The Bible, Douay Rheims, Book 19: Esther
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Unknown >> The Bible, Douay Rheims, Book 19: Esther
This eBook was produced by David Widger [widger@cecomet.net]
from etext #1581 prepared by Dennis McCarthy, Atlanta, Georgia
and Tad Book, student, Pontifical North American College, Rome.
THE HOLY BIBLE
Translated from the Latin Vulgate
Diligently Compared with the Hebrew, Greek,
and Other Editions in Divers Languages
THE OLD TESTAMENT
First Published by the English College at Douay
A.D. 1609 & 1610
and
THE NEW TESTAMENT
First Published by the English College at Rheims
A.D. 1582
With Annotations
The Whole Revised and Diligently Compared with
the Latin Vulgate by Bishop Richard Challoner
A.D. 1749-1752
THE BOOK OF ESTHER
This Book takes its name from queen Esther, whose history is here
recorded. The general opinion of almost all commentators on the Holy
Scriptures makes Mardochai the writer of it: which also may be collected
below from chap. 9 ver. 20.
Esther Chapter 1
King Assuerus maketh a great feast. Queen Vasthi being sent for refuseth
to come: for which disobedience she is deposed.
1:1. In the days of Assuerus, who reigned from India to Ethiopia over a
hundred and twenty seven provinces:
1:2. When he sat on the throne of his kingdom, the city Susan was the
capital of his kingdom.
1:3. Now in the third year of his reign he made a great feast for all
the princes, and for his servants, for the most mighty of the Persians,
and the nobles of the Medes, and the governors of the provinces in his
sight,
1:4. That he might shew the riches of the glory of his kingdom, and the
greatness, and boasting of his power, for a long time, to wit, for a
hundred and fourscore days.
1:5. And when the days of the feast were expired, he invited all the
people that were found in Susan, from the greatest to the least: and
commanded a feast to be made seven days in the court of the garden, and
of the wood, which was planted by the care and the hand of the king.
1:6. And there were hung up on every side sky coloured, and green, and
violet hangings, fastened with cords of silk, and of purple, which were
put into rings of ivory, and were held up with marble pillars. The beds
also were of gold and silver, placed in order upon a floor paved with
porphyry and white marble: which was embellished with painting of
wonderful variety.
1:7. And they that were invited, drank in golden cups, and the meats
were brought in divers vessels one after another. Wine also in abundance
and of the best was presented, as was worthy of a king's magnificence.
1:8. Neither was there any one to compel them to drink that were not
willing, but as the king had appointed, who set over every table one of
his nobles, that every man might take what he would.
1:9. Also Vasthi the queen made a feast for the women in the palace,
where king Assuerus was used to dwell.
1:10. Now on the seventh day, when the king was merry, and after very
much drinking was well warmed with wine, he commanded Mauman, and
Bazatha, and Harbona, and Bagatha, and Abgatha, and Zethar, and Charcas,
the seven eunuchs that served in his presence,
1:11. To bring in queen Vasthi before the king, with the crown set upon
her head, to shew her beauty to all the people and the princes: for she
was exceeding beautiful.
1:12. But she refused, and would not come at the king's commandment,
which he had signified to her by the eunuchs. Whereupon the king, being
angry, and inflamed with a very great fury,
1:13. Asked the wise men, who according to the custom of the kings, were
always near his person, and all he did was by their counsel, who knew
the laws, and judgments of their forefathers:
1:14. (Now the chief and nearest him were, Charsena, and Sethar, and
Admatha, and Tharsis, and Mares, and Marsana, and Mamuchan, seven
princes of the Persians and of the Medes, who saw the face of the king,
and were used to sit first after him:)
1:15. What sentence ought to pass upon Vasthi the queen, who had refused
to obey the commandment of king Assuerus, which he had sent to her by
the eunuchs?
1:16. And Mamuchan answered, in the hearing of the king and the princes:
Queen Vasthi hath not only injured the king, but also all the people and
princes that are in all the provinces of king Assuerus.
1:17. For this deed of the queen will go abroad to all women, so that
they will despise their husbands, and will say: King Assuerus commanded
that queen Vasthi should come in to him, and she would not.
1:18. And by this example all the wives of the princes of the Persians
and the Medes will slight the commandments of their husbands: wherefore
the king's indignation is just.
1:19. If it please thee, let an edict go out from thy presence, and let
it be written according to the law of the Persians and of the Medes,
which must not be altered, that Vasthi come in no more to the king, but
another, that is better than her, be made queen in her place.
