Now it came to pass in the third year of the reign of Ahasuerus, when the king sat on the throne which is in Shushan the palace, he made a feast unto all his princes and servants, and showed the riches of his glorious kingdom for many days.

And when these days were expired, the king made a feast in Shushan the palace, seven days, in the court of the garden of the king's palace.

The silken hangings were white, green, and blue, fastened with cords of fine linen and purple to silver rings and pillars of marble; and the couches were of gold and silver, upon a pavement of red, and blue, and white, and black marble.

On the seventh day, when the heart of the king was merry, he commanded the chamberlains that served in his presence to bring Vashti the queen before the king with the crown royal, to show the people and the princes her beauty; for she was fair to look on.

But the queen Vashti refused to come at the king's commandment by his chamberlains; therefore was the king very wroth, and his anger burned in him.

Then the king said to the wise men, "What shall I do unto Queen Vashti because she has not performed the commandment of the King?"

And they answered before the king, "Vashti the queen hath done wrong not to the king only, but also to the princes and to all the people in all the provinces of the king's dominions. Therefore, if it please the king, let there go a royal commandment from him, and let it be written among the laws of the Persians and the Medes, which may not be altered, 'Vashti shall come no more before King Ahasuerus;' and let the king give her royal estate unto another that is better than she."

And the saying pleased the king and the princes, and the king did according to the word of the wise men.

II

After these things, when the wrath of King Ahasuerus was appeased, the servants that ministered unto the king said, "Let there be fair young virgins sought for the king. And let the king appoint officers in all the provinces of his kingdom, that they may gather together all the fair young virgins unto Shushan the palace, to the house of the women, unto the custody of Hege the king's chamberlain, and let the maiden which pleaseth the king be queen instead of Vashti."

And the thing pleased the king; and he did so.

Now in Shushan the palace there was a certain Jew, whose name was Mordecai, who had been carried from Jerusalem into captivity by Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, and who brought up Esther, his uncle's daughter. She had neither father nor mother, and the maid was fair and beautiful; whom Mordecai took for his own daughter. So it came to pass, when the king's commandment and his decree were heard, and when many maidens were gathered together unto Shushan the palace, that Esther was brought also unto the king's house, to the custody of Hege.

The maiden pleased him, and she obtained kindness of him, and he preferred her and her maids unto the best in the house of the women. And Mordecai walked every day before the court of the women's house, to know how Esther did, and what should become of her.

So Esther was taken unto King Ahasuerus, and the king loved Esther above all the women, and she obtained grace and favour in his sight more than all the virgins; so he set the royal crown upon her head, and made her queen instead of Vashti.

Then the king made a great feast unto all his princes and his servants, even Esther's feast.

And when the virgins were gathered together the second time, then
Mordecai sat in the king's gate.

Esther had not yet told her kindred nor her people, as Mordecai had charged her; for Esther did the commandment of Mordecai, like as when she was brought up by him.

In those days, while Mordecai sat in the king's gate, two of the king's chamberlains, who kept the door, were wroth, and sought to lay hand on the king Ahasuerus.

And the thing was known to Mordecai, who told it unto Esther the queen; and Esther told the king thereof in Mordecai's name.

And when inquisition was made of the matter, it was found true; therefore they were both hanged on a tree.

III

After these things did King Ahasuerus promote Haman the son of Hammedatha, and advanced him, and set his seat above all the princes that were with him.

And all the king's servants, that were in the king's gate, bowed, and reverenced Haman; for the king had so commanded concerning him. But Mordecai bowed not, nor did him reverence.

Then the king's servants, that were in the king's gate, said unto
Mordecai, "Why transgressest thou the king's commandment?"

Now it came to pass, when they spake daily unto him, and he hearkened not unto them, that they told Haman, for Mordecai had told them that he was a Jew.

And when Haman saw that Mordecai bowed not, nor did him reverence, then was Haman full of wrath.

And he thought scorn to lay hands on Mordecai alone; wherefore Haman sought to destroy all the Jews that were throughout the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus, even all the people of Mordecai.

And Haman said unto King Ahasuerus, "There is a certain people scattered abroad and dispersed among the people in all the provinces of thy kingdom; and their laws are diverse from all people, neither keep they the king's laws; therefore it is not for the king's profit to suffer them.

"If it please the king, let it be written that they may be destroyed, and I will pay ten thousand talents of silver to the hands of those that have the charge of the business, to bring it into the king's treasuries."

[Illustration: MORDECAI IN THE KING'S GATE]

And the king took his ring from his hand, and gave it unto Haman, the son of Hammedatha, the Jews' enemy, and said:

"The people are given to thee to do with them as it seemeth good to thee."

