Esther 1

• 1. This happened in the days of King Xerxes, who reigned over 127 provinces stretching from India to Ethiopia.
• 2. At that time he ruled his empire from his throne at the fortress of Susa.
• 3. In the third year of his reign, he gave a banquet for all his princes and officials. He invited all the military officers of Media and Persia, as well as the noblemen and provincial officials.
• 4. The celebration lasted six months--a tremendous display of the opulent wealth and glory of his empire.
• 5. When it was all over, the king gave a special banquet for all the palace servants and officials--from the greatest to the least. It lasted for seven days and was held at Susa in the courtyard of the palace garden.
• 6. The courtyard was decorated with beautifully woven white and blue linen hangings, fastened by purple ribbons to silver rings embedded in marble pillars. Gold and silver couches stood on a mosaic pavement of porphyry, marble, mother-of-pearl, and other costly stones.
• 7. Drinks were served in gold goblets of many designs, and there was an abundance of royal wine, just as the king had commanded.
• 8. The only restriction on the drinking was that no one should be compelled to take more than he wanted. But those who wished could have as much as they pleased, for the king had instructed his staff to let everyone decide this matter for himself.
• 9. Queen Vashti gave a banquet for the women of the palace at the same time.
• 10. On the seventh day of the feast, when King Xerxes was half drunk with wine, he told Mehuman, Biztha, Harbona, Bigtha, Abagtha, Zethar, and Carcas, the seven eunuchs who attended him,
• 11. to bring Queen Vashti to him with the royal crown on her head. He wanted all the men to gaze on her beauty, for she was a very beautiful woman.
• 12. But when they conveyed the king's order to Queen Vashti, she refused to come. This made the king furious, and he burned with anger.
• 13. He immediately consulted with his advisers, who knew all the Persian laws and customs, for he always asked their advice.
• 14. The names of these men were Carshena, Shethar, Admatha, Tarshish, Meres, Marsena, and Memucan--seven high officials of Persia and Media. They were his closest associates and held the highest positions in the empire.
• 15. "What must be done to Queen Vashti?" the king demanded. "What penalty does the law provide for a queen who refuses to obey the king's orders, properly sent through his eunuchs?"
• 16. Memucan answered the king and his princes, "Queen Vashti has wronged not only the king but also every official and citizen throughout your empire.
• 17. Women everywhere will begin to despise their husbands when they learn that Queen Vashti has refused to appear before the king.
• 18. Before this day is out, the wife of every one of us, your officials throughout the empire, will hear what the queen did and will start talking to their husbands the same way. There will be no end to the contempt and anger throughout your realm.
• 19. So if it please the king, we suggest that you issue a written decree, a law of the Persians and Medes that cannot be revoked. It should order that Queen Vashti be forever banished from your presence and that you choose another queen more worthy than she.
• 20. When this decree is published throughout your vast empire, husbands everywhere, whatever their rank, will receive proper respect from their wives!"
• 21. The king and his princes thought this made good sense, so he followed Memucan's counsel.
• 22. He sent letters to all parts of the empire, to each province in its own script and language, proclaiming that every man should be the ruler of his home.

