yed in
cultivating the land to bring the tithes of their fruits to Jerusalem,
that the priests and Levites having whereof they might live perpetually,
might not leave the Divine worship; who willingly hearkened to the
constitutions of Nehemiah, by which means the city Jerusalem came to
be fuller of people than it was before. So when Nehemiah had done many
other excellent things, and things worthy of commendation, in a glorious
manner, he came to a great age, and then died. He was a man of a good
and righteous disposition, and very ambitious to make his own nation
happy; and he hath left the walls of Jerusalem as an eternal monument
for himself. Now this was done in the days of Xerxes.

CHAPTER 6. Concerning Esther And Mordecai And Haman; And How In The
Reign Of Artaxerxes The Whole Nation Of The Jews Was In Danger Of
Perishing.

1. After the death of Xerxes, the kingdom came to be transferred to his
son Cyrus, whom the Greeks called Artaxerxes. When this man had obtained
the government over the Persians, the whole nation of the Jews, [15]
with their wives and children, were in danger of perishing; the occasion
whereof we shall declare in a little time; for it is proper, in the
first place, to explain somewhat relating to this king, and how he came
to marry a Jewish wife, who was herself of the royal family also, and
who is related to have saved our nation; for when Artaxerxes had taken
the kingdom, and had set governors over the hundred twenty and seven
provinces, from India even unto Ethiopia, in the third year of his
reign, he made a costly feast for his friends, and for the nations of
Persia, and for their governors, such a one as was proper for a king to
make, when he had a mind to make a public demonstration of his riches,
and this for a hundred and fourscore days; after which he made a feast
for other nations, and for their ambassadors, at Shushan, for seven
days. Now this feast was ordered after the manner following: He caused
a tent to be pitched, which was supported by pillars of gold and silver,
with curtains of linen and purple spread over them, that it might afford
room for many ten thousands to sit down. The cups with which the waiters
ministered were of gold, and adorned with precious stones, for pleasure
and for sight. He also gave order to the servants that they should
not force them to drink, by bringing them wine continually, as is the
practice of the Persians, but to permit every one of the g