Then were the king's scribes called, and there was written according to all that Haman had commanded, unto the king's lieutenants, governors and rulers of every province, and to every people in the kingdom after their own language. And it was written in the name of King Ahasuerus and sealed with the king's ring.

And the letters were sent by posts into all the king's provinces, to destroy and to kill all Jews, both young and old, little children and women, in one day, even upon the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, and to take the spoil of them for a prey.

IV

When Mordecai perceived all that was done, he rent his clothes, and put on sackcloth with ashes, and went out into the midst of the city, and cried with a loud and a bitter cry; and came even before the king's gate, for none might enter into the king's gate clothed with sackcloth.

And in every province, whithersoever the king's commandment and his decree came, there was great mourning among the Jews, and fasting, and weeping, and wailing; and many lay in sackcloth and ashes.

So Esther's maids and her chamberlains came and told her about Mordecai.
Then was the queen exceedingly grieved; and she sent raiment to clothe
Mordecai, and to take away his sackcloth from him; but he received it
not.

Then called Esther for the chamberlain whom the king had appointed to attend upon her, and sent him to Mordecai to know what it was, and why it was that he mourned. And the chamberlain went forth to Mordecai unto the street of the city which was before the King's gate.

And Mordecai told him of all that had happened unto him.

Also he gave him the copy of the writing of the decree that was given at Shushan to destroy the Jews, to show it unto Esther, and to charge her that she should go in unto the king, to make supplication unto him, and to make request before him for her people.

The chamberlain came and told Esther the words of Mordecai, and again
Esther sent to Mordecai, saying:

"All the king's servants, and the people of the king's provinces, do know, that for every one, whether man or woman, that shall come unto the king into the inner court, when he is not called, there is one law to put him to death; except those to whom the king shall hold out the golden sceptre; but I have not been called to come in unto the king these thirty days."

And they told to Mordecai Esther's words.

Then Mordecai commanded to answer Esther, "Think not with thyself that thou shalt escape in the king's house, more than the other Jews.

"For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then shall deliverance arise to the Jews from another source; but thou and thy father's house shall be destroyed. Who knoweth whether thou art not come to the kingdom for such a purpose as this?"

[Illustration: HE PUT ON SACKCLOTH WITH ASHES]

Then Esther bade them return this answer:

"Go, gather together all the Jews that are present in Shushan, and fast ye for me, and neither eat nor drink for three days, night or day; I also, and my maidens, will fast likewise; and so will I go in unto the king, although it is not according to the law; and if I perish, I perish."

So Mordecai went his way, and did according to all that Esther had commanded him.

V

Now it came to pass on the third day, that Esther put on her royal apparel, and stood in the inner court of the king's house; and the king sat upon his royal throne in the royal house, over against the gate of the house.

And it was so, when the king saw Esther the queen standing in the court, that she obtained favour in his sight; and the king held out to Esther the golden sceptre that was in his hand. So Esther drew near, and touched the top of the sceptre. Then said the king unto her, "What wilt thou, Queen Esther? and what is thy request? It shall be given thee even to the half of my kingdom."

And Esther answered, "If it seem good unto the king, let the king and
Haman come this day unto the banquet that I have prepared for him."

Then the king said, "Cause Haman to make haste, that he may do as Esther hath said."

So the king and Haman came to the banquet that Esther had prepared.

And the king said unto Esther at the banquet, "What is thy petition and thy request, and it shall be given thee even to the half of my kingdom."

Then answered Esther, and said, "My petition and my request is: If I have found favour in the sight of the king, and if it please the king to grant my petition, and to perform my request, let the king and Haman come to the banquet that I shall prepare for them, and on the morrow I will make my request as the king hath said."

Then went Haman forth that day joyful and with a glad heart; but when Haman saw, in the king's gate, that Mordecai stood not up, nor moved for him, he was full of indignation against Mordecai. Nevertheless Haman refrained himself; and when he came home, he sent and called for his friends, and his wife. And Haman told them of the glory of his riches, and the multitude of his children, and all the things wherein the king had promoted him, and how he had advanced him above the princes and servants of the king.

Haman said moreover, "Yea, Esther the queen did let no man come in with the king unto the banquet that she had prepared but myself; and to- morrow am I invited unto her also with the king.

"Yet all this availeth me nothing, so long as I see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the king's gate."

Then said his wife and all his friends, "Let a gallows be made of fifty cubits high, and to-morrow speak thou unto the king that Mordecai may be hanged thereon; then go thou in merrily with the king unto the banquet." And the thing pleased Haman; and he caused the gallows to be made.

VI

On that night could not the king sleep, and he commanded to bring the book of records of the chronicles; and they were read before the king.

And it was found written therein that Mordecai had told of the two keepers of the door who had sought to lay hand on King Ahasuerus.

