Esther 1:1-14

This is what happened during the time of King Xerxes, the king who ruled the one hundred twenty-seven states from India to Cush. In those days King Xerxes ruled from his capital city of Susa. In the third year of his rule, he gave a banquet for all his important men and royal officers. The army leaders from the countries of Persia and Media and the important men from all Xerxes’ empire were there. The banquet lasted one hundred eighty days. All during that time King Xerxes was showing off the great wealth of his kingdom and his own great riches and glory. When the one hundred eighty days were over, the king gave another banquet. It was held in the courtyard of the palace garden for seven days, and it was for everybody in the palace at Susa, from the greatest to the least. The courtyard had fine white curtains and purple drapes that were tied to silver rings on marble pillars by white and purple cords. And there were gold and silver couches on a floor set with tiles of white marble, shells, and gems. Wine was served in gold cups of various kinds. And there was plenty of the king’s wine, because he was very generous. The king commanded that the guests be permitted to drink as much as they wished. He told the wine servers to serve each man what he wanted. Queen Vashti also gave a banquet for the women in the royal palace of King Xerxes. On the seventh day of the banquet, King Xerxes was very happy, because he had been drinking much wine. He gave a command to the seven eunuchs who served him—Mehuman, Biztha, Harbona, Bigtha, Abagtha, Zethar, and Carcas. He commanded them to bring him Queen Vashti, wearing her royal crown. She was to come to show her beauty to the people and important men, because she was very beautiful. The eunuchs told Queen Vashti about the king’s command, but she refused to come. Then the king became very angry; his anger was like a burning fire. It was a custom for the king to ask advice from experts about law and order. So King Xerxes spoke with the wise men who would know the right thing to do. The wise men the king usually talked to were Carshena, Shethar, Admatha, Tarshish, Meres, Marsena, and Memucan, seven of the important men of Persia and Media. These seven had special privileges to see the king and had the highest rank in the kingdom.