And it cometh to pass, in the days of Ahasuerus -- he is Ahasuerus who is reigning from Hodu even unto Cush, seven and twenty and a hundred provinces --

in those days, at the sitting of the king Ahasuerus on the throne of his kingdom, that is in Shushan the palace,

and the giving of drink in vessels of gold, and the vessels are divers vessels, and the royal wine is abundant, as a memorial of the king.

And the drinking is according to law, none is pressing, for so hath the king appointed for every chief one of his house, to do according to the pleasure of man and man.

On the seventh day, as the heart of the king is glad with wine, he hath said to Mehuman, Biztha, Harbona, Bigtha, and Abagtha, Zethar, and Carcas, the seven eunuchs who are ministering in the presence of the king Ahasuerus,

to bring in Vashti the queen before the king, with a royal crown, to shew the peoples and the heads her beauty, for she is of good appearance,

and the queen Vashti refuseth to come in at the word of the king that is by the hand of the eunuchs, and the king is very wroth, and his fury hath burned in him.

And the king saith to wise men, knowing the times -- for so is the word of the king before all knowing law and judgment,

and he who is near unto him is Carshena, Shethar, Admatha, Tarshish, Meres, Marsena, Memucan, seven heads of Persia and Media seeing the face of the king, who are sitting first in the kingdom --

If to the king it be good, there goeth forth a royal word from before him, and it is written with the laws of Persia and Media, and doth not pass away, that Vashti doth not come in before the king Ahasuerus, and her royalty doth the king give to her companion who is better than she;

and the sentence of the king that he maketh hath been heard in all his kingdom -- for it is great -- and all the wives give honour to their husbands, from great even unto small.'

And the thing is good in the eyes of the king, and of the princes, and the king doth according to the word of Memucan,

and the young woman who is good in the eyes of the king doth reign instead of Vashti;' and the thing is good in the eyes of the king, and he doth so.

A man, a Jew, there hath been in Shushan the palace, and his name is Mordecai son of Jair, son of Shimei, son of Kish, a Benjamite --

and he is supporting Hadassah -- she is Esther -- daughter of his uncle, for she hath neither father nor mother, and the young woman is of fair form, and of good appearance, and at the death of her father and her mother hath Mordecai taken her to him for a daughter.

And it cometh to pass, in the word of the king, even his law, being heard, and in many young women being gathered unto Shushan the palace, unto the hand of Hegai, that Esther is taken unto the house of the king, unto the hand of Hegai, keeper of the women,

and the young woman is good in his eyes, and she receiveth kindness before him, and he hasteneth her purifications and her portions -- to give to her, and the seven young women who are provided -- to give to her, from the house of the king, and he changeth her and her young women to a good place in the house of the women.

and during every day Mordecai is walking up and down before the court of the house of the women to know the welfare of Esther, and what is done with her.

and with this the young woman hath come in unto the king, all that she saith is given to her, to go in with her, out of the house of the women, unto the house of the king;

And in the drawing nigh of the turn of Esther -- daughter of Abihail, uncle of Mordecai, whom he had taken to him for a daughter -- to come in unto the king, she hath not sought a thing except that which Hegai eunuch of the king, keeper of the women, saith, and Esther is receiving grace in the eyes of all seeing her.

And Esther is taken unto the king Ahasuerus, unto his royal house, in the tenth month -- it is the month of Tebeth -- in the seventh year of his reign,

and the king maketh a great banquet to all his heads and his servants -- the banquet of Esther -- and a release to the provinces hath made, and giveth gifts as a memorial of the king.

And in the virgins being gathered a second time, then Mordecai is sitting in the gate of the king;

Esther is not declaring her kindred and her people, as Mordecai hath laid a charge upon her, and the saying of Mordecai Esther is doing as when she was truly with him.

In those days, when Mordecai is sitting in the gate of the king, hath Bigthan been wroth, and Teresh, (two of the eunuchs of the king, the keepers of the threshold,) and they seek to put forth a hand on king Ahasuerus,

and the thing is known to Mordecai, and he declareth it to Esther the queen, and Esther speaketh to the king in the name of Mordecai,

and the thing is sought out, and found, and they are hanged both of them on a tree, and it is written in the book of the Chronicles before the king.

And it cometh to pass, in their speaking unto him, day by day, and he hath not hearkened unto them, that they declare it to Haman, to see whether the words of Mordecai do stand, for he hath declared to them that he is a Jew.

And Haman seeth that Mordecai is not bowing and doing obeisance to him, and Haman is full of fury,

and it is contemptible in his eyes to put forth a hand on Mordecai by himself, for they have declared to him the people of Mordecai, and Haman seeketh to destroy all the Jews who are in all the kingdom of Ahasuerus -- the people of Mordecai.

