17 for the queen's deed shall come to all the wives, and they shall despise their husbands, saying, 'King Ahasuerus commanded that Vashti the queen should be brought before him, but she would not go.'

18 Now the princesses of Persia and Media, who hear of the queen's deed, shall also speak to all the princes of the king; and neglect and grief will suffice.

19 If it pleases the king, let the king's decree go out from him, and be inscribed in the laws of Persia and Media, and shall not be revoked, that Vashti shall not enter in before king Ahasuerus, but that the king shall give her royal dignity to another who is better than she.

20 And when they hear of this decree of the king, which shall be dispersed throughout all his kingdom, great as it may be, then shall all the wives honour their husbands, from the great to the smallest.

21 And this word was pleasing in the sight of the king and the princes; and the king did according to the word of Memuchan.

22 And he sent letters to all the provinces of the king, written in every province in its writings, and to every people in its language, that every man should be lord in his house, and that it should be declared to each one in his natural language.

Chapter 2

1 And after this, when the wrath of king Ahasuerus had ceased, he remembered Vashti, and what she had done, and what had been decreed of her.

2 And the king's servants said, Let them seek for the king beautiful young maidens,

3 And the king shall appoint watchmen in all the provinces of his kingdom, who shall gather together all the young virgins, beautiful in appearance, to the throne city of Susa, to the house of the wives, under the supervision of Hegai, the king's eunuch, the guardian of the wives, and they shall give them rubbings [and other things that are necessary];

4 And the maiden that pleases the king's eyes, let her be queen instead of Vashti. And this word was pleasing in the eyes of the king, and he did so.

5 And there was in Shushan, the throne city, a certain Judahite, whose name was Mordecai, the son of Jairus, the son of Shemeah, the son of Kish, of the tribe of Benjamin.

6 He was carried away from Jerusalem, together with the captives brought out with Jeconiah king of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had carried away.

7 And he was the tutor of Hadassah, who was Esther, his uncle's daughter, because she had neither father nor mother. This maiden was beautiful in stature and handsome in face. And after the death of her father and her mother, Mordecai took her to him in place of his daughter.