Esther 1:7-22 ▼

7 And serving drinks in vessels of gold, and the vessels were varying vessels, and the wine of royalty was abundant, according to the hand of the king.

8 And the drinking was according to the law—there is no compulsion—for so the king had established upon every overseer of his house, to do according to the pleasure of man by man.

9 Also, Vashti the Queen made a feast for the women in the house of royalty that belonged to King Ahasuerus.

10 On the seventh day, as the heart of the king was good with the wine, he said to Mehuman, Biztha, Harbona, Bigtha, and Abagtha, Zethar, and Carcas, the seven eunuchs ministering before the face of King Ahasuerus,

11 to bring Vashti the queen before the face of the king in a crown of royalty, to show the peoples and the officials her beauty, for she was beautiful of appearance.

12 And Queen Vashti refused to come at the word of the king that was by the hand of the eunuchs. And the king was very angry, and his rage burned within him.

13 And the king said to the wise men knowing the times—for thus was the manner of the king before the face of all those knowing law and judgment,

14 and those near to him—Carshena, Shethar, Admatha, Tarshish, Meres, Marsena, and Memucan, seven officials of Persia and Media, those seeing the face of the king, those sitting first in the kingdom—

15 “According to the law, what is to be done with Queen Vashti, upon that she did not perform the command of King Ahasuerus by the hand of the eunuchs?”

16 And Memucan said before the faces of the king and the officials, “Not against the king alone has Vashti the Queen done perversely, but against all the officials and against all the peoples who are in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus.

17 For the matter of the queen will go forth upon all the women, to despise their husbands in their eyes, when they say, ‘King Ahasuerus said to bring Vashti the queen before his face, and she did not come.’

18 And this day the noblewomen of Persia and Media who have heard the matter of the queen will speak to all the officials of the king, and there will be enough contempt and anger.

19 So if upon the king it is good, let go out a word of royalty from before his face, and let it be written in the laws of Persia and Media, and it shall not pass away, that Vashti shall not come before the face of King Ahasuerus, and let the king give her royalty to her female neighbor, the one better than she.

20 And the edict of the king that he makes will be heard in all his kingdom—for it is great—and all the women will give honor to their husbands, from the great even to the small.”

21 And the word was good in the eyes of the king and the officials, and the king did according to the word of Memucan,

22 and he sent letters to all the provinces of the king, to province by province according to its writing, and to people by people according to its tongue, that every man should be ruling in his house, and speaking according to the tongue of his people.