In the first month -- it is the month of Nisan -- in the twelfth year of the king Ahasuerus, hath one caused to fall Pur (that is the lot) before Haman, from day to day, and from month to month, to the twelfth, it is the month of Adar.

And Haman saith to the king Ahasuerus, 'There is one people scattered and separated among the peoples, in all provinces of thy kingdom, and their laws are diverse from all people, and the laws of the king they are not doing, and for the king it is not profitable to suffer them;

and the king saith to Haman, 'The silver is given to thee, and the people, to do with it as it is good in thine eyes.'

And scribes of the king are called, on the first month, on the thirteenth day of it, and it is written according to all that Haman hath commanded, unto lieutenants of the king, and unto the governors who are over province and province, and unto the heads of people and people, province and province, according to its writing, and people and people according to its tongue, in the name of the king Ahasuerus it hath been written and sealed with the signet of the king,

and letters to be sent by the hand of the runners unto all provinces of the king, to cut off, to slay, and to destroy all the Jews, from young even unto old, infant and women, on one day, on the thirteenth of the twelfth month -- it is the month of Adar -- and their spoil to seize,

a copy of the writing to be made law in every province and province is revealed to all the peoples, to be ready for this day.

The runners have gone forth, hastened by the word of the king, and the law hath been given in Shushan the palace, and the king and Haman have sat down to drink, and the city Shushan is perplexed.

and he cometh in unto the front of the gate of the king, but none is to come in unto the gate of the king with a sackcloth-garment.

And in every province and province, the place where the word of the king, even his law, is coming, a great mourning have the Jews, and fasting, and weeping, and lamenting: sackcloth and ashes are spread for many.

And young women of Esther come in and her eunuchs, and declare it to her, and the queen is exceedingly pained, and sendeth garments to clothe Mordecai, and to turn aside his sackcloth from off him, and he hath not received them.

And Esther calleth to Hatach, of the eunuchs of the king, whom he hath stationed before her, and giveth him a charge for Mordecai, to know what this is, and wherefore this is.

And Hatach goeth out unto Mordecai, unto a broad place of the city, that is before the gate of the king,

All servants of the king, and people of the provinces of the king, do know that any man and woman, who cometh in unto the king, unto the inner court, who is not called -- one law of his is to put them to death, apart from him to whom the king holdeth out the golden sceptre, then he hath lived; and I -- I have not been called to come in unto the king these thirty days.'

Go, gather all the Jews who are found in Shushan, and fast for me, and do not eat nor drink three days, by night and by day; also I and my young women do fast likewise, and so I go in unto the king, that is not according to law, and when I have perished -- I have perished.'

And it cometh to pass on the third day, that Esther putteth on royalty, and standeth in the inner-court of the house of the king over-against the house of the king, and the king is sitting on his royal throne, in the royal-house, over-against the opening of the house,

and it cometh to pass, at the king's seeing Esther the queen standing in the court, she hath received grace in his eyes, and the king holdeth out to Esther the golden sceptre that is in his hand, and Esther draweth near, and toucheth the top of the sceptre.

And the king saith to her, 'What -- to thee Esther, O queen? and what thy request? unto the half of the kingdom -- and it is given to thee.'

And the king saith to Esther, during the banquet of wine, 'What is thy petition? and it is given to thee; and what thy request? unto the half of the kingdom -- and it is done.'

And Esther answereth and saith, 'My petition and my request is:

And Haman goeth forth on that day rejoicing and glad in heart, and at Haman's seeing Mordecai in the gate of the king, and he hath not risen nor moved for him, then is Haman full of fury against Mordecai.

and all this is not profitable to me, during all the time that I am seeing Mordecai the Jew sitting in the gate of the king.'

And Zeresh his wife saith to him, and all his friends, 'Let them prepare a tree, in height fifty cubits, and in the morning speak to the king, and they hang Mordecai on it, and go thou in with the king unto the banquet rejoicing;' and the thing is good before Haman, and he prepareth the tree.

and it is found written that Mordecai had declared concerning Bigthana and Teresh, two of the eunuchs of the king, of the keepers of the threshold, who sought to put forth a hand on king Ahasuerus.

And the king saith, 'Who is in the court?' -- and Haman hath come in to the outer court of the house of the king, to say to the king to hang Mordecai on the tree that he had prepared for him --

and the servants of the king say unto him, 'Lo, Haman is standing in the court;' and the king saith, 'Let him come in.'

And Haman cometh in, and the king saith to him, 'What -- to do with the man in whose honour the king hath delighted?' And Haman saith in his heart, 'To whom doth the king delight to do honour more than myself?'

And Haman saith unto the king, 'The man in whose honour the king hath delighted,

and to give the clothing and the horse into the hand of a man of the heads of the king, the chiefs, and they have clothed the man in whose honour the king hath delighted, and caused him to ride on the horse in a broad place of the city, and called before him: Thus it is done to the man in whose honour the king hath delighted.'

