Esther 1 - Easy To Read Version

¹ This is what happened during the time that Xerxes was king. Xerxes ruled over the 127 provinces from India to Ethiopia.

² King Xerxes ruled from his throne {\cf2\super [1]} in the capital city of Susa.

³ In the third year of Xerxes’ rule, he gave a party for his officers and leaders. The army leaders and important leaders from all of Persia and Media were there.

⁴ The party continued for 180 days. All during that time, King Xerxes was showing the great wealth of his kingdom. And he was showing everyone the majestic beauty and wealth of his palace. {\cf2\super [2]}

⁵ And when those 180 days were over, King Xerxes gave another party that continued for seven days. That party was held in the inside garden of the palace. All the people that were in the capital city of Susa were invited, from the most important to the least important person.

⁶ That inside garden had white and blue linen {\cf2\super [3]} hangings around the room. Those hangings were held in place with cords of white linen and purple material on silver rings and marble pillars. There were couches made of gold and silver. Those couches were setting on mosaic pavement of porphyry, marble, mother-of-pearl, and other expensive stones.

⁷ Wine was served in golden cups. And every cup was different! And there was plenty of the king’s wine, because the king was very generous.

⁸ The king had given a command to his servants. He told them that each guest must be given as much wine as he wanted. And the wine server obeyed the king.

^9-11 Queen Vashti also gave a party for the women in the king’s palace.

^12-14 But when those servants told Queen Vashti about the king’s command, she refused to come. Then the king became very angry.

¹⁵ The king asked those men, “What does the law say must be done to Queen Vashti? She has not obeyed the command of King Xerxes that the eunuchs have taken to her.”

¹⁶ Then Memucan answered the king with the other officials listening, “Queen Vashti has done wrong. She has done wrong against the king and also against all the leaders and people of all the provinces of King Xerxes.

¹⁷ I say that, because all the other women will hear about what Queen Vashti did. And then other women will stop obeying their husbands. They will say to their husbands, ‘King Xerxes commanded Queen Vashti to be brought to him, but she refused to come.’

¹⁸ “Today the wives of the Persian and Median leaders have heard what the queen did. And those women will be influenced by the thing she did. Those women will do the same thing to the king’s important leaders. And there will be plenty of disrespect and anger.

¹⁹ “So, if it pleased the king, here is a suggestion: Let the king give a royal command and let it be written in the laws of Persia and Media. The laws of Persia and Media can’t be changed. The royal command should be that Vashti is never again to enter the presence of King Xerxes. Also let the king give her royal position to someone else that is better than she.

²⁰ Then when the king’s command is announced in all parts of his large kingdom, all the women will respect their husbands. From the most important to the least important, all the women will respect their husbands.”

²¹ The king and his important officials were happy with this advice. So King Xerxes did as Memucan suggested.

²² King Xerxes sent letters to all parts of the kingdom. He sent those letters to each province, written in its own language. He sent those letters to each nation in its own language. Those letters announced in every person’s language that every man was to be ruler over his own family.