1:20. And let this be published through all the provinces of thy empire,
(which is very wide,) and let all wives, as well of the greater as of
the lesser, give honour to their husbands.
1:21. His counsel pleased the king, and the princes: and the king did
according to the counsel of Mamuchan.
1:22. And he sent letters to all the provinces of his kingdom, as every
nation could hear and read, in divers languages and characters, that the
husbands should be rulers and masters in their houses: and that this
should be published to every people.
Esther Chapter 2
Esther is advanced to be queen. Mardochai detecteth a plot against the
king.
2:1. After this, when the wrath of king Assuerus was appeased, he
remembered Vasthi, and what she had done and what she had suffered:
2:2. And the king's servants and his officers said: Let young women be
sought for the king, virgins and beautiful,
2:3. And let some persons be sent through all the provinces to look for
beautiful maidens and virgins: and let them bring them to the city of
Susan, and put them into the house of the women under the hand of Egeus
the eunuch, who is the overseer and keeper of the king's women: and let
them receive women's ornaments, and other things necessary for their
use.
2:4. And whosoever among them all shall please the king's eyes, let her
be queen instead of Vasthi. The word pleased the king: and he commanded
it should be done as they had suggested.
2:5. There was a man in the city of Susan, a Jew, named Mardochai, the
son of Jair, the son of Semei, the son of Cis, of the race of Jemini,
2:6. Who had been carried away from Jerusalem at the time that
Nabuchodonosor king of Babylon carried away Jechonias king of Juda,
2:7. And he had brought up his brother's daughter Edissa, who by another
name was called Esther: now she had lost both her parents: and was
exceeding fair and beautiful. And her father and mother being dead,
Mardochai adopted her for his daughter.
2:8. And when the king's ordinance was noised abroad, and according to
his commandment many beautiful virgins were brought to Susan, and were
delivered to Egeus the eunuch: Esther also among the rest of the maidens
was delivered to him to be kept in the number of the women.
2:9. And she pleased him, and found favour in his sight. And he
commanded the eunuch to hasten the women's ornaments, and to deliver to
her her part, and seven of the most beautiful maidens of the king's
house, and to adorn and deck out both her and her waiting maids.
2:10. And she would not tell him her people nor her country. For
Mardochai had charged her to say nothing at all of that:
2:11. And he walked every day before the court of the house, in which
the chosen virgins were kept, having a care for Esther's welfare, and
desiring to know what would befall her.
2:12. Now when every virgin's turn came to go in to the king, after all
had been done for setting them off to advantage, it was the twelfth
month: so that for six months they were anointed with oil of myrrh, and
for other six months they used certain perfumes and sweet spices.
2:13. And when they were going in to the king, whatsoever they asked to
adorn themselves they received: and being decked out, as it pleased
them, they passed from the chamber of the women to the king's chamber.
2:14. And she that went in at evening, came out in the morning, and from
thence she was conducted to the second house, that was under the hand of
Susagaz the eunuch, who had the charge over the king's concubines:
neither could she return any more to the king, unless the king desired
it, and had ordered her by name to come.
2:15. And as the time came orderly about, the day was at hand, when
Esther, the daughter of Abihail the brother of Mardochai, whom he had
adopted for his daughter, was to go in to the king. But she sought not
women's ornaments, but whatsoever Egeus the eunuch the keeper of the
virgins had a mind, he gave her to adorn her. For she was exceeding
fair, and her incredible beauty made her appear agreeable and amiable in
the eyes of all.
2:16. So she was brought to the chamber of king Assuerus the tenth
month, which is called Tebeth, in the seventh year of his reign.
2:17. And the king loved her more than all the women, and she had favour
and kindness before him above all the women, and he set the royal crown
on her head, and made her queen instead of Vasthi.
2:18. And he commanded a magnificent feast to be prepared for all the
princes, and for his servants, for the marriage and wedding of Esther,
And he gave rest to all the provinces, and bestowed gifts according to
princely magnificence.
2:19. And when the virgins were sought the second time, and gathered
together, Mardochai stayed at the king's gate,
2:20. Neither had Esther as yet declared her country and people,
according to his commandment. For whatsoever he commanded, Esther
observed: and she did all things in the same manner as she was wont at
that time when he brought her up a little one.
