[In the second year of the reign of Artaxerxes the Great, on the first day of the month of Nisan, Mordecai, the son of Jairus, the Shemeites, the Kishaites, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Judean, who dwelt in the city of Shushan, a great man, who served in the king's palace, had a dream.

- Mordecai, awakening from this dream, which depicted what God wanted to accomplish, kept this dream in his heart and desired to understand it in all its parts, until nightfall. And Mordecai dwelt in the palace with Gabathah and Terah, the two royal eunuchs who guarded the palace, and heard their conversations, and inquired into their designs, and knew that they were preparing to lay hands on king Ahasuerus, and reported them to the king. and the king tortured these two eunuchs, and when they confessed, they were executed. The king wrote down the event as a keepsake, and Mordecai recorded the event. And the king commanded Mordecai to serve in the palace, and gave him gifts for it. And Haman the son of Amadath, the Bugeite, was then noble, and he sought to do evil to Mordecai and his people for the sake of the king's two eunuchs.]

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1 And it came to pass in the days of Artaxerxes, that this Artaxerxes reigned over a hundred and twenty-seven provinces, from India to Ethiopia,

2 And it came to pass, while king Ahasuerus sat on his throne which is in Shushan the throne city,

3 And in the third year of his reign he made a feast for all his princes, and for those who were with him, for the chief captains of the army of Persia and of Media, and for the governors of his provinces,

4 showing the great riches of his kingdom, and the excellent splendor of his majesty, for many days, a hundred and eighty days.

5 And at the end of these days the king made a feast seven days for his people, which were in the throne city of Shushan, from great to small, in the garden court of the king's house.

6 White, paper, and jahont-colored woollen cloths, fastened with linen and purple cords, hung on silver rings and marble pillars.

7 And the couches of gold and silver were on the platform, which was covered with green stones, and marble, and mother-of-pearl, and black stones.

8 And the drinks were served in vessels of gold, and vessels of divers, at the price of thirty thousand talents; and the king's wine was plentiful, according to the king's wealth. Drinking was carried out in order, no one forced it, because the king gave such an order to all the stewards in his house, that they should do according to the will of each.

9 And Vashti the queen also made a feast for the women in the royal house of king Ahasuerus.

10 And on the seventh day, when the king's heart was rejoiced with wine, he said to Mehuman, and to Biztha, and to Harbon, and to Bigtha, and to Abagtha, and to Zephar and Carcass, the seven eunuchs who ministered before king Ahasuerus,