionrequest and do what I requestwish, may the king and Haman come to the banquet which I will prepare for them, and tomorrow I will do as the king says.”
5:9	Then Haman went out that day gladjoyful and pleased of heart; but when Haman saw Mordecai inat the king’s gate and that he did not stand up or tremble before him, Haman was filled with anger against Mordecai.
5:10	Haman controlled himself, however, and went to his house. andBut he sent for his friends and his wife Zeresh.
5:11	Then Haman recountedtold to them of the glory of his riches, and thehis numbermany of his sons, and every instanceoccasion whereon which the king had magnifiedhonored him and how he had promoted him above the princesofficials and servants of the king.
5:12	Haman also said, “Even Esther the queen let no one butexcept me come with the king to the banquet which she had prepared; and tomorrow also I am invited by her with the king.
5:14	Then Zeresh his wife and all his friends said to him, “Have a wooden gallows fifty cubits high made, and in the morning ask the king to have Mordecai hanged on it; then go joyfully with the king to the banquet.” And the advice pleased Haman, so he had the wooden gallows made.
6:1	During that night the king could not sleep, so he gave an order to bring the book of records, the chronicles, and they were read before the king.
6:2	ItAnd it was found written what Mordecai had reported concerningabout Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king’s eunuchs who were doorkeepers, that they had sought to layattack hands on King Ahasuerus.
6:3	TheThen the king said, “What honor or dignity has been bestowed on Mordecai for this?” ThenAnd the king’s servants who attended him said, “Nothing has been done for him.”
6:4	So the king said, “Who is in the courtcourtyard?” Now Haman had just entered the outer courtcourtyard of the king’s palace in order to speak to the king about hanging Mordecai on the wooden gallows which he had prepared for him.
6:5	TheSo the king’s servants said to him, “Behold, Haman is standing in the courtcourtyard.” And the king said, “LetHave him come in.”
6:6	So Haman then came in and the king said to him, “What is to be done for the man whom the king desires to honor?” And Haman said to himself, “Whom would the king desire to honor more than me?”
6:7	ThenTherefore Haman said to the king, “For the man whom the king desires to honor,
6:8	lethave them bring a royal robe which the king has worn, and the horse on which the king has ridden, and on whose head a royal crownturban has been placed;
6:9	andthen letorder them to hand the robe and the horse be handed over to one of the king’s most noble princesofficials, and lethave them arraydress the man whom the king desires to honor, and lead him on horseback through the city square, and proclaim before him, ‘ThusSo it shall be done tofor the man whom the king desires to honor.’ ”
6:10	Then the king said to Haman, “TakeQuickly, quicklytake the robesrobe and the horse just as you have said, and do so for Mordecai the Jew, who is sitting at the king’s gate; do not fallfail shortto indo anything of all that you have said.”
6:11	So Haman took the robe and the horse, and arrayeddressed Mordecai, and led him on horseback through the city square, and proclaimed before him, “ThusSo it shall be done tofor the man whom the king desires to honor.”
6:12	Then Mordecai returned to the king’s gate., Butwhile Haman hurried home, mourning, with his head covered.
6:13	And Haman recountedinformed to Zeresh his wife and all his friends of everything that had happened to him. Then his wise men and Zeresh his wife said to him, “If Mordecai, before whom you have begun to fall, is of Jewish origin, you will not overcomeprevail over him, but will surelycertainly fall before him.”
6:14	While they were still talking with him, the king’s eunuchs arrived and hastilyquickly brought Haman to the banquet which Esther had prepared.
7:2	And the king said to Esther on the second day also as they drank their wine at the banquet, “What is your petitionrequest, Queen Esther? It shall be granted you. And what is your requestwish? EvenUp to half of the kingdom it shall be done.”
7:3	Then Queen Esther replied, “If I have found favor in your sight, O king, and if it pleases the king, let my life be given me as my petitionrequest, and my people as my requestwish;
7:4	for we have been sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, to be killed, and to be annihilatedeliminated. Now if we had only been sold as slaves, men and women, I would have remainedkept silent, forbecause the troubledistress would not be commensuratesufficient withreason theto annoyanceburden to the king.”
