In the second year of the reign of Artaxerxes the Great, on the first of Nisa, Mardochaeus son of Jairus, son of Semeias, son of Kisaios, of the tribe of Benjamin, saw a dream. He was a Jewish man living in the city of Susa, a great man, serving in the king's court. He was of the captivity which Nabouchodonosor king of Babylon had carried away from Jerusalem together with Jechonias the king of Judea. And this was his dream: behold, voices and uproar, thunders and an earthquake, turmoil upon the earth. And behold, two great dragons came forward, both of them ready to wrestle, and their voice became great. And at their voice every nation made itself ready for war, to make war against a nation of righteous ones. And behold, a day of darkness and gloom, affliction and anguish, ill-treatment and great turmoil upon the earth. And every righteous nation was troubled, fearing the evils that were their own, and they prepared themselves to perish, and cried out to God. And from their crying there came, as though from a small spring, a great river, much water. Light and the sun rose, and the lowly were lifted up and devoured the honoured ones. And Mardochaeus, when he awoke, having seen this dream and what God had purposed to do, kept it in his heart, and in every matter he wished to understand it, until the night. And Mardochaeus rested in the court with Gabatha and Tharra, the two eunuchs of the king who guarded the court. He heard their reasonings and searched out their concerns, and learned that they were preparing to lay hands on Artaxerxes the king, and he informed the king about them. And the king examined the two eunuchs, and when they had confessed, they were led away. And the king wrote these matters down for a memorial, and Mardochaeus also wrote concerning these matters. And the king ordered Mardochaeus to serve in the court, and gave him gifts for these things. And Haman son of Hamadathos, a Bougaean, was in honour before the king, and he sought to do harm to Mardochaeus and his people on account of the two eunuchs of the king. And it came about, after these matters, in the days of Artaxerxes — this Artaxerxes held rule from India over a hundred and twenty-seven provinces —
in the third year of his reign he made a reception for his friends and for the rest of the nations, and for the honoured men of the Persians and Medes, and for the chiefs of the satraps.
and when the days of the marriage feast were completed, the king made a drinking feast for the nations that were found in the city, for six days, in the court of the king's house,
adorned with fine linen and cotton stretched on cords of fine linen and purple, on cubes of gold and silver, on pillars of Parian marble and of stone; couches of gold and of silver upon a pavement of emerald stone and of mother-of-pearl and of Parian stone; and coverings of transparent stuff, variously embroidered with flowers, with roses strewn round about.
There were cups of gold and of silver, and a small cup of carbuncle set out, worth thirty thousand talents; and wine in abundance and sweet, which the king himself drank.
And this drinking was not according to an appointed rule; but so the king willed it, and he ordered the stewards to do his own will and that of the men.
On the seventh day, the king being merry, said to Haman and Bazan and Tharra and Boraze and Zatholtha and Abataza and Tharaba, the seven eunuchs who were servants of King Artaxerxes,
to bring the queen in to him, that she should be made to reign, and to put the diadem upon her, and to show her beauty to all the rulers and to the nations, for she was beautiful.
And there came to him Arkesaios and Sarsathaios and Malesear, the rulers of the Persians and Medes, those near the king, the foremost who sat beside the king.
And they reported to him, according to the laws, how it was needful to deal with Astin the queen, because she had not done the things commanded by the king through the eunuchs.
so today the remaining ladies of rank of the rulers of the Persians and Medes, having heard what was said to the king by her, will likewise dare to dishonour their own husbands.
If therefore it seems good to the king, let him issue a royal decree, and let it be written according to the laws of the Medes and Persians, and let him not deal otherwise; and let the queen come in to him no more, and let the king give her royal estate to a woman better than she.
And let the law made by the king, whatever he may enact, be heard in his kingdom; and so all the women will bestow honour on their own husbands, from the poor to the rich.