Esther 2

• 1. But after Xerxes' anger had cooled, he began thinking about Vashti and what she had done and the decree he had made.
• 2. So his attendants suggested, "Let us search the empire to find beautiful young virgins for the king.
• 3. Let the king appoint agents in each province to bring these beautiful young women into the royal harem at Susa. Hegai, the eunuch in charge, will see that they are all given beauty treatments.
• 4. After that, the young woman who pleases you most will be made queen instead of Vashti." This advice was very appealing to the king, so he put the plan into effect immediately.
• 5. Now at the fortress of Susa there was a certain Jew named Mordecai son of Jair. He was from the tribe of Benjamin and was a descendant of Kish and Shimei.
• 6. His family had been exiled from Jerusalem to Babylon by King Nebuchadnezzar, along with King Jehoiachin of Judah and many others.
• 7. This man had a beautiful and lovely young cousin, Hadassah, who was also called Esther. When her father and mother had died, Mordecai adopted her into his family and raised her as his own daughter.
• 8. As a result of the king's decree, Esther, along with many other young women, was brought to the king's harem at the fortress of Susa and placed in Hegai's care.
• 9. Hegai was very impressed with Esther and treated her kindly. He quickly ordered a special menu for her and provided her with beauty treatments. He also assigned her seven maids specially chosen from the king's palace, and he moved her and her maids into the best place in the harem.
• 10. Esther had not told anyone of her nationality and family background, for Mordecai had told her not to.
• 11. Every day Mordecai would take a walk near the courtyard of the harem to ask about Esther and to find out what was happening to her.
• 12. Before each young woman was taken to the king's bed, she was given the prescribed twelve months of beauty treatments--six months with oil of myrrh, followed by six months with special perfumes and ointments.
• 13. When the time came for her to go in to the king, she was given her choice of whatever clothing or jewelry she wanted to enhance her beauty.
• 14. That evening she was taken to the king's private rooms, and the next morning she was brought to the second harem, where the king's wives lived. There she would be under the care of Shaashgaz, another of the king's eunuchs. She would live there for the rest of her life, never going to the king again unless he had especially enjoyed her and requested her by name.
• 15. When it was Esther's turn to go to the king, she accepted the advice of Hegai, the eunuch in charge of the harem. She asked for nothing except what he suggested, and she was admired by everyone who saw her.
• 16. When Esther was taken to King Xerxes at the royal palace in early winter of the seventh year of his reign,
• 17. the king loved her more than any of the other young women. He was so delighted with her that he set the royal crown on her head and declared her queen instead of Vashti.
• 18. To celebrate the occasion, he gave a banquet in Esther's honor for all his princes and servants, giving generous gifts to everyone and declaring a public festival for the provinces.
• 19. Even after all the young women had been transferred to the second harem and Mordecai had become a palace official,
• 20. Esther continued to keep her nationality and family background a secret. She was still following Mordecai's orders, just as she did when she was living in his home.
• 21. One day as Mordecai was on duty at the palace, two of the king's eunuchs, Bigthana and Teresh--who were guards at the door of the king's private quarters--became angry at King Xerxes and plotted to assassinate him.
• 22. But Mordecai heard about the plot and passed the information on to Queen Esther. She then told the king about it and gave Mordecai credit for the report.
• 23. When an investigation was made and Mordecai's story was found to be true, the two men were hanged on a gallows. This was all duly recorded in The Book of the History of King Xerxes' Reign.

Esther 3

• 1. Some time later, King Xerxes promoted Haman son of Hammedatha the Agagite to prime minister, making him the most powerful official in the empire next to the king himself.
• 2. All the king's officials would bow down before Haman to show him respect whenever he passed by, for so the king had commanded. But Mordecai refused to bow down or show him respect.
• 3. Then the palace officials at the king's gate asked Mordecai, "Why are you disobeying the king's command?"
• 4. They spoke to him day after day, but still he refused to comply with the order. So they spoke to Haman about this to see if he would tolerate Mordecai's conduct, since Mordecai had told them he was a Jew.
• 5. When Haman saw that Mordecai would not bow down or show him respect, he was filled with rage.
• 6. So he decided it was not enough to lay hands on Mordecai alone. Since he had learned that Mordecai was a Jew, he decided to destroy all the Jews throughout the entire empire of Xerxes.
• 7. So in the month of April, during the twelfth year of King Xerxes' reign, lots were cast (the lots were called purim) to determine the best day and month to take action. And the day selected was March 7, nearly a year later.
• 8. Then Haman approached King Xerxes and said, "There is a certain race of people scattered through all the provinces of your empire. Their laws are different from those of any other nation, and they refuse to obey even the laws of the king. So it is not in the king's interest to let them live.
• 9. If it please Your Majesty, issue a decree that they be destroyed, and I will give 375 tons of silver to the government administrators so they can put it into the royal treasury."
• 10. The king agreed, confirming his decision by removing his signet ring from his finger and giving it to Haman son of Hammedatha the Agagite--the enemy of the Jews.
• 11. "Keep the money," the king told Haman, "but go ahead and do as you like with these people."
• 12. On April 17 Haman called in the king's secretaries and dictated letters to the princes, the governors of the respective provinces, and the local officials of each province in their own scripts and languages. These letters were signed in the name of King Xerxes, sealed with his ring,
• 13. and sent by messengers into all the provinces of the empire. The letters decreed that all Jews--young and old, including women and children--must be killed, slaughtered, and annihilated on a single day. This was scheduled to happen nearly a year later on March 7. The property of the Jews would be given to those who killed them.
• 14. A copy of this decree was to be issued in every province and made known to all the people, so that they would be ready to do their duty on the appointed day.
• 15. At the king's command, the decree went out by the swiftest messengers, and it was proclaimed in the fortress of Susa. Then the king and Haman sat down to drink, but the city of Susa fell into confusion.

New Living Translation: 149 of 324 days.