Esther 1-5
Contemporary English Version
Queen Vashti Disobeys King Xerxes
1 1-2 (A) King Xerxes[a] of Persia lived in his capital city of Susa[b] and ruled 127 provinces from India to Ethiopia.[c] 3 During the third year of his rule, Xerxes gave a big dinner for all his officials and officers. The governors and leaders of the provinces were also invited, and even the commanders of the Persian and Median armies came. 4 For 180 days he showed off his wealth and spent a lot of money to impress his guests with the greatness of his kingdom.
5 At the end of this time, King Xerxes gave another dinner and invited everyone in the city of Susa, no matter who they were. The eating and drinking lasted seven days in the beautiful palace gardens. 6 The area was decorated with blue and white cotton curtains tied back with purple linen cords that ran through silver rings fastened to marble columns. Couches of gold and silver rested on pavement that had all kinds of designs made from costly bright-colored stones and marble and mother-of-pearl.
7 The guests drank from gold cups, and each cup had a different design. The king was generous 8 and said to them, “Drink all you want!” Then he told his servants, “Keep their cups full.”
9 While the men were enjoying themselves, Queen Vashti gave the women a big dinner inside the royal palace.
10 By the seventh day, King Xerxes was feeling happy because of so much wine. And he asked his seven personal servants, Mehuman, Biztha, Harbona, Bigtha, Abagtha, Zethar, and Carkas, 11 to bring Queen Vashti to him. The king wanted her to wear her crown and let his people and his officials see how beautiful she was. 12 The king's servants told Queen Vashti what he had said, but she refused to go to him, and this made him terribly angry.
13-14 The king called in the seven highest officials of Persia and Media. They were Carshena, Shethar, Admatha, Tarshish, Meres, Marsena, and Memucan. These men were very wise and understood all the laws and customs of the country, and the king always asked them what they thought about such matters.
15 The king said to them, “Queen Vashti refused to come to me when I sent my servants for her. What does the law say I should do about that?”
16 Then Memucan told the king and the officials:
Your Majesty, Queen Vashti has not only embarrassed you, but she has insulted your officials and everyone else in all the provinces.
17 The women in the kingdom will hear about this, and they will refuse to respect their husbands. They will say, “If Queen Vashti doesn't obey her husband, why should we?” 18 Before this day is over, the wives of the officials of Persia and Media will find out what Queen Vashti has done, and they will refuse to obey their husbands. They won't respect their husbands, and their husbands will be angry with them.
19 Your Majesty, if you agree, you should write for the Medes and Persians a law that can never be changed. This law would keep Queen Vashti from ever seeing you again. Then you could let someone who respects you be queen in her place.
20 When the women in your great kingdom hear about this new law, they will respect their husbands, no matter if they are rich or poor.
21 King Xerxes and his officials liked what Memucan had said, 22 and he sent letters to all of his provinces. Each letter was written in the language of the province to which it was sent, and it said that husbands should be in charge of their wives and children.
Esther Becomes Queen
2 After a while, King Xerxes got over being angry. But he kept thinking about what Vashti had done and the law that he had written because of her. 2 Then the king's personal servants said:
Your Majesty, a search must be made to find you some beautiful young women. 3 You can select officers in every province to bring them to the place where you keep your wives in the capital city of Susa. Put your servant Hegai in charge of them since that is his job. He can see to it that they are given the proper beauty treatments. 4 Then let the young woman who pleases you most take Vashti's place as queen.
King Xerxes liked these suggestions, and he followed them.
5 At this time a Jew named Mordecai was living in Susa. His father was Jair, and his grandfather Shimei was the son of Kish from the tribe of Benjamin. 6 (B) Kish[d] was one of the people that Nebuchadnezzar had taken from Jerusalem, when he took King Jeconiah of Judah to Babylonia.
7 Mordecai had a very beautiful cousin named Esther, whose Hebrew name was Hadassah. He had raised her as his own daughter, after her father and mother died. 8 When the king ordered the search for beautiful women, many were taken to the king's palace in Susa, and Esther was one of them.
Hegai was put in charge of all the women, 9 and from the first day, Esther was his favorite. He began her beauty treatments at once. He also gave her plenty of food and seven special maids from the king's palace, and they had the best rooms.
10 Mordecai had warned Esther not to tell anyone that she was a Jew, and she obeyed him. 11 He was anxious to see how Esther was getting along and to learn what had happened to her. So each day he would walk back and forth in front of the court where the women lived.
12 The young women were given beauty treatments for one whole year. The first six months their skin was rubbed with olive oil and myrrh, and the last six months it was treated with perfumes and cosmetics. Then each of them spent the night alone with King Xerxes. 13 When a young woman went to the king, she could wear whatever clothes or jewelry she chose from the women's living quarters. 14 In the evening she would go to the king, and the following morning she would go to the place where his wives stayed after being with him. There a man named Shaashgaz was in charge of the king's wives.[e] Only the ones the king wanted and asked for by name could go back to the king.