7:5	Then King Ahasuerus asked Queen Esther, “Who is he, and where is he, who would presume to do thussuch a thing?”
7:6	And Esther said, “A foe and an enemy is this wicked Haman!” Then Haman became terrified before the king and queen.
7:7	The king arosethen got up in his anger from drinking wine and went into the palace garden; but Haman stayed to beg for his life from Queen Esther, for he saw that harm had been determined against him by the king.
7:8	Now when the king returned from the palace garden into the place where they werehad been drinking wine, Haman was falling on the couch where Esther was. Then the king said, “Will he even assault the queen with me in the house?” As the word went out of the king’s mouth, they covered Haman’s face.
7:9	Then Harbonah, one of the eunuchs who werestood before the king, said, “BeholdIndeed, indeedbehold, the wooden gallows standing at Haman’s house fifty cubits high, which Haman made for Mordecai who spoke good onin behalf of the king!” And the king said, “Hang him on it.”
7:10	So they hanged Haman on the wooden gallows which he had prepared for Mordecai, and the king’s anger subsided.
8:1	On that day King Ahasuerus gave the house of Haman, the enemy of the Jews, to Queen Esther; and Mordecai came before the king, forbecause Esther had disclosed what he was to her.
8:2	TheThen the king took off his signet ring, which he had taken away from Haman, and gave it to Mordecai. And Esther set Mordecai over the house of Haman.
8:3	Then Esther spoke again to the king, fell at his feet, wept, and imploredpleaded himfor his compassion to avert the evil scheme of Haman the Agagite and his plot which he had devised against the Jews.
8:4	TheAnd the king extended the golden scepter to Esther. So Esther arosegot up and stood before the king.
8:5	Then she said, “If it pleases the king and if I have found favor before him, and the matter seems proper to the king and I am pleasing in his sight, let it be written to revoke the letters devised by Haman, the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, which he wrote to destroyeliminate the Jews who are in all the king’s provinces.
8:6	For how can I endure to see the calamitydisaster which will befallhappen to my people, and how can I endure to see the destruction of my kindred?”
8:7	So King Ahasuerus said to Queen Esther and to Mordecai the Jew, “Behold, I have given the house of Haman to Esther, and him they have hanged him on the wooden gallows because he had stretchedreached out with his handshand against the Jews.
8:9	So the king’s scribes were calledsummoned at that time in the third month (that is, the month Sivan), on the twenty-third day; and it was written accordingin toaccordance allwith everything that Mordecai commanded to the Jews, the satraps, the governors, and the princesofficials of the provinces which extended from India to EthiopiaCush, 127 provinces, to every province according to its script, and to every people according to their language, as well as to the Jews according to their script and their language.
8:10	He wrote in the name of King Ahasuerus, and sealed it with the king’s signet ring, and sent letters by couriers on horses, riding on steedsroyal siredrelay byhorses, theoffspring royalof studracing mares.
8:11	In themthe letters the king granted the Jews who were in each and every city the right to assemble and to defend their lives, to destroy, to kill, and toeliminate annihilate the entire army of any people or province which mightwas going to attack them, including children and women, and to plunder their spoilspoils,
8:12	on one day in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month (that is, the month Adar).
8:14	The couriers, hastenedhurrying and impelledspeeded by the king’s command, went outleft, riding on the royal steedsrelay horses; and the decree was givenissued out at the citadel in Susa.
8:15	Then Mordecai went out from the presence of the king in a royal robesrobe of blueviolet and white, with a large crown of gold and a garment of fine linen and purple; and the city of Susa shouted and rejoiced.
8:16	For the Jews there was light, andjoy, gladnessjubilation, and joy and honor.
