Esther, chapters 11 - 14
NOTE. The portions of the Book of Esther commonly included in the Apocrypha
are extracts from the Greek version of the book, which differs substantially from
the Hebrew text (translated in The New English Bible: Old Testament). In
order that they may be read in their original sequence, the whole of the Greek
version is here translated, those portions which are not normally printed in the
Apocrypha being enclosed in square brackets, with the chapter and verse numbers
in italic figures. The order followed is that of the Greek text, but the chapter and
verse numbers are made to conform to those of the Authorized Version. Proper
names are given in the form in which they occur in the Greek version.
11 IN THE SECOND YEAR of the reign of Artaxerxes the Great King,
on the first day of Nisan, Mardochaeus son of Jairus, son of Semeius,
son of Kisaeus, of the tribe of Benjamin, had a dream. Mardochaeus
was a Jew living in the city of Susa, a man of high standing, who was
in the royal service; he came of those whom Nebuchadnezzar king
of Babylon had taken into exile from Jerusalem with Jechonias king of
Judah. This was his dream: din and tumult, peals of thunder and an earth-
quake, confusion upon the earth. Then appeared two dragons, ready
to grapple with each other, and the noise they made was terrible. Every
nation was roused by it to prepare for war, to fight against the righteous
nation. It was a day of darkness and gloom, with distress and anguish,
oppression and great confusion upon the earth. And the whole righteous
nation was troubled, dreading the evils in store for them, and they pre-
pared for death. They cried aloud to God; and in answer to their cry there
came as though from a little spring a great river brimming with water. It
grew light, and he sun rose; the humble were exalted and they devoured
the great. After he had had this dream and had seen what God had resolved
to do, Mardochaeus woke; he kept it before his mind, seeking in every way
to understand it, until nightfall.
12 Now when Mardochaeus was resting in the royal courtyard with
Gabatha and Tharra, the two eunuchs who guarded the courtyard, he
heard them deep in discussion. He listened carefully to discover what was
on their minds, and found that they were plotting violence against King
Artaxerxes. He denounced them to the king, who had the two eunuchs
interrogated. They confessed and were led away to execution. Then the
king wrote an account of it. The king gave Mardochaeus an appointment at
court, and rewarded him for his services. But Haman, the son of Hama-
dathus, a Bugaean, who enjoyed the king's favour, sought to injure Mardo-
chaeus and his people because of the two eunuchs.
1 [THOSE EVENTS HAPPENED in the days of Artaxerxes, the Artaxerxes
who ruled from India to Ethiopia, a hundred and twenty-seven pro-
vinces. At this time he sat on his royal throne in the city of Susa. Then in
the third year of his reign he gave a banquet for the King's Friends and
provincial governors. And afterwards, after displaying to them the wealth
of his empire and the splendour of his rich festivities for a hundred and
eighty days, wen these days of feasting were over, the king gave a banquet
for all the people of various races present in the city of Susa; it was held in
the court of the king's palace and lasted six days. The court was decorated
with white curtains of linen and cotton stretched on cords of purple, and
these were attached to blocks of gold and silver set on a pavement
of malachite, marble, and mother-of-pearl. There were mats of transparent
weave elaborately embroidered with roses arranged in a circle. The cups
were of gold and silver, and there was displayed a miniature cup made of
carbuncle worth thirty thousand talents. The wine was abundant and
sweet, from the king's own cellar. The drinking was not according to a
fixed rule, but the king had laid it down that all the stewards of his palace
should respect his will and that of the guests. In addition, Queen Astin
gave a banquet for the women in the same palace where King
Artaxerxes was.
On the seventh day, when he was in high good humour, the king ordered
Haman, Mazan, Tharra, Borazes, Zatholtha, Abataza, and Tharaba, the
seven eunuchs who were in attendance on the king's person, to bring the
queen before him, so that he might place the royal diadem on her head and
let her display her beauty to the officers and people of various races; for
she was indeed a beautiful woman. But Queen Astin refused to obey him
and come with the eunuchs. This offended the king and made him angry.