15-16 Xerxes had been king for seven years when Esther's turn came to go to him during Tebeth,[f] the tenth month of the year. Everyone liked Esther. The king's personal servant Hegai was in charge of the women, and Esther trusted Hegai and asked him what she ought to take with her.[g]
17 Xerxes liked Esther more than he did any of the other young women. None of them pleased him as much as she did, and he immediately fell in love with her and crowned her queen in place of Vashti. 18 In honor of Esther he gave a big dinner for his leaders and officials. Then he declared a holiday[h] everywhere in his kingdom and gave expensive gifts.
Mordecai Saves the King's Life
19 When the young women were brought together again, Esther's cousin Mordecai had become a palace official. 20 He had told Esther never to tell anyone that she was a Jew, and she obeyed him, just as she had always done.
21 Bigthana and Teresh were the two men who guarded King Xerxes' rooms, but they got angry with the king and decided to kill him. 22 Mordecai found out about their plans and asked Queen Esther to tell the king what he had found out. 23 King Xerxes learned that Mordecai's report was true, and he had the two men hanged. Then the king had all of this written down in his record book as he watched.
Haman Plans To Destroy the Jews
3 Later, King Xerxes promoted Haman the son of Hammedatha to the highest position in his kingdom. Haman was a descendant of Agag,[i] 2 and the king had given orders for his officials at the royal gate to honor Haman by kneeling down to him. All of them obeyed except Mordecai. 3 When the other officials asked Mordecai why he disobeyed the king's command, 4 he said, “Because I am a Jew.” They spoke to him for several days about kneeling down, but he still refused to obey. Finally, they reported this to Haman, to find out if he would let Mordecai get away with it.
5 Haman was furious to learn that Mordecai refused to kneel down and honor him. 6 And when he found out that Mordecai was a Jew, he knew that killing only Mordecai was not enough. Every Jew in the whole kingdom had to be killed.
7 It was now the twelfth year of the rule of King Xerxes. During Nisan,[j] the first month of the year, Haman said, “Find out the best time for me to do this.”[k] The time chosen was Adar,[l] the twelfth month.
8 (C) Then Haman went to the king and said:
Your Majesty, there are some people who live all over your kingdom and won't have a thing to do with anyone else. They have customs that are different from everyone else's, and they refuse to obey your laws. We would be better off to get rid of them! 9 Why not give orders for all of them to be killed? I can promise that you will get tons of silver for your treasury.
10 The king handed his official ring to Haman, who hated the Jews, and the king told him, 11 “Do what you want with those people! You can keep their money.”
12 On the thirteenth day of Nisan, Haman called in the king's secretaries and ordered them to write letters in every language used in the kingdom. The letters were written in the name of the king and sealed by using the king's own ring.[m] At once they were sent to the king's highest officials, the governors of each province, and the leaders of the different nations in the kingdom of Xerxes.
13 The letters were taken by messengers to every part of the kingdom, and this is what was said in the letters:
On the thirteenth day of Adar, the twelfth month, all Jewish men, women, and children are to be killed. And their property is to be taken.
14-15 King Xerxes gave orders for these letters to be posted where they could be seen by everyone all over the kingdom. The king's command was obeyed, and one of the letters was read aloud to the people in the walled city of Susa. Then the king and Haman sat down to drink together, but no one in the city[n] could figure out what was going on.
Mordecai Asks for Esther's Help
4 When Mordecai heard about the letter, he tore his clothes in sorrow and put on sackcloth. Then he covered his head with ashes and went through the city, crying and weeping. 2 But he could go only as far as the palace gate, because no one wearing sackcloth was allowed inside the palace. 3 (D) In every province where the king's orders were read, the Jews cried and mourned, and they went without eating.[o] Many of them even put on sackcloth and sat in ashes.
4 When Esther's servant girls and her other servants told her what Mordecai was doing, she became very upset and sent Mordecai some clothes to wear in place of the sackcloth. But he refused to take them.
5 Esther had a servant named Hathach, who had been given to her by the king. So she called him in and said, “Find out what's wrong with Mordecai and why he's acting this way.”
6 Hathach went to Mordecai in the city square in front of the palace gate, 7 and Mordecai told him everything that had happened. He also told him how much money Haman had promised to add to the king's treasury, if all the Jews were killed.
8 Mordecai gave Hathach a copy of the orders for the murder of the Jews and told him that these had been read in Susa. He said, “Show this to Esther and explain what it means. Ask her to go to the king and beg him to have pity on her people, the Jews!”
