Esther

ESTHER | It is customary for the congregation to say aloud the passages marked by arrows, followed by the Reader. | 11 It happened in the days of Ahasuerus; Ahasuerus who ruled a hundred and | 2. twenty-seven provinces — from India to Ethiopia. At that time, when King | 3 Ahasuerus sat upon his royal throne in the imperial city of Shushan, in the | third year of his rule, he made a feast for all his ministers and courtiers, the | military men of Persia and Medea, the noblemen and the ministers of the 4 provinces, all coming before him. And there, for many days together, one hundred and eighty days in all, he displayed all the wealth of his noble reign, and the glory of his dazzling greatness. 5 When that time had passed, the king held a feast for all the men of the imperial city, Shushan, from the greatest to the lowliest, in the courtyard 6 of the king’s palace garden. There were swathes of fine white fabric there, of precious cotton and sky blue wool, all corded with strands of the finest linen and scarlet, and draped over silver bars and columns of marble; and there were couches of gold and silver, arranged on a terrace paved with alabaster 7 and marble, with mother of pearl and black onyx. And the guests were served their drink in vessels of gold - vessels unlike any other - royal wine, abundant 8 as the king’s largesse. And the drinking was strictly without duress; for so the king had instructed all the overseers of his home: to honor the wishes of each and every man. 9 Meanwhile, Vashti the queen made a feast of her own; a women’s feast, in 10 King Ahasuerus’ royal palace. And on the seventh day of the feasts, when the king had grown merry with wine, he instructed Mehuman, Bizta, Harvona, Bigta and Avagta, Zeitar and Karkas - the seven eunuchs who attended the 11 king, Ahasuerus - to bring Vashti the queen before the king in her royal crown, to show the peoples and the ministers her charms, for she was beauti- 12 ful indeed. But the queen, Vashti, refused to come at the word the king had conveyed through the eunuchs. And fury engulfed the king, and his rage blazed up within him. 13 Now the king addressed the wise men, who knew how to read the times — for it was the king’s practice to consult with those who knew the statutes and the 14 law. And the men of his closest circle, those who came freely into the king’s presence and occupied the first position in the realm, were seven ministers of Persia and Media named Karshena, Shetar, Admata, Tarshish, Meres, Marsena 15 and Memukhan. “What,” he asked, “would the law have us do with Vashti the queen, for refusing to obey the king’s word, conveyed to her by the eunuchs?”