'King' in the Bible

In those days as King Ahasuerus was sitting on the throne of his kingdom, which [was] in the citadel of Susa,

And when those days were completed, the king gave for all the people that were present at the citadel of Susa, both great and small, a banquet in the courtyard of the king's palace garden that lasted seven days.

Drinks were served in goblets of gold and {goblets of different kinds}, and [there was] {plentiful royal wine according to the bounty of the king}.

There were no restrictions on the drinking, for the king had instructed every official of his palace to do as each one pleased.

Furthermore, Queen Vashti gave a banquet for the women [in] {the palace} that belonged to King Ahasuerus.

On the seventh day, when the heart of the king was merry with wine, he said to Mehuman, Biztha, Harbona, Bigtha, Abagtha, Zethar, and Carcas, seven of the eunuchs attending King Ahasuerus,

to bring Queen Vashti before the king {with her royal crown} to show the people and the officials her beauty, {for she was very attractive}.

But Queen Vashti refused to come at the word of the king that [was] {conveyed by} the eunuchs. And the king became very angry, and his anger burned in him.

And the king said to the wise men, {the ones who know the times}--for it [was] the procedure of the king before all those who knew law and rights;

and those next to him were Carshena, Shethar, Admatha, Tarshish, Meres, Marsena, Memucan, the seven officials of Persia and Media who {had access to the king} and sat first in the kingdom--

"According to [the] law, what is to be done with Queen Vashti, because she has not done the command of King Ahasuerus {conveyed by} the eunuchs?

And Memucan said before the king and the officials, "Not only has Queen Vashti done wrong to the king, but to all the officials and all of the people who [are] in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus.

For this deed of the queen {will be known} to all the women, causing them {to look with contempt on their husbands}, as they will say, 'King Ahasuerus commanded Queen Vashti to be brought before him but she did not come!'

This day the women of nobility from Persia and Media will respond to all the officials of the king and there will be no end to contempt and anger.

{If it pleases} the king, let {a royal edict} go out from him, and let it be written among the laws of Persia and Media so that it will not be altered, that Vashti cannot come before King Ahasuerus; and let the king give her royal position to her neighbor who [is] better than she.

{This advice pleased the king} and the officials, and the king acted according to the word of Memucan.

And he sent letters to all the provinces of the king, to each province according to its own script, and to every people in their own {language}, that every man should be the master of his house and who speaks in the {language} of his people.

After these things, when the anger of King Ahasuerus subsided, he remembered Vashti and what she had done and what had been decreed against her.

And the king's servants attending him said, "Let them seek attractive young virgins for the king.

Let the king appoint chief officers in all the provinces of his kingdom, and let them gather every attractive young virgin to the {harem} in the citadel of Susa {under the care of} Hegai, the king's eunuch, who is in charge of the women; and let him give [them] their beauty treatment.

who was deported from Jerusalem with the exiles who were deported with Jeconiah the king of Judah, whom King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon had deported.

And it happened, at the proclaiming of the edict of the king and his law, when many young women were being gathered to the citadel of Susa {under Hegai's care}, Esther was taken to the {king's palace} {under the care of} Hegai who was in charge of the women.

When the turn came for each girl to go to King Ahasuerus, after the end of twelve months of being under the regulations of the women--for the days of their beauty treatments had to be filled, six months with the oil of myrrh and six months with perfumes and women's cosmetics--

in this way, the girl goes to the king and all that she asks is given to her {to take} with her from the {harem} to the {king's palace}.

In the evening she would go and in the morning she would return to the {second harem} {under the care of} Shaashgaz, the king's eunuch in charge of the concubines. She would not go back to the king unless the king delighted in her and she was called by name.

When the turn came near for Esther daughter of Abihail the uncle of Mordecai, who had taken [her] as a daughter, to go to the king, she did not ask anything except what Hegai the eunuch of the king who was in charge of the women, advised. And Esther carried favor in the eyes of everyone that saw her.