2:21. At that time, therefore, when Mardochai abode at the king's gate,
Bagathan and Thares, two of the king's eunuchs, who were porters, and
presided in the first entry of the palace, were angry: and they designed
to rise up against the king, and to kill him.
2:22. And Mardochai had notice of it, and immediately he told it to
queen Esther: and she to the king in Mardochai's name, who had reported
the thing unto her.
2:23. It was inquired into, and found out: and they were both hanged on
a gibbet. And it was put in the histories, and recorded in the
chronicles before the king.
Esther Chapter 3
Aman, advanced by the king, is offended at Mardochai, and therefore
procureth the king's decree to destroy the whole nation of the Jews.
3:1. After these things, king Assuerus advanced Aman, the son of
Amadathi, who was of the race of Agag: and he set his throne above all
the princes that were with him.
3:2. And all the king's servants, that were at the doors of the palace,
bent their knees, and worshipped Aman: for so the emperor had commanded
them, only Mardochai did not bend his knee, nor worship him.
3:3. And the king's servants that were chief at the doors of the palace,
said to him: Why dost thou alone not observe the king's commandment?
3:4. And when they were saying this often, and he would not hearken to
them, they told Aman, desirous to know whether he would continue in his
resolution: for he had told them that he was a Jew.
3:5. Now when Aman had heard this, and had proved by experience that
Mardochai did not bend his knee to him, nor worship him, he was
exceeding angry.
3:6. And he counted it nothing to lay his hands upon Mardochai alone:
for he had heard that he was of the nation of the Jews, and he chose
rather to destroy all the nation of the Jews that were in the kingdom of
Assuerus.
3:7. In the first month (which is called Nisan) in the twelfth year of
the reign of Assuerus, the lot was cast into an urn, which in Hebrew is
called Phur, before Aman, on what day and what month the nation of the
Jews should be destroyed: and there came out the twelfth month, which is
called Adar.
3:8. And Aman said to king Assuerus: There is a people scattered through
all the provinces of thy kingdom, and separated one from another, that
use new laws and ceremonies, and moreover despise the king's ordinances:
and thou knowest very well that it is not expedient for thy kingdom that
they should grow insolent by impunity.
3:9. If it please thee, decree that they may be destroyed, and I will
pay ten thousand talents to thy treasurers.
3:10. And the king took the ring that he used, from his own hand, and
gave it to Aman, the son of Amadathi of the race of Agag, the enemy of
the Jews,
3:11. And he said to him: As to the money which thou promisest, keep it
for thyself: and as to the people, do with them as seemeth good to thee.
3:12. And the king's scribes were called in the first month Nisan, on
the thirteenth day of the same mouth: and they wrote, as Aman had
commanded, to all the king's lieutenants, and to the judges of the
provinces, and of divers nations, as every nation could read, and hear
according to their different languages, in the name of king Assuerus:
and the letters, sealed with his ring,
3:13. Were sent by the king's messengers to all provinces, to kill and
destroy all the Jews, both young and old, little children, and women, in
one day, that is, on the thirteenth of the twelfth month, which is
called Adar, and to make a spoil of their goods.
3:14. And the contents of the letters were to this effect, that all
provinces might know and be ready against that day.
3:15. The couriers that were sent made haste to fulfil the king's
commandment. And immediately the edict was hung up in Susan, the king
and Aman feasting together, and all the Jews that were in the city
weeping.
Esther Chapter 4
Mardochai desireth Esther to petition the king for the Jews. They join
in fasting and prayer.
4:1. Now when Mardochai had heard these things, he rent his garments,
and put on sackcloth, strewing ashes on his head and he cried with a
loud voice in the street in the midst of the city, shewing the anguish
of his mind.
4:2. And he came lamenting in this manner even to the gate of the
palace: for no one clothed with sackcloth might enter the king's court.
4:3. And in all provinces, towns, and places, to which the king's cruel
edict was come, there was great mourning among the Jews, with fasting,
wailing, and weeping, many using sackcloth and ashes for their bed.
4:4. Then Esther's maids and her eunuchs went in, and told her. And when
she heard it she was in a consternation and she sent a garment, to
clothe him, and to take away the sackcloth: but he would not receive it.
4:5. And she called for Athach the eunuch, whom the king had appointed
to attend upon her, and she commanded him to go to Mardochai, and learn
of him why he did this.
4:6. And Athach going out went to Mardochai, who was standing in the
street of the city, before the palace gate:
4:7. And Mardochai told him all that had happened, how Aman had promised
to pay money into the king's treasures, to have the Jews destroyed.
