Saturday, August 02, 2025
The Banquets of the King
1 Now it happened in the days of Ahasuerus, the Ahasuerus who reigned from India to [a]Cush over 127 provinces, 2 in those days as King Ahasuerus sat on his royal throne which was at the citadel in Susa, 3 in the third year of his reign he held a banquet for all his officials and attendants, the army officers of Persia and Media, the nobles and the officials of his provinces, in his presence. 4 [b]At that time he displayed the riches of his royal glory and the splendor of his great majesty for many days, 180 days.
5 When these days were finished, the king held 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 courtyard of the garden of the king’s palace. 6 There were curtains 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 floor of porphyry, marble, mother-of-pearl, and mineral stones. 7 Drinks were served in golden vessels of various kinds, and the royal wine was plentiful in proportion to the king’s [c]bounty. 8 But 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 was to do as each person pleased. 9 Queen Vashti also held a banquet for the women in the [d]palace which belonged to King Ahasuerus.
Queen Vashti’s Refusal
10 On the seventh day, when the heart of the king was cheerful with wine, he ordered Mehuman, Biztha, Harbona, Bigtha, Abagtha, Zethar, and Carkas, the seven eunuchs who served in the presence of King Ahasuerus, 11 to bring Queen Vashti before the king with her royal turban in order to display her beauty to the people and the officials, for she was beautiful. 12 But Queen Vashti refused to come at the king’s order [e]delivered by the eunuchs. So the king became very angry, and his wrath burned within him.
13 Then the king said to the wise men who understood the times—for it was the custom of the king to speak this way before all who knew Persian law and justice 14 and were close to him, namely, Carshena, Shethar, Admatha, Tarshish, Meres, Marsena, and Memucan, the seven officials of Persia and Media who [f]had access to the king’s presence and sat in the first place in the kingdom— 15 “According to law, what is to be done with Queen Vashti, since she did not [g]obey the command of King Ahasuerus [h]delivered by the eunuchs?” 16 And in the presence of the king and the other officials, Memucan said, “Queen Vashti has wronged not only the king but also all the officials and all the peoples who are in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus. 17 For the queen’s conduct will [i]become known to all the women so as to make their own husbands despicable in their sight, when they say, ‘King Ahasuerus [j]commanded that Queen Vashti be brought in to his presence, but she did not come.’ 18 And this day the wives of the officials of Persia and Media who have heard about the queen’s conduct will talk about it to all the king’s officials, and there will be plenty of contempt and anger. 19 If it pleases the king, let a royal [k]edict be issued by him and let it be written in the laws of Persia and Media so that it cannot [l]be repealed, that Vashti may not come into the presence of King Ahasuerus, and let the king give her royal position to [m]another who is more worthy than she. 20 When the king’s edict which he will make is heard throughout his kingdom, [n]great as it is, then all women will give honor to their husbands, great and small.”
21 Now this word pleased the king and the officials, and the king did [o]as Memucan proposed. 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 was to be the ruler in his own house and the one who speaks in the language of his own people.
Footnotes
- Esther 1:1 Or Ethiopia
- Esther 1:4 Lit When
- Esther 1:7 Lit hand
- Esther 1:9 Lit royal house
- Esther 1:12 Lit by the hand of the
- Esther 1:14 Lit saw the face of the king
- Esther 1:15 Lit do
- Esther 1:15 Lit by the hand of the
- Esther 1:17 Lit go forth
- Esther 1:17 Lit said to bring
- Esther 1:19 Lit word go forth from
- Esther 1:19 Lit pass by
- Esther 1:19 Lit her neighbor
- Esther 1:20 Lit for great is it
- Esther 1:21 Lit according to the word of
Distress of the Siege Described
4 How dark the gold has become,
How the pure gold has changed!
The sacred stones are spilled out
At the [a]corner of every street.
2 The precious sons of Zion,
Weighed against pure gold,
How they are regarded as earthenware jars,
The work of a potter’s hands!
3 Even jackals offer the breast,
They nurse their young;
But the daughter of my people has proved herself cruel,
Like ostriches in the wilderness.
4 The tongue of the infant clings
To the roof of its mouth because of thirst;
The children ask for bread,
But no one breaks it for them.
5 Those who used to eat delicacies
Are made to tremble in the streets;
Those who were raised in crimson clothing
Embrace garbage heaps.
6 For the [b]wrongdoing of the daughter of my people
Is greater than the [c]sin of Sodom,
Which was overthrown as in a moment,
[d]And no hands were turned toward her.
7 Her [e]consecrated ones were purer than snow,
They shined more than milk;
They were more ruddy in [f]body than pearls of coral,
Their form was like [g]lapis lazuli.
8 Their appearance is darker than soot,
They are not recognized in the streets;
Their skin is shriveled on their bones,
It is dry, it has become like wood.
9 Better off are those killed by the sword
Than those killed by hunger;
For they [h]waste away, [i]stricken
By the lack of the produce of the field.
10 The hands of compassionate women
Boiled their own children;
They became food for them
Due to the destruction of the daughter of my people.
11 The Lord has expended His wrath,
He has poured out His fierce anger;
And He has kindled a fire in Zion,
And it has consumed its foundations.
12 The kings of the earth did not believe,
Nor did any of the inhabitants of the world,
That the adversary and the enemy
Would enter the gates of Jerusalem.
13 Because of the sins of her prophets
And the wrongdoings of her priests,
Who have shed in her midst
The blood of the righteous,
14 They wandered, blind, in the streets;
They were defiled with blood,
Such that no one could touch their garments.
15 “Keep away! Unclean!” [j]they cried out of themselves.
“Keep away, keep away, do not touch!”
For they distanced themselves as well as wandered;
People among the nations said,
“They shall not continue to reside with us.”
16 The presence of the Lord has scattered them,
He will not continue to look at them;
They did not [k]honor the priests,
They did not favor the elders.
17 Yet our eyes failed,
Looking for [l]help was useless;
At our observation point we have watched
For a nation that could not save.
18 They hunted our steps
So that we could not walk in our streets;
Our end drew near,
Our days were [m]finished
For our end had come.
19 Our pursuers were swifter
Than the eagles of the sky;
They chased us on the mountains,
They waited in ambush for us in the wilderness.
20 The breath of our nostrils, the Lord’s anointed,
Was captured in their pits,
Of whom we had said, “[n]In his shadow
We shall live among the nations.”
21 Rejoice and be joyful, daughter of Edom,
Who lives in the land of Uz;
But the cup will pass to you as well,
You will become drunk and expose yourself.
22 The punishment of your wrongdoing has been completed, daughter of Zion;
He will no longer exile you.
But He will punish your wrongdoing, daughter of Edom;
He will expose your sins!
Footnotes
- Lamentations 4:1 Lit head
- Lamentations 4:6 Or punishment for wrongdoing
- Lamentations 4:6 Or punishment for sin
- Lamentations 4:6 I.e., without human intervention
- Lamentations 4:7 Or Nazirites
- Lamentations 4:7 Lit bones
- Lamentations 4:7 Heb sappir
- Lamentations 4:9 Lit flow away
- Lamentations 4:9 Lit pierced through
- Lamentations 4:15 Or they (other people) cried to them
- Lamentations 4:16 Lit lift up the faces of
- Lamentations 4:17 Lit our help
- Lamentations 4:18 Lit full
- Lamentations 4:20 I.e., under his protection