"So let all thine enemies perish, O Lord:
But let them that love him be as the sun when he goeth
forth in his might."

{60}

ESTHER

PERSONS OF THE STORY.

_Ahasuerus, King of Persia_.

_Vashti, Queen of Ahasuerus, deposed by him_.

_Esther, Queen of Ahasuerus_.

_Mordecai, an officer of the Court_.

_Courtiers, officers, women of the harem, messengers_.

PLACE OF THE STORY.

_The Palace of Ahasuerus_.

ESTHER.

THE STORY OF A BRAVE QUEEN WHO SAVED HER PEOPLE
IN A FOREIGN LAND.

Now it came to pass in the days of Ahasuerus (this is Ahasuerus who
reigned, from India even to Ethiopia, over an hundred and seven and
twenty provinces): that in those days, when the king Ahasuerus sat on
the throne of his kingdom, which was in Shushan the palace, in the
third year of his reign, he made a feast for all his princes and his
servants; the mighty men of Persia and Media, the nobles and princes
of the provinces, being before him: when he showed the riches of his
glorious kingdom and the honor {61} of his excellent majesty many
days, even an hundred and eighty days.

And when these days were ended, the king made a
feast for all the people that were present in Shushan the
palace, both great and small, seven days, in the court of
the garden of the king's palace; there were hangings of
white cloth, of green, and of blue, fastened with cords of
fine linen and purple to silver rings and pillars of marble:
the couches were of gold and silver, upon a pavement of
red, and white, and yellow, and black marble. And they
gave them drink in vessels of gold, (the vessels being
different one from another,) and royal wine in abundance,
according to the bounty of the king.

Also Vashti the queen made a feast for the women in
the royal house who belonged to King Ahasuerus.

On the seventh day, when the heart of the king was merry with wine, he
commanded the seven chamberlains that ministered in the presence of
Ahasuerus the king, to bring Vashti the queen before the king with the
crown royal, to show the peoples and the princes her beauty: for she
was fair to look on. But the queen Vashti refused to come at the
king's commandment by the chamberlains: therefore was the king very
wroth, and his anger burned in him. Then the king said to the wise
men, "What shall we do to the queen Vashti according to law, because
she hath not done the bidding of the king Ahasuerus by the
chamberlains?"

And one of th