Then the king said to the courtiers, 'You hear what Astin said. Give your
ruling and judgement in the matter.' Then the nobles of Persia and Media
who sat closest to the king——Harkesaeus, Sarsathaeus, and Malesear,
should be done according to the law to Queen Astin for disobeying the
order which the king sent her by the eunuchs. Then Muchaeus said to
the king and the nobles: 'Queen Astin has done wrong, and not to the
king alone, but to all his nobles and officers as well.' (For he had repeated
to them what the queen had said and how she had defied the king.) 'And
just as she defied King Artaxerxes, so now the nobles of Persia and Media
will find that all their ladies are bold enough to treat their husbands with
contempt, when they hear what she said to the king. If it please your
majesty, let a royal decree go out from you, and let it be inscribed among
the laws of the Medes and Persians, that Astin shall not again appear before
the king; this is the only course. And let the king give her place as queen to
another woman who is more worthy of it than she. Let whatever law the king
makes be proclaimed throughout the empire, and then all women will give
due honour to their husbands, rich and poor alike.' The advice pleased the
king and the princes, and the king did as Muchaeus had proposed. Letters
were sent to all the provinces of the empire, to each province in its own
language, in order that every man might be respected in his own house.
2 Later, when the anger of King Artaxerxes had died down, he remembered
Astin and what she had done, and how he had given judgement against her.
So the king's attendant said: 'Let beautiful girls of unblemished virtue
be sought out for your majesty. Let your majesty appoint commissioners
in all the provinces of the empire to select these beautiful virgins and bring
them to the city of Susa, into the women's quarters. There let them be com-
mitted to the care of the king's eunuch in charge of the women, and let
them be provided with cosmetics and everything else they need. Then the
one who is most acceptable to the king shall become queen in place of
Astin.' The advice pleased the king, and he acted on it.
Now there was a Jew in the city of Susa named Mardochaeus, son of
Jairus, son of Semeius, son of Kisaeus, of the tribe of Benjamin; he had
been carried into exile from Jerusalem when it was taken by Nebuchad-
nezzar king of Babylon. He had a foster-child name Esther, the daughter
of his father's brother Aminadab. She had lost her parents, and he had
brought her up to womanhood. She was a very beautiful girl. When the
king's edict was proclaimed, many girls were brought to Susa to be
entrusted to Gai, who had charge of the women, and among them was
Esther. She attracted his notice and received his special favour: he readily
provided her with her cosmetics and allowance of food, and also with seven
maids assigned to her from the king's palace. He gave her and her maids
honourable treatment in the women's quarters.
Esther had not disclosed her race or country, because Mardochaeus had
forbidden her to do so. Every day Mardochaeus passed along by the fore-
court of the women's quarters to keep an eye on Esther and see what would
happen to her.
The period after which a girl was to go to the king was twelve months.
This was for the completion of the required treatment——six months with
oil and myrrh and six months with perfumes and cosmetics. Then the girl
went to the king. She was handed to the person appointed, and accompanied
him from the women's quarters to the king's palace. She entered the palace
in the evening and returned in the morning to Gai, the king's eunuch in
charge of the women, in another part of the women's quarters. She did not
go to the king again unless summoned by name.
When the time came for Esther, daughter of Aminadab the uncle of
Mardochaeus, to go to the king, she neglected none of the instructions of
Gai the king's eunuch in charge of the women; for Esther charmed all who
saw her. She was taken to King Artaxerxes in the twelfth month, that is,
the month Adar, in the seventh year of his reign. The king fell in love with
her, finding her more acceptable than any of the other girls, and crowned
her with the queen's diadem. Then the king gave a banquet lasting seven
days for all the King's Friends and the officers, to celebrate Esther's
marriage. He also granted a remission of taxation to all subjects of his
empire.
Mardochaeus was in attendance in the courtyard. But Esther had not
disclosed her country——such were the instructions of Mardochaeus; but
she was to fear God and keep his commandments just as she had done
when she was with him. So Esther made no change in her way of life.
Two of the king's eunuchs, officers of the bodyguard, were offended at
the advancement of Mardochaeus and plotted to kill King Artaxerxes.
This became known to Mardochaeus, who told Esther, and she revealed
the plot to the king. The king interrogated the two eunuchs and had them
hanged, and he ordered that the service Mardochaeus had rendered should
be recorded in the royal archives to his honour.
3 AFTER THIS King Artaxerxes promoted Haman son of Hamadathus
the Bugaean, advancing him and giving him precedence above all the
king's Friends. So all who were at court did obeisance to Haman, for so
the king had commanded; but Mardochaeus did not do obeisance. Then
the king's courtiers said to hm, 'Mardochaeus, why do you flout the king's
command?' Day by day they challenged him, but he refused to listen to
them. Then they informed Haman that Mardochaeus was resisting the
king's command. Mardochaeus had told them that he was a Jew. So when
Haman learnt that Mardochaeus was not doing obeisance to him, he was
infuriated and plotted to exterminate all the Jews under Artaxerxes' rule.