And the king said, "What honour and dignity hath been done to Mordecai for this?"

Then said the king's servants that ministered unto him, "There is nothing done for him."

And the king said, "Who is in the court?"

Now Haman was come into the outward court of the king's house, to ask the king to hang Mordecai on the gallows that he had prepared for him.

And the king's servants said unto Ahasuerus, "Behold, Haman standeth in the court."

And the king said, "Let him come in."

So Haman came in. And the king said unto him, "What shall be done unto the man whom the king delighteth to honour?"

Now Haman thought in his heart, "To whom would the king delight to do honour more than to myself?" And Haman answered the king, "For the man whom the king delighteth to honour, let the royal apparel be brought which the king weareth, and the horse that the king rideth upon, and the crown royal which is set upon his head. And let this apparel and horse be delivered to the hand of one of the king's most noble princes, that they may array the man whom the king delighteth to honour, and bring him on horseback through the street of the city, and proclaim before him, 'Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delighteth to honour.'"

Then the king said to Haman, "Make haste, and take the apparel and the horse, as thou hast said, and do even so to Mordecai the Jew, that sitteth at the king's gate; let nothing fail of all that thou hast spoken."

Then took Haman the apparel and the horse, and arrayed Mordecai, and brought him on horseback through the street of the city, and proclaimed before him, "Thus shall it be done unto the man whom the king delighteth to honour."

And Mordecai came again to the king's gate. But Haman hasted to his house, mourning, and having his head covered.

And Haman told his wife and all his friends everything that had befallen him.

Then said his wise men and his wife, "If Mordecai be of the seed of the Jews, before whom thou hast begun to fall, thou shalt not prevail against him, but shalt surely fall before him."

And while they were yet talking with him, came the king's chamberlains, and hasted to bring Haman unto the banquet that Esther had prepared.

VII

So the king and Haman came to the banquet with Esther the queen.

And the king said again unto Esther on the second day at the banquet of wine, "What is thy petition, Queen Esther? and it shall be granted thee; and what is thy request? and it shall be performed, even to the half of the kingdom."

Then Esther the queen answered and said, "If I have found favour in thy sight, O king, and if it please the king, let my life be given me at my petition, and my people at my request, for we are sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, to be slain, and to perish. But if we had been sold for bondmen and bondwomen only, I had held my tongue."

Then the king Ahasuerus answered and said unto Esther the queen, "Who is he, and where is he, that durst presume in his heart to do so?"

And Esther said, "The adversary and enemy is this wicked Haman." Then
Haman was afraid before the king and the queen.

And one of the chamberlains said before the king, "Behold, the gallows fifty cubits high, which Haman had made for Mordecai, who had spoken good for the king, standeth in the house of Haman."

Then the king said, "Hang him thereon."

So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai.
Then was the king's wrath pacified.

VIII

And Mordecai came before the king; for Esther had told what he was unto her. And the king took off his ring, which he had taken from Haman, and gave it unto Mordecai. And Esther set Mordecai over the house of Haman.

And Esther spake yet again before the king, and fell down at his feet, and besought him with tears to put away the mischief that Haman had devised against the Jews.

Then the king held out the golden sceptre toward Esther. So Esther arose and stood before the king, and said, "If it please the king, and if I have found favour in his sight, and the thing seem right before the king, and I be pleasing in his eyes, let it be written to reverse the letters devised by Haman the son of Hammedatha, which he wrote to destroy the Jews which are in all the king's provinces; for how can I endure to see the evil that shall come unto my people? or how can I endure to see the destruction of my kindred?"

[Illustration: THEN HAMAN WAS AFRAID]

Then the king Ahasuerus said unto Esther the queen, and to Mordecai the Jew, "Behold, I have given Esther the house of Haman, and him they have hanged upon the gallows, because he laid his hand upon the Jews.

"Write ye also for the Jews, as it liketh you, in the king's name, and seal it with the king's ring; for the writing which is written in the king's name, and sealed with the king's ring, may no man reverse."

Then were the king's scribes called, and it was written according to all that Mordecai commanded, unto the Jews, unto every province and unto every people according to their writing, and according to their language.

And Mordecai went out from the presence of the king in royal apparel of blue and white, and with a great crown of gold, and with a garment of fine linen and purple; and the city of Shushan rejoiced and was glad. The Jews had light, and gladness, and joy, and honour.

And in every province, and in every city, whithersoever the king's commandment and his decree came, the Jews had joy and gladness, a feast and a good day. And many of the people of the land became Jews; for the fear of the Jews fell upon them.

The story of Esther as told here is taken from the book of Esther in the
Bible. It has been abridged slightly, and a few words changed.