Esther was taken to King Ahasuerus, to his {palace}, in the tenth month that is Tebeth in the seventh year of his reign.

And the king loved Esther more than all the women, and she won his favor and loyalty more than all the virgins, so he put a {royal crown} on her head and made her queen instead of Vashti.

And the king gave a great banquet, Esther's banquet, for all his officials and servants. And he granted a tax amnesty to the provinces and he gave gifts with royal liberality.

When [the] virgins were gathered a second time, Mordecai [was] sitting at the gate of the king.

In those days Mordecai [was] sitting at the gate of the king. Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king's eunuchs from the keepers of the threshold, became angry and they conspired {to assassinate} King Ahasuerus.

And the matter became known to Mordecai and he told [it] to Queen Esther, and Esther told [it] to the king in the name of Mordecai.

And the matter was investigated and found [to be so]; and the two of them were hanged on [the] gallows, and it was written in the scroll of the events of the days before the presence of the king.

After these things King Ahasuerus promoted Haman son of Hammedatha the Agagite, and he exalted him and set {his position} above all the officials who [were] with him.

And all of the king's servants who [were] at the gate of the king [were] kneeling and bowing down to Haman; for so the king had commanded concerning him, but Mordecai did not kneel and bow down.

And the king's servants who [were] at the gate of the king said to Mordecai, "Why [are] you transgressing the command of the king?"

In the first month, that [is], the month of Nisan, in the twelfth year of King Ahasurus, he cast pur--that [is], the lot--before the presence of Haman {for the day and for the month}, until the twelfth month, that [is], the month of Adar.

And Haman said to King Ahasuerus, "There is a certain people scattered and separated among the peoples in all of the provinces of your kingdom; their laws [are] different from every [other] people, and they do not {observe} the laws of the king; it is not appropriate for the king to tolerate them.

If it pleases the king, let a [decree] be issued to destroy them, and I will pay ten thousand talents of silver to those who do the job, to bring to the treasury of the king."

So the king removed his signet ring from his hand and gave it to Haman son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the enemy of the Jews.

And the king said to Haman, "The money [is] given to you and to the people to do with it {as you see fit}.

And the king's secretaries were called in the first month on the thirteenth day, and [a decree] was issued, according to all that Haman commanded, to the satraps of the king and to the governors who [were] over all the provinces, and to [the] officials of all the people, to each province according to [its own] script and to all people according to their own language; [it was] written in the name of King Ahasuerus and [was] sealed with the king's ring.

Letters [were] sent by couriers to all the provinces of the king to destroy, to kill, and to annihilate all the Jews, {both young and old}, women and children, on one day, the thirteenth day of the month, that [is] Adar, and to plunder their goods.

The couriers went out quickly by order of the king, and the law was issued in the citadel of Susa. The king and Haman sat down to drink; and the city of Susa was bewildered.

he went up to the entrance of the gate of the king, for he could not go to the gate of the king in sackcloth.

So Hathach went out to Mordecai, to the public square of the city, which [was] in front of the gate of the king,

and Mordecai told him all that had happened to him, and the exact amount of money that Haman has promised to pay to the treasury of the king for the destruction of the Jews.

And he gave him a copy of the edict of the law that had been issued in Susa for their destruction to show Esther, and to inform her, and to charge her to go to the king and make supplication to him and entreat before him for her people.

"All the king's servants and the people of the king's provinces know that [if] any man or woman who goes to the king to the inner courtyard, who is not called, he has one law, to be killed, except if the king extends to him the gold scepter so that he may live. I have not been called to come to the king {for thirty days}."

Then Mordecai told [them] to reply to Esther: "Do not think that your life will be saved [in] the palace of the king more than all the Jews.

"Go, gather all the Jews that are found in Susa and fast for me; do not eat or drink [for] three days, both night and day. I and my young girls will fast likewise, and then I will go to the king, which [is] not according to the law; if I perish, I perish.

