1 This took place in the time of Ahasuerus, the Ahasuerus who ruled a hundred and twenty-seven provinces stretching from India to Cush.
2 In those days, as King Ahasuerus sat on his royal throne in Susa the citadel,
3 in the third year of his reign he held a feast for all his officials and servants. The army of Persia and Media, the nobles, and the governors of the provinces were present before him,
4 as he showed off the wealth of his glorious kingdom and the costly splendor of his greatness for a long time, a hundred and eighty days.
5 At the end of those days the king held a seven-day feast in the garden court of the royal palace for all the people in Susa the citadel, from the most important to the least.
6 There were curtains of white linen and violet hung by cords of fine linen and purple on silver rods and marble columns, and couches of gold and silver on a mosaic pavement of porphyry, marble, mother-of-pearl, and colored stones.
7 Drinks were served in gold cups, each one different from the next, and there was plenty of royal wine, in keeping with the king's bounty.
8 The drinking followed the rule that there was to be no compulsion, for the king had ordered all the stewards of his household to serve each man what he wanted.
9 Queen Vashti also held a feast for the women in King Ahasuerus's royal palace.
10 On the seventh day, when the king was in high spirits from the wine, he ordered Mehuman, Biztha, Harbona, Bigtha, Abagtha, Zethar, and Carkas, the seven eunuchs who attended King Ahasuerus,
11 to bring Queen Vashti before the king, wearing her royal crown, to display her beauty to the peoples and the officials, for she was very beautiful.
12 But Queen Vashti refused to come when the eunuchs brought the king's order. The king was furious, and his anger burned within him.
13 The king consulted the wise men who understood the times, for it was the king's custom to consult all who were experts in law and justice.
14 Closest to him were Carshena, Shethar, Admatha, Tarshish, Meres, Marsena, and Memucan, the seven officials of Persia and Media who had access to the king and held the highest rank in the kingdom.
15 "By law, what should be done to Queen Vashti," he asked, "since she has not obeyed the order of King Ahasuerus brought by the eunuchs?"
16 Memucan answered in the presence of the king and the officials, "Queen Vashti has done wrong not only against the king but against all the officials and all the peoples in every province of King Ahasuerus.
17 For what the queen has done will become known to all the women, and they will look down on their husbands and say, 'King Ahasuerus ordered Queen Vashti brought before him, but she would not come.'
18 This very day the noblewomen of Persia and Media who have heard about the queen's behavior will say the same to all the king's officials, and there will be no end of contempt and anger.
19 If it pleases the king, let him issue a royal decree, and let it be recorded in the laws of Persia and Media so that it cannot be repealed, that Vashti is never again to appear before King Ahasuerus. Let the king give her royal position to someone else who is better than she.
20 Then when the king's decree is proclaimed throughout his vast kingdom, all women will honor their husbands, from the greatest to the least."
21 The king and the officials liked this advice, and the king did what Memucan proposed.
22 He sent letters to all the royal provinces, to each province in its own script and to each people in its own language, declaring that every man should be ruler over his own household and should speak in the language of his own people.