4:8. He gave him also a copy of the edict which was hanging up in Susan,
that he should shew it to the queen, and admonish her to go in to the
king, and to entreat him for her people.
4:9. And Athach went back and told Esther all that Mardochai had said.
4:10. She answered him, and bade him say to Mardochai:
4:11. All the king's servants, and all the provinces that are under his
dominion, know, that whosoever, whether man or woman, cometh into the
king's inner court, who is not called for, is immediately to be put to
death without any delay: except the king shall hold out the golden
sceptre to him, in token of clemency, that so he may live. How then can
I go in to the king, who for these thirty days now have not been called
unto him?
4:12. And when Mardochai had heard this,
4:13. He sent word to Esther again, saying: Think not that thou mayst
save thy life only, because thou art in the king's house, more than all
the Jews:
4:14. For if thou wilt now hold thy peace, the Jews shall be delivered
by some other occasion: and thou, and thy father's house shall perish.
And who knoweth whether thou art not therefore come to the kingdom, that
thou mightest be ready in such a time as this?
4:15. And again Esther sent to Mardochai in these words:
4:16. Go, and gather together all the Jews whom thou shalt find in
Susan, and pray ye for me. Neither eat nor drink for three days and
three nights: and I with my handmaids will fast in like manner, and then
I will go in to the king, against the law, not being called, and expose
myself to death and to danger.
4:17. So Mardochai went, and did all that Esther had commanded him.
Esther Chapter 5
Esther is graciously received: she inviteth the king and Aman to dinner,
Aman prepareth a gibbet for Mardochai.
5:1. And on the third day Esther put on her royal apparel, and stood in
the inner court of the king's house, over against the king's hall: now
he sat upon his throne in the hall of the palace, over against the door
of the house.
5:2. And when he saw Esther the queen standing, she pleased his eyes,
and he held out toward her the golden sceptre, which he held in his hand
and she drew near, and kissed the top of his sceptre.
5:3. And the king said to her: What wilt thou, queen Esther? what is
thy request? if thou shouldst even ask one half of the kingdom, it shall
be given to thee.
5:4. But she answered: If it please the king, I beseech thee to come to
me this day, and Aman with thee to the banquet which I have prepared.
5:5. And the king said forthwith: Call ye Aman quickly, that he may obey
Esther's will. So the king and Aman came to the banquet which the queen
had prepared for them.
5:6. And the king said to her, after he had drunk wine plentifully: What
dost thou desire should be given thee? and for what thing askest thou?
although thou shouldst ask the half of my kingdom, thou shalt have it.
5:7. And Esther answered: My petition and request is this:
5:8. If I have found favour in the king's sight, and if it please the
king to give me what I ask, and to fulfil my petition: let the king and
Aman come to the banquet which I have prepared them, and to morrow I
will open my mind to the king.
5:9. So Aman went out that day joyful and merry. And when he saw
Mardochai sitting before the gate of the palace, and that he not only
did not rise up to honour him, but did not so much as move from the
place where he sat, he was exceedingly angry:
5:10. But dissembling his anger, and returning into his house, he called
together to him his friends, and Zares his wife:
5:11. And he declared to them the greatness of his riches, and the
multitude of his children, and with how great glory the king had
advanced him above all his princes and servants.
5:12. And after this he said: Queen Esther also hath invited no other to
the banquet with the king, but me: and with her I am also to dine to
morrow with the king:
5:13. And whereas I have all these things, I think I have nothing, so
long as I see Mardochai the Jew sitting before the king's gate.
5:14. Then Zares his wife, and the rest of his friends answered him:
Order a great beam to be prepared, fifty cubits high, and in the morning
speak to the king, that Mardochai may be hanged upon it, and so thou
shalt go full of joy with the king to the banquet. The counsel pleased
him, and he commanded a high gibbet to be prepared.
Esther Chapter 6
The king hearing of the good service done him by Mardochai, commandeth
Aman to honour him next to the king, which he performeth.
6:1. That night the king passed without sleep, and he commanded the
histories and chronicles of former times to be brought him. And when
they were reading them before him,
6:2. They came to that place where it was written, how Mardochai had
discovered the treason of Bagathan and Thares the eunuchs, who sought to
kill king Assuerus.
6:3. And when the king heard this, he said: What honour and reward hath
Mardochai received for this fidelity? His servants and ministers said to
him: He hath received no reward at all.