And it happened, on the third day, and Esther put on royal clothes, and she stood in the inner courtyard of the {king's palace}, opposite the {king's palace}; the king [was] sitting on his royal throne in the {throne room} opposite the doorway of the palace.

When the king saw Queen Esther standing in the courtyard she found favor in his eyes, and the king held out the gold scepter that [was] in his hand to Esther, and Esther approached and touched the top of the scepter.

And the king said to her, "What [is] it, Queen Esther? What [is] your request? It will be given to you--even half the kingdom."

And Esther said, "If it is good to the king, let the king and Haman come today to the banquet that I have prepared for him."

And the king said, "Bring Haman quickly {to fulfill} the request of Esther." So the king and Haman came to the banquet that Esther had prepared.

And the king said to Esther {while they were drinking wine}, "What [is] your petition? It will be given to you. What [is] your request? Even half the kingdom, it will done.

If I have found favor in the eyes of the king, and if it is good to the king to grant my petition and fulfill my request, let the king and Haman come to the banquet that I will prepare for them tomorrow, and I will do according to the word of the king.

And Haman went out on that day rejoicing and {feeling good}. But when Haman saw Mordecai at the gate of the king, and he did not rise or tremble before him, Haman was filled {with rage toward} Mordecai.

And Haman recounted to them the splendor of his wealth and the number of his sons and all [the ways] that the king had honored him and promoted him above the officials and king's servants.

{And Haman added}, "Esther the Queen did not let [just anyone] come to the banquet that she prepared with the king except me, and I am also invited tomorrow to her [banquet] with the king.

But all this {fails to satisfy me} {when} I see Mordecai the Jew setting at the gate of the king."

And Zeresh his wife and all of his friends said to him, "Let them make a gallows fifty cubits high, and in the morning tell the king, "Let them hang Mordecai on it; then go with the king to the banquet happily." The advice pleased Haman, so he had the gallows made.

During that night the king's sleep escaped [him], and he gave orders to bring the {scroll of records and chronicles}, and they were read before the king.

And it was found written how Mordecai had reported concerning Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king's eunuchs from the keepers of the threshold who had conspired {to assassinate} King Ahasuerus.

And the king asked, "What has been done to bestow honor to Mordecai for this?" And the king's servants who attended him said, "Nothing has been done for him."

And the king asked, "Who [is] in the courtyard?" Haman had just come to the courtyard of the king's outer palace to tell the king to hang Mordecai on the gallows that he had prepared for him.

And the king's servants said to him, "Look! Haman [is] standing in the courtyard." And the king said, "Let him come."

And Haman came, and the king said to him, "What [is] to be done for the man whom the king wishes to honor?" And Haman thought to himself, "Whom would the king wish to honor more than me?"

So Haman said to the king, "For a man whom the king wishes to honor,

let them bring {royal clothing} with which the king has clothed himself, and a horse that the king has ridden, and on whose head a royal head-dress has been given.

And let the clothing and the horse be given {to the man} by the officials of the king's nobles; let them cloth the man whom the king wishes to honor, and let him ride on his horse through the public square of the city, and let them proclaim before him, 'Thus, it will be done for the man whom the king wishes to honor.'"

Then the king said to Haman, "Quickly, take the clothing and the horse, just as you have said, and do so to Mordecai the Jew who sits at the gate of the king; you must not leave out anything from what you have said."

So Haman took the clothing and the horse, and he clothed Mordecai and let him ride through the public square of the city; and he proclaimed before him, "Thus, it is done to the man whom the king wishes to honor."

Then Mordecai returned to the gate of the king, and Haman rushed to his house mournful and with his head covered.

So the king and Haman went {to dine} with Queen Esther.

And the king again said to Esther, on the second day {while they were drinking}, "What [is] your petition, Queen Esther? It will be given to you. What [is] your request? It will be given [to you]--even half the kingdom."