And the king saith to Haman, 'Haste, take the clothing and the horse, as thou hast spoken, and do so to Mordecai the Jew, who is sitting in the gate of the king; there doth not fall a thing of all that thou hast spoken.'

And Haman taketh the clothing, and the horse, and clothed Mordecai, and causeth him to ride in a broad place of the city, and calleth before him, 'Thus it is done to the man in whose honour the king hath delighted.'

and Haman recounteth to Zeresh his wife, and to all his friends, all that hath met him, and his wise men say to him, and Zeresh his wife, 'If Mordecai is of the seed of the Jews, before whom thou hast begun to fall, thou art not able for him, but dost certainly fall before him.'

and the king saith to Esther also on the second day, during the banquet of wine, 'What is thy petition, Esther, O queen? and it is given to thee; and what thy request? unto the half of the kingdom -- and it is done.'

for we have been sold, I and my people, to cut off, to slay, and to destroy; and if for men-servants and for maid-servants we had been sold I had kept silent -- but the adversity is not equal to the loss of the king.'

And the king Ahasuerus saith, yea, he saith to Esther the queen, 'Who is he -- this one? and where is this one? -- he whose heart hath filled him to do so?'

And Esther saith, 'The man -- adversary and enemy -- is this wicked Haman;' and Haman hath been afraid at the presence of the king and of the queen.

And the king hath turned back out of the garden of the house unto the house of the banquet of wine, and Haman is falling on the couch on which Esther is, and the king saith, 'Also to subdue the queen with me in the house?' the word hath gone out from the mouth of the king, and the face of Haman they have covered.

And Harbonah, one of the eunuchs, saith before the king, 'Also lo, the tree that Haman made for Mordecai, who spake good for the king, is standing in the house of Haman, in height fifty cubits;' and the king saith, 'Hang him upon it.'

On that day hath the king Ahasuerus given to Esther the queen the house of Haman, adversary of the Jews, and Mordecai hath come in before the king, for Esther hath declared what he is to her,

and ye, write ye for the Jews, as it is good in your eyes, in the name of the king, and seal with the signet of the king -- for the writing that is written in the name of the king, and sealed with the signet of the king, there is none to turn back.'

And the scribes of the king are called, at that time, in the third month -- it is the month of Sivan -- in the three and twentieth of it, and it is written, according to all that Mordecai hath commanded, unto the Jews, and unto the lieutenants, and the governors, and the heads of the provinces, that are from Hodu even unto Cush, seven and twenty and a hundred provinces -- province and province according to its writing, and people and people according to its tongue, and unto the Jews according to their writing, and according to their tongue.

In one day, in all the provinces of the king Ahasuerus, on the thirteenth of the twelfth month -- it is the month of Adar --

a copy of the writing to be made law in every province and province is revealed to all the peoples, and for the Jews being ready at this day to be avenged of their enemies.

and in every province and province, and in every city and city, the place where the word of the king, even his law, is coming, gladness and joy are to the Jews, a banquet, and a good day; and many of the peoples of the land are becoming Jews, for a fear of the Jews hath fallen upon them.

And in the twelfth month -- it is the month of Adar -- on the thirteenth day of it, in which the word of the king, even his law, hath come to be done, in the day that the enemies of the Jews had hoped to rule over them, and it is turned that the Jews rule over those hating them --

for great is Mordecai in the house of the king, and his fame is going into all the provinces, for the man Mordecai is going on and becoming great.

and the king saith to Esther the queen, 'In Shushan the palace have the Jews slain and destroyed five hundred men, and the ten sons of Haman; in the rest of the provinces of the king what have they done? and what is thy petition? and it is given to thee; and what thy request again? and it is done.'

And the king saith -- 'to be done so;' and a law is given in Shushan, and the ten sons of Haman they have hanged.

as days on which the Jews have rested from their enemies, and the month that hath been turned to them from sorrow to joy, and from mourning to a good day, to make them days of banquet and of joy, and of sending portions one to another, and gifts to the needy.

because Haman son of Hammedatha the Agagite, adversary of all the Jews, had devised concerning the Jews to destroy them, and had caused to fall Pur -- that is the lot -- to crush them and to destroy them;

and these days are remembered and kept in every generation and generation, family and family, province and province, and city and city, and these days of Purim do not pass away from the midst of the Jews, and their memorial is not ended from their seed.

to establish these days of Purim, in their seasons, as Mordecai the Jew hath established on them, and Esther the queen, and as they had established on themselves, and on their seed -- matters of the fastings, and of their cry.

And a saying of Esther hath established these matters of Purim, and it is written in the Book.

For Mordecai the Jew is second to king Ahasuerus, and a great man of the Jews, and accepted of the multitude of his brethren, seeking good for his people, and speaking peace to all his seed.