No reward at all... He received some presents from the king, chap. 12.5;
but these were so inconsiderable in the opinion of the courtiers, that
they esteemed them as nothing at all.
6:4. And the king said immediately: Who is in the court? for Aman was
coming in to the inner court of the king's house, to speak to the king,
that he might order Mardochai to be hanged upon the gibbet, which was
prepared for him.
6:5. The servants answered: Aman standeth in the court, and the king
said: Let him come in.
6:6. And when he was come in, he said to him: What ought to be done to
the man whom the king is desirous to honour? But Aman thinking in his
heart, and supposing that the king would honour no other but himself,
6:7. Answered: The man whom the king desireth to honour,
6:8. Ought to be clothed with the king's apparel, and to be set upon the
horse that the king rideth upon, and to have the royal crown upon his
head,
6:9. And let the first of the king's princes and nobles hold his horse,
and going through the street of the city, proclaim before him and say:
Thus shall he be honoured, whom the king hath a mind to honour.
6:10. And the king said to him: Make haste and take the robe and the
horse, and do as thou hast spoken to Mardochai the Jew, who sitteth
before the gates of the palace. Beware thou pass over any of those
things which thou hast spoken.
6:11. So Aman took the robe and the horse, and arraying Mardochai in the
street of the city, and setting him on the horse, went before him, and
proclaimed: This honour is he worthy of, whom the king hath a mind to
honour.
6:12. But Mardochai returned to the palace gate: and Aman made haste to
go to his house, mourning and having his head covered:
6:13. And he told Zares his wife, and his friends, all that had befallen
him. And the wise men whom he had in counsel, and his wife answered him:
If Mardochai be of the seed of the Jews, before whom thou hast begun to
fall, thou canst not resist him, but thou shalt fall in his sight.
6:14. As they were yet speaking, the king's eunuchs came, and compelled
him to go quickly to the banquet which the queen had prepared.
Esther Chapter 7
Esther's petition for herself and her people: Aman is hanged upon the
gibbet he had prepared for Mardochai.
7:1. So the king and Aman went in, to drink with the queen.
7:2. And the king said to her again the second day, after he was warm
with wine: What is thy petition, Esther, that it may be granted thee?
and what wilt thou have done: although thou ask the half of my kingdom,
thou shalt have it.
7:3. Then she answered: If I have found favour in thy sight, O king, and
if it please thee, give me my life for which I ask, and my people for
which I request.
7:4. For we are given up, I and my people, to be destroyed, to be slain,
and to perish. And would God we were sold for bondmen and bondwomen: the
evil might be borne with, and I would have mourned in silence: but now
we have an enemy, whose cruelty redoundeth upon the king.
7:5. And king Assuerus answered and said: Who is this, and of what
power, that he should do these things?
7:6. And Esther said: It is this Aman that is our adversary and most
wicked enemy. Aman hearing this was forthwith astonished, not being able
to bear the countenance of the king and of the queen.
7:7. But the king being angry rose up, and went from the place of the
banquet into the garden set with trees. Aman also rose up to entreat
Esther the queen for his life, for he understood that evil was prepared
for him by the king.
7:8. And when the king came back out of the garden set with trees, and
entered into the place of the banquet, he found Aman was fallen upon the
bed on which Esther lay, and he said: He will force the queen also in my
presence, in my own house. The word was not yet gone out of the king's
mouth, and immediately they covered his face.
7:9. And Harbona, one of the eunuchs that stood waiting on the king,
said: Behold the gibbet which he hath prepared for Mardochai, who spoke
for the king, standeth in Aman's house, being fifty cubits high. And the
king said to him: Hang him upon it.
7:10. So Aman was hanged on the gibbet, which he had prepared for
Mardochai: and the king's wrath ceased.
Esther Chapter 8
Mardochai is advanced: Aman's letters are reversed.
8:1. On that day king Assuerus gave the house of Aman, the Jews' enemy,
to queen Esther, and Mardochai came in before the king. For Esther had
confessed to him that he was her uncle.
8:2. And the king took the ring which he had commanded to be taken again
from Aman, and gave it to Mardochai. And Esther set Mardochai over her
house.
8:3. And not content with these things, she fell down at the king's feet
and wept, and speaking to him besought him, that he would give orders
that the malice of Aman the Agagite, and his most wicked devices which
he had invented against the Jews, should be of no effect.