In the twelfth year of King Artaxerxes he arrived at a decision buy casting
lots, taking the days and the months one by one, to decide on one day for
the destruction of the whole race of Mardochaeus. The lot fell on the
thirteenth day of the month Adar.
Then Haman said to King Artaxerxes: 'There is a certain nation dis-
persed among the other nations of your empire. Their laws are different
from those of every other nation; they do not keep your majesty's laws. It
is not to your majesty's advantage to tolerate them. If it please your
majesty, let an order be made for their destruction; and I will contribute
ten thousand talents of silver to the royal treasury.' So the king took off his
signet-ring and gave it to Haman to seal the decree against the Jews. 'Keep
the money, and deal with these people as you will', he said.
On the thirteenth day of the first month the king's secretaries were
summoned, and in accordance with Haman's instructions, they wrote in the
name of King Artaxerxes to his army commanders and governors in every
province from India to Ethiopia. There were a hundred and twenty-seven
provinces in all, and each was addressed in its own language. Instructions
were dispatched by courier to all the empire of Artaxerxes to exterminate
the Jewish race, on a given day of the twelfth month, Adar, and to plunder
their possessions.]
13 THIS IS A COPY of the letter:
Artaxerxes the Great King to the governors of the one hundred and
twenty-seven provinces, from India to Ethiopia, and to the subordinate
officials.
Ruler as I am over many nations and master of all the world, it is my
will——not in the arrogance of power, but because my rule is mild and
equitable——to ensure to my subjects a life permanently free from dis-
turbance, to pacify my empire and make it safe for travel to its farthest
limits, and to restore the peace that all men long for. I asked my counsel-
lors how this object might be achieved and received a reply from Haman.
Haman is eminent among us for sound judgement, one whose worth is
proved by his constant goodwill and steadfast loyalty, and who has
gained the honour of the second place at our court. He represented to us
that scattered among all the races of the empire is a disaffected people,
opposed in its laws to every nation, and continually ignoring the royal
ordinances, so that our irreproachable plans for the unified administra-
tion of the empire cannot be made effective. We understand that this
nation stands alone in its continual opposition to all men, that it evades
the laws by its strange manner of life, and in disloyalty to our govern-
ment commits grievous offences, thus undermining the security of our
empire. We therefore order that those who are designated to you in the
indictments drawn up by Haman, our viceregent and second father, shall
all, together with their wives and children, be utterly destroyed by the
sword of their enemies, without mercy or pity, on the thirteenth day of
Adar, the twelfth month, of the present year. Those persons who have
long been disaffected shall meet a violent death in one day so that our
government may henceforth be stable and untroubled.
3 [Copies of the document were posted up in every province, and all
nations of the empire were ordered to be ready by that day. The matter
was expedited also in Susa. While the king and Haman caroused together,
the city of Susa was thrown into confusion.
WHEN MARDOCHAEUS LEARNT all that was being done, he tore his
clothes, put on sackcloth and sprinkled himself with ashes; and he rushed
through the city, crying loudly: 'An innocent nation is being destroyed.'
He went as far as the king's gate, and there he halted, because no one was
allowed to enter the courtyard clothed with sackcloth and ashes. In every
province where the king's decree was posted up, there was a great cry of
mourning and lamentation among the Jews, and they put on sackcloth and
ashes. When the queen's maids and eunuchs came and told her, she was
distraught at the news, and sent clothes for Mardochaeus, urging him to
take off his sackcloth; but he would not consent. Then Esther summoned
Hachrathaeus, the eunuch who waited upon her, and ordered him to obtain
accurate information for her from Mardochaeus. So Mardochaeus told
him all that had happened, and how Haman had promised to pay ten
thousand talents into the royal treasury to bring about the destruction of
the Jews. He also gave him a copy of the written decree for their destruc-
tion which had been posted up in Susa, to show Esther; and he gave him
a message for her, that she should go to the king and plead for his favour
and entreat him for her people. 'Remember', he said, 'those days when
you were brought up in my humble home; for Haman, who stands next
to the king, has spoken against us and demanded our death. Call upon the
Lord, and then speak for us to the king and save our lives.' Hachrathaeus
returned and told her what Mardochaeus had said. She sent him back
with this message: 'All nations of the empire know that if any person, man
or woman, enters the king's presence in the inner court unbidden, there is
no escape for him. Only one to whom the king stretches out the golden
sceptre is safe; and it is now thirty days since I myself was called to go to
the king.'