Then Queen Esther answered, and she said, "If I have found favor in your eyes, O king, and if it is good to the king, let my life be given to me at my petition and my people at my request;

I and my people have been sold to be destroyed and killed, to be annihilated. If we had been sold as male and female slaves I would have kept quiet, because this is not a need sufficient to trouble the king."

And King Ahasuerus said to Queen Esther, "Who [is] he, and where [is] he, who {gave himself the right to do this}?"

And Esther said, "The adversary and enemy [is] this evil Haman!" And Haman was terrified before the king and queen.

The king rose in his anger {from the banquet} [and went] to the palace garden, and Haman stood to beg for his life from Queen Esther, for {he realized that the king was determined to make an end to his life}.

And the king returned from the palace garden to the {banquet hall}, [where] Haman [was] lying prostrate on the couch that Esther [was] on, and the king said, "Will he also molest the queen with me in the house?" As the words went from the king's mouth they covered Haman's face.

And Habrona, one of the eunuchs in the presence of the king, said, "Look, the same gallows that Haman had prepared for Mordecai who spoke good [for the sake] of the king stands at Haman's house, fifty cubits high." And the king said, "Hang him on it."

And they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai, and the anger of the king was abated.

On that day King Ahasuerus gave Queen Esther the house of Haman, the enemy of the Jews; and Mordecai came before the king, for Esther had told what he [was] to her.

And the king removed his signet ring that he had taken away from Haman, and he gave it to Mordecai. So Esther set Mordecai over the house of Haman.

And Esther again spoke before the king, and she fell before his feet and wept, pleading for his grace to avert Haman the Agagite's evil [plan] and the plot that he devised against the Jews.

And the king held out to Esther the scepter of gold, and Esther rose and stood before the king,

and she said, "If it is good to the king, and if I have found favor before him, and if the king is pleased with this matter, and {I have his approval}, let [an edict] be written to revoke the letters of the plans of Haman son of Hammedatha the Agagite, which he wrote to destroy the Jews that [are] in all the provinces of the king.

And King Ahasuerus said to Queen Esther and to Mordecai the Jew, "Look, I have given Haman's house to Esther, and they have hanged him on the gallows because he {plotted against} the Jews.

Write {as you see fit} concerning the Jews in the name of the king, and seal [it] with the king's signet ring; for a decree that is written in the name of the king and sealed with the king's signet ring cannot be revoked."

And the secretaries of the king were summoned at that time, in the third month, which [is] in the month of Sivan on the twenty-third [day], and [an edict] was written according to all that Mordecai commanded, to the Jews and to the governors and satraps and officials of the provinces from India to Cush--one hundred and twenty-seven provinces--each province according to its own script and to every people in their own {language}, and to the Jews in their own script and language.

And he wrote in the name of King Ahasuerus, and he sealed [the letters] with the king's signet ring and sent them by couriers on horses, riding on royal horses {bred by} racing mares.

[In them] the king allowed the Jews who [were] in every city to assemble and {defend their lives}, to destroy and kill and annihilate any army of any people or province attacking them, including women and children, and to plunder their spoil,

in one day in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, on the thirteenth [day] of the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar.

Mordecai went out from the presence of the king in {royal clothing} of blue cloth and white linen, and a great crown of gold and a robe of fine white linen and purple, and the city of Susa was shouting and rejoicing.

In the twelfth month, that [is] the month of Adar, on the thirteenth day, on which the edict of the king arrived and his law was enacted, on the day in which the enemies of the Jews had hoped to gain power over them but was overturned, [and] the Jews gained power against their enemies,

the Jews gathered in their cities in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus {to strike against} those who sought their destruction, and no one could withstand them, as the fear of them fell on all the people.

All the officials of the provinces, the satraps, governors, and {those who did the work of the king} [were] supporting the Jews, because the fear of Mordecai had fallen on them.