8:17	In each and every province and in each and every city, wherever the king’s commandment and his decree arrived, there was gladnessjoy and joyjubilation for the Jews, a feast and a holiday. And many among the peoples of the land became Jews, forbecause the dread of the Jews had fallen on them.
9:1	Now in the twelfth month (that is, the month Adar), on the thirteenth day, when the king’s command and edict were about to be executedput into effect, on the day when the enemies of the Jews hoped to gain the mastery over them, it was turned out to the contrary so that the Jews themselves gained the mastery over those who hated them.
9:2	The Jews assembled in their cities throughout all the provinces of King Ahasuerus to layattack hands on those who sought theirto harm them; and no one could stand beforeagainst them, forbecause the dread of them had fallen on all the peoples.
9:3	Even all the princesofficials of the provinces, the satraps, the governors, and those who were doing the king’s business assistedwere supporting the Jews, because the dread of Mordecai had fallen on them.
9:4	Indeed,For Mordecai was great in the king’s house, and histhe famenews about him spread throughout all the provinces; for the man Mordecai became greater and greater.
9:5	ThusSo the Jews struck all their enemies with the sword, killing and destroying; and they did whatas they pleased to those who hated them.
9:6	At the citadel in Susa the Jews killed and destroyedeliminated five hundred men,
9:7	and they killed Parshandatha, Dalphon, Aspatha,
9:9	Parmashta, Arisai, Aridai, and Vaizatha,
9:12	TheAnd the king said to Queen Esther, “The Jews have killed and destroyedeliminated five hundred men and the ten sons of Haman at the citadel in Susa. What then have they done in the rest of the king’s provinces! Now what is your petitionrequest? It shall evenalso be granted you. And what is your further requestwish? It shall also be done.”
9:13	Then Esther said Esther, “If it pleases the king, let tomorrow also be granted to the Jews who are in Susa to do according to the edict of today; and let Haman’s ten sons be hanged on the wooden gallows.”
9:14	So the king commanded that it shouldwas to be done so; and an edict was issued in Susa, and Haman’s ten sons were hanged.
9:16	Now the rest of the Jews who were in the king’s provinces assembled, to defend their lives and rid themselves of their enemies, and to kill 75,000seventy-five thousand of those who hated them; but they did not lay their hands on the plunder.
9:22	because on those days the Jews rid themselves of their enemies, and it was a month which was turned for them from sorrowgrief into gladnessjoy, and from mourning into a holiday; that they shouldwere to make them days of feasting and rejoicing, and sending portions of food to one another, and gifts to the poor.
9:23	ThusSo the Jews undertook what they had started to do, and what Mordecai had written to them.
9:24	For Haman the son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, the adversary of all the Jews, had schemed against the Jews to destroyeliminate them, and had cast Pur, that is the lot, to disturb them and destroyeliminate them.
9:25	But when it came to the king’s attention, he commanded by letter that his wicked scheme which he had devised against the Jews, shouldwas to return on his own head, and that he and his sons shouldwere to be hanged on the wooden gallows.
9:27	the Jews established and made a custom for themselves, and for their descendants, and for all those who allied themselves with them, so that they would not fail to celebrate these two days according to their regulation and according to their appointed time annually.
9:28	So these days were to be remembered and celebrated throughout every generation, every family, every province, and every city; and these days of Purim were not to failbe fromneglected amongby the Jews, or their memory fade from their descendants.
9:31	to establish these days of Purim at their appointed times, just as Mordecai the Jew and Queen Esther had established for them, and just as they had established for themselves and for their descendants, with instructions for their times of fasting and their lamentationsmourning.
10:1	Now King Ahasuerus laidimposed a tributetax on the land and on the coastlands of the sea.
10:2	And allevery theaccomplishment accomplishments of his authority and strengthpower, and the full account of the greatness of Mordecai towith which the king advancedhonored him, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Media and Persia?
10:3	For Mordecai the Jew was second only to King Ahasuerus, and great among the Jews and in favor with his many kinsmen, one who sought the good of his people and one who spoke for the welfare of his wholeentire nation.