9 Hathach went back to Esther and told her what Mordecai had said. 10 She answered, “Tell Mordecai 11 there is a law about going in to see the king, and all his officials and his people know about this law. Anyone who goes in to see the king without being invited by him will be put to death. The only way that anyone can be saved is for the king to hold out the gold scepter to that person. And it's been thirty days since he has asked for me.”
12 When Mordecai was told what Esther had said, 13 he sent back this reply, “Don't think that you will escape being killed with the rest of the Jews, just because you live in the king's palace. 14 If you don't speak up now, we will somehow get help, but you and your family will be killed. It could be that you were made queen for a time like this!”
15 Esther sent a message to Mordecai, saying, 16 “Bring together all the Jews in Susa and tell them to go without eating for my sake! Don't eat or drink for three days and nights. My servant girls and I will do the same. Then I will go in to see the king, even if it means I must die.”
17 Mordecai did everything Esther told him to do.
Esther Invites the King and Haman to a Dinner
5 Three days later, Esther dressed in her royal robes and went to the inner court of the palace in front of the throne. The king was sitting there, facing the open doorway. 2 He was happy to see Esther, and he held out the gold scepter to her.
When Esther came up and touched the tip of the scepter, 3 the king said, “Esther, what brings you here? Just ask, and I will give you as much as half of my kingdom.”
4 Esther answered, “Your Majesty, please come with Haman to a dinner I will prepare for you later today.”
5 The king said to his servants, “Hurry and get Haman, so we can accept Esther's invitation.”
The king and Haman went to Esther's dinner, 6 and while they were drinking wine, the king asked her, “What can I do for you? Just ask, and I will give you as much as half of my kingdom.”
7-8 Esther replied, “Your Majesty, if you really care for me and are willing to do what I want, please come again tomorrow with Haman to the dinner I will prepare for you. At that time I will answer Your Majesty's question.”
Haman Plans To Kill Mordecai
9 Haman was feeling great as he left. But when he saw Mordecai at the palace gate, he noticed that Mordecai did not stand up or show him any respect. This made Haman really angry, 10 but he did not say a thing.
When Haman got home, he called together his friends and his wife Zeresh 11 and started bragging about his great wealth and all his sons. He told them the many ways that the king had honored him and how all the other officials and leaders had to respect him. 12 Haman added, “That's not all! Besides the king himself, I'm the only person Queen Esther invited for dinner. She has also invited the king and me to dinner tomorrow. 13 But none of this makes me happy, as long as I see that Jew Mordecai serving the king.”
14 Haman's wife and friends said to him, “Have a gallows built about 22 meters high, and tomorrow morning ask the king to hang Mordecai there. Then later, you can have dinner with the king and enjoy yourself.”
This seemed like a good idea to Haman, and he had the gallows built.
Footnotes
- 1.1,2 Xerxes: The Hebrew text has “Ahasuerus,” who was better known as King Xerxes I (485–465 b.c.).
- 1.1,2 in his capital city of Susa: Or “in his royal fortress in the city of Susa.” Susa was a city east of Babylon and a winter home for Persian kings.
- 1.1,2 Ethiopia: The Hebrew text has “Cush,” which was a region south of Egypt that included parts of the present countries of Ethiopia and Sudan.
- 2.6 Kish: Or “Mordecai.” The Hebrew text has “He.”
- 2.14 wives: This translates a Hebrew word for women who were legally bound to a man, but without the full privileges of a wife.
- 2.15,16 Tebeth: The tenth month of the Hebrew calendar, from about mid-December to mid-January.
- 2.15,16 her: The Hebrew text adds, “Esther was the daughter of Abihail and was the cousin of Mordecai, who had adopted her after her parents died” (see verse 7).
- 2.18 holiday: The Hebrew expression refers to a certain amount of time when the people did not have to pay their regular taxes.
- 3.1 Agag: Agag was a king who had fought against the Jews long before the time of Esther (see 1 Samuel 15.1-33).
- 3.7 Nisan: The first month of the Hebrew calendar, from about mid-March to mid-April.
- 3.7 Find out … do this: The Hebrew text has “cast lots,” which were pieces of wood or stone used to find out how and when to do something. For “lots” the Hebrew text uses the Babylonian word “purim.”
- 3.7 Adar: The twelfth month of the Hebrew calendar, from about mid-February to mid-March.
- 3.12 king's own ring: Melted wax was used to seal a letter, and while the wax was still soft, the king's ring was pressed in the wax to show that the letter was official.
- 3.14,15 walled city … city: Or “royal fortress … rest of the city.”
- 4.3 went without eating: The Israelites would sometimes go without eating (also called “fasting”) in times of great sorrow or danger.
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