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

Also Vashti the queen hath made a banquet for women, in the royal house that the king Ahasuerus hath.

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.

According to law, what -- to do with queen Vashti, because that she hath not done the saying of the king Ahasuerus by the hand of the eunuchs?'

And Memucan saith before the king and the heads, 'Not against the king by himself hath Vashti the queen done perversely, but against all the heads, and against all the peoples that are in all provinces of the king Ahasuerus;

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.'

After these things, at the ceasing of the fury of the king Ahasuerus, he hath remembered Vashti, and that which she did, and that which hath been decreed concerning her;

who had been removed from Jerusalem with the removal that was removed with Jeconiah king of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon removed --

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,

Esther hath not declared her people, and her kindred, for Mordecai hath laid a charge on her that she doth not declare it;

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 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,

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 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 Mordecai hath known all that hath been done, and Mordecai rendeth his garments, and putteth on sackcloth and ashes, and goeth forth into the midst of the city and crieth -- a cry loud and bitter,

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

and Mordecai declareth to him all that hath met him, and the explanation of the money that Haman said to weigh to the treasuries of the king for the Jews, to destroy them,

and the copy of the writing of the law that had been given in Shushan to destroy them he hath given to him, to shew Esther, and to declare it to her, and to lay a charge on her to go in unto the king, to make supplication to him, and to seek from before him, for her people.

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 Mordecai passeth on, and doth according to all that Esther hath charged upon him.

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 Esther saith, 'If unto the king it be good, the king doth come in, and Haman, to-day, unto the banquet that I have made for him;'

and the king saith, 'Haste ye Haman -- to do the word of Esther;' and the king cometh in, and Haman, unto the banquet that Esther hath made.

if I have found grace in the eyes of the king, and if unto the king it be good, to give my petition, and to perform my request, the king doth come, and Haman, unto the banquet that I make for them, and to-morrow I do according to the word of the king.'

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 Haman recounteth to them the glory of his wealth, and the abundance of his sons, and all that with which the king made him great, and with which he lifted him up above the heads and servants of the king.

And Haman saith, 'Yea, Esther the queen brought none in with the king, unto the feast that she made, except myself, and also for to-morrow I am called to her, with the king,

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.'

On that night hath the sleep of the king fled away, and he saith to bring in the book of memorials of the Chronicles, and they are read before the king,

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 --

let them bring in royal clothing that the king hath put on himself, and a horse on which the king hath ridden, and that the royal crown be put on his head,

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 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.'

They are yet speaking with him, and eunuchs of the king have come, and haste to bring in Haman unto the banquet that Esther hath made.

And the king hath risen, in his fury, from the banquet of wine, unto the garden of the house, and Haman hath remained to seek for his life from Esther the queen, for he hath seen that evil hath been determined against him by the king.

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.'

And they hang Haman upon the tree that he had prepared for Mordecai, and the fury of the king hath lain down.

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 the king turneth aside his signet, that he hath caused to pass away from Haman, and giveth it to Mordecai, and Esther setteth Mordecai over the house of Haman.

And Esther addeth, and speaketh before the king, and falleth before his feet, and weepeth, and maketh supplication to him, to cause the evil of Haman the Agagite to pass away, and his device that he had devised against the Jews;

and saith, 'If to the king it be good, and if I have found grace before him, and the thing hath been right before the king, and I be good in his eyes, let it be written to bring back the letters -- a device of Haman son of Hammedatha the Agagite -- that he wrote to destroy the Jews who are in all provinces of the king,

for how do I endure when I have looked on the evil that doth find my people? and how do I endure when I have looked on the destruction of my kindred?'

And the king Ahasuerus saith to Esther the queen, and to Mordecai the Jew, 'Lo, the house of Haman I have given to Esther, and him they have hanged on the tree, because that he put forth his hand on the Jews,

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.

that the king hath given to the Jews who are in every city and city, to be assembled, and to stand for their life, to cut off, to slay, and to destroy the whole force of the people and province who are distressing them, infants and women, and their spoil to seize.

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 --

And all heads of the provinces, and the lieutenants, and the governors, and those doing the work that the king hath, are lifting up the Jews, for a fear of Mordecai hath fallen upon them;

On that day hath come the number of the slain in Shushan the palace before the king,

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.

And the Jews have received that which they had begun to do, and that which Mordecai hath written unto them,

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 in her coming in before the king, he said with the letter, 'Let his evil device that he devised against the Jews turn back upon his own head,' and they have hanged him and his sons on the tree,