When Hachrathaeus delivered her message, Mardochaeus told him to
go back and say: 'Do not imagine, Esther, that you alone of all the Jews in
the empire will escape alive. For if you remain silent at such a time as this,
the Jews will somewhere find relief and deliverance, but you and your
father's family will perish. Who knows whether it is not for such a time as
this that you have been made a queen?' Esther gave the messenger this
answer to take back to Mardochaeus: 'Go and assemble all the Jews who
are in Susa and fast for me; for three days take neither food nor drink,
night or day, and I and my maids will also go without food. Then in defiance
of the law I will enter the king's presence, even if it costs me my life.' So
Mardochaeus went away and did as Esther had bidden him.]
13 AND MARDOCHAEUS PRAYED to the Lord, calling to mind all the works
of the Lord. He said, 'O Lord, Lord and King who rulest over all, because
the whole world is under thy authority, and when it is thy will to save
Israel there is no one who can stand against thee: thou didst make heaven
and earth and every wonderful thing under heaven; thou art Lord of all,
and there is n o one who can resist thee, the Lord. Thou knowest all things;
thou knowest, Lord, that it was not from insolence or arrogance or vain-
glory that I refused to bow before proud Haman, for I could gladly have
kissed the soles of his feet to save Israel; no, I did it so that I might not
hold a man in greater honour than God; I will not bow before any but thee,
my Lord, and it is not from arrogance that I refuse this homage. And now
Lord, God and King, God of Abraham, spare thy people; for our enemies
are watching us to bring us to ruin, and they have set their hearts upon the
destruction of thy chosen people, thine from the beginning. Do not dis-
dain thy own possession which thou didst ransom for thyself out of
Egypt. Hear my prayer, and have mercy on thy heritage, and turn our
mourning into feasting, that we may live and sing of thy name, Lord; do
not put to silence the lips that give thee praise.' And all Israel cried aloud
with all their might, for death stared them in the face.
14 Then Queen Esther, caught up in this deadly conflict, took refuge in
the Lord. She stripped off her splendid attire and put on the garb of
mourning and distress. Instead of proud perfumes she strewed ashes and
dung over her head. She abased her body, and every part that she had
delightfully adorned she covered with dishevelled hair. And so she
prayed to the Lord God in Israel:
'O my Lord, thou alone art our king; help me who am alone, with no
helper but thee; for I am taking my life in my hands. Ever since I was
born I have been taught by my father's family and tribe that thou, O Lord,
didst choose Israel out of all the nations, and out of all the founders of our
race didst choose our father for an everlasting possession, and that what
thou didst promise them, thou didst perform. But now we have sinned
against thee, and thou hast handed us over to our enemies because we
honoured their gods; thou art just, O Lord. But they are not content with
our bitter servitude; they have now pledged themselves to their idols to
annul thy decree and to destroy thy possession, silencing those who praise
the, extinguishing the glory of thy house, and casting down thy altar.
They would give the heathen cause to sing the praises of their worthless
gods, and would have a mortal king held in everlasting honour.
'Yield not thy sceptre, O Lord, to gods that are nothing; let not our
enemies mock at our ruin, but turn their plot against themselves, and make
an example of the man who planned it. Remember us, O Lord, make thy
power known in the time of our distress, and give me courage, O King of
gods, almighty Lord. Give me the apt word to say when I enter the lion's
den. Divert his hatred to our enemy, so that there may be an end of him
and his confederates.
'Save us by thy power, and help me who am alone and have no helper
but thee, Lord. Thou knowest all; thou knowest that I hate the spleandour
of the heathen, I abhor the bed of the uncircumcised or of any Gentile.
Thou knowest in what straits I am: I loathe that symbol of pride, the head
dress that I wear when I show myself abroad, I loathe it as one loathes a
filthy rag; in private I refuse to wear it. I, thy servant, have not eaten at
Haman's table; I have not graced a banquet of the king or touched the wine
of his drink-offerings; I have not known festive joy from the time that I
was brought here until now except in thee, Lord God of Abraham. O God
who dost prevail against all, give heed to the cry of the despairing: rescue
us from the power of wicked men, and rescue me from what I dread.'
The New English Bible (with Apocrypha)
Oxford University Press, Cambridge University Press, 1970
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Posted Mar 22, 2019, 5:17 PM UTC
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