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The Blue Letter Bible

Esther 1 :: English Standard Version (ESV)

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The King’s Banquets

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Unchecked Copy Box Est 1:1

Unchecked Copy BoxEst 1:1 - Now in the days of Ahasuerus, the Ahasuerus who reigned from India to Ethiopia over 127 provinces,

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Unchecked Copy Box Est 1:2

Unchecked Copy BoxEst 1:2 - in those days when King Ahasuerus sat on his royal throne in Susa, the citadel,

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Unchecked Copy Box Est 1:3

Unchecked Copy BoxEst 1:3 - in the third year of his reign he gave a feast for all his officials and servants. The army of Persia and Media and the nobles and governors of the provinces were before him,

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Unchecked Copy Box Est 1:4

Unchecked Copy BoxEst 1:4 - while he showed the riches of his royal glory and the splendor and pomp of his greatness for many days, 180 days.

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Unchecked Copy Box Est 1:5

Unchecked Copy BoxEst 1:5 - And when these days were completed, the king gave for all the people present in Susa the citadel, both great and small, a feast lasting for seven days in the court of the garden of the king’s palace.

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Unchecked Copy Box Est 1:6

Unchecked Copy BoxEst 1:6 - There were white cotton curtains and violet hangings fastened with cords of fine linen and purple to silver rods[fn] and marble pillars, and also couches of gold and silver on a mosaic pavement of porphyry, marble, mother-of-pearl, and precious stones.

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Unchecked Copy Box Est 1:7

Unchecked Copy BoxEst 1:7 - Drinks were served in golden vessels, vessels of different kinds, and the royal wine was lavished according to the bounty of the king.

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Unchecked Copy Box Est 1:8

Unchecked Copy BoxEst 1:8 - And drinking was according to this edict: “There is no compulsion.” For the king had given orders to all the staff of his palace to do as each man desired.

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Unchecked Copy Box Est 1:9

Unchecked Copy BoxEst 1:9 - Queen Vashti also gave a feast for the women in the palace that belonged to King Ahasuerus.

Queen Vashti’s Refusal

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Unchecked Copy Box Est 1:10

Unchecked Copy BoxEst 1:10 - On the seventh day, when the heart of the king was merry with wine, he commanded Mehuman, Biztha, Harbona, Bigtha and Abagtha, Zethar and Carkas, the seven eunuchs who served in the presence of King Ahasuerus,

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Unchecked Copy Box Est 1:11

Unchecked Copy BoxEst 1:11 - to bring Queen Vashti before the king with her royal crown,[fn] in order to show the peoples and the princes her beauty, for she was lovely to look at.

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Unchecked Copy Box Est 1:12

Unchecked Copy BoxEst 1:12 - But Queen Vashti refused to come at the king’s command delivered by the eunuchs. At this the king became enraged, and his anger burned within him.

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Unchecked Copy Box Est 1:13

Unchecked Copy BoxEst 1:13 - Then the king said to the wise men who knew the times (for this was the king’s procedure toward all who were versed in law and judgment,

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Unchecked Copy Box Est 1:14

Unchecked Copy BoxEst 1:14 - the men next to him being Carshena, Shethar, Admatha, Tarshish, Meres, Marsena, and Memucan, the seven princes of Persia and Media, who saw the king’s face, and sat first in the kingdom):

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Unchecked Copy Box Est 1:15

Unchecked Copy BoxEst 1:15 - “According to the law, what is to be done to Queen Vashti, because she has not performed the command of King Ahasuerus delivered by the eunuchs?”

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Unchecked Copy Box Est 1:16

Unchecked Copy BoxEst 1:16 - Then Memucan said in the presence of the king and the officials, “Not only against the king has Queen Vashti done wrong, but also against all the officials and all the peoples who are in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus.

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Unchecked Copy Box Est 1:17

Unchecked Copy BoxEst 1:17 - For the queen’s behavior will be made known to all women, causing them to look at their husbands with contempt,[fn] since they will say, ‘King Ahasuerus commanded Queen Vashti to be brought before him, and she did not come.’

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Unchecked Copy Box Est 1:18

Unchecked Copy BoxEst 1:18 - This very day the noble women of Persia and Media who have heard of the queen’s behavior will say the same to all the king’s officials, and there will be contempt and wrath in plenty.

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Unchecked Copy Box Est 1:19

Unchecked Copy BoxEst 1:19 - If it please the king, let a royal order go out from him, and let it be written among the laws of the Persians and the Medes so that it may not be repealed, that Vashti is never again to come before King Ahasuerus. And let the king give her royal position to another who is better than she.

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Unchecked Copy Box Est 1:20

Unchecked Copy BoxEst 1:20 - So when the decree made by the king is proclaimed throughout all his kingdom, for it is vast, all women will give honor to their husbands, high and low alike.”

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Unchecked Copy Box Est 1:21

Unchecked Copy BoxEst 1:21 - This advice pleased the king and the princes, and the king did as Memucan proposed.

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Unchecked Copy Box Est 1:22

Unchecked Copy BoxEst 1:22 - He sent letters to all the royal provinces, to every province in its own script and to every people in its own language, that every man be master in his own household and speak according to the language of his people.
See the ESV Preface (Especially for Parenthesis, Brackets, & Asterisks).
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Hebrew to disdain their husbands in their eyes
ESV

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version copyright © 2001, 2007, 2011, 2016 by Crossway Books and Bibles, a Publishing Ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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For more information on this translation, see the ESV Preface.

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Esther Chapter 1 — Additional Translations:

King James Version New King James Version New Living Translation New International Version Christian Standard Bible New American Standard Bible 2020 New American Standard Bible 1995 Legacy Standard Bible Amplified Bible New English Translation Revised Standard Version American Standard Version Young's Literal Translation Darby Translation Webster's Bible Hebrew Names Version Latin Vulgate Westminster Leningrad Codex Septuagint Smith Van Dyck Arabic Bible Open New Arabic Version Brenton's English Septuagint Reina Valera 1909 Reina-Valera 1960 Bible in Basic English Chinese Traditional Union Espanol Moderno Korean Holy Bible Louis Segond German Luther Russian Synodal Translation Sagradas Escrituras