Re-Gr. begun gladly have kissed the soles of his feet | slavery, but have laid their hands on for the safety of Israel. But I have the hands of their idols, in order to done this that I might not set the glory abolish the decree of thy mouth, of man above the glory of God: and I and utterly to destroy thine inhewill not worship any one except thee, ritance, and to stop the mouth of my Lord, and I will not do these things them that praise thee, and to extinin haughtiness. And now, O Lord guish the glory of thine house and God, the king, the God of Abraam, thine altar, and to open the mouth of spare thy people, for our enemies are the Gentiles to speak the praises of looking upon us to our destruction, vanities, and in order that Gr. virtues. and they have desired to destroy thine a mortal king should be admired for ancient inheritance. Do not overlook ever. O Lord, do not resign thy +Gr. portion. thy peculiar people, whom sceptre to them that are not, and let thou hast redeemed for thyself out of them not laugh at our fall, but turn the land of Egypt. Hearken to my their counsel against themselves, and prayer, and be propitious to thine in- make an example of him who has heritance, and turn our mourning into begun to injure us. gladness, that we may live and sing member us, O Lord, mani- against us. praise to thy name, O Lord; and do fest thyself in the time of our affliction, not utterly destroy the mouth of them and encourage me, O king of gods, that praise thee, O Lord. And all and ruler of all dominion. Put harIsrael cried with all their might, for monious speech into my mouth before their death was before their eyes. And the lion, and turn his heart to hate him queen Esther betook herself for refuge that fights against us, to the utter deto the Lord, being taken as it were in struction of him and of them that conthe agony of death. And having sent with him. But deliver us by taken off her glorious apparel, she put thine hand, and help me who am deson garments of distress and mourning; titute, and have none but thee, O Lord. and instead of grand perfumes she Thou knowest all things, and knowest filled her head with ashes and dung, that I hate the glory of or, opinion. and she greatly brought down her body transgressors, and that I abhor the and she filled all her places of glad couch of the uncircumcised, and of adorning with the torn curls of her every stranger. Thou knowest my hair. And she besought the Lord God necessity, for I abhor the symbol of of Israel, and said, Ŏ my Lord, thou my proud station, which is upon my alone art our king: help me who am head in the days of my splendour: I + Gr. vision. destitute, and have no helper but thee, abhor it as a menstruous q. d. quo die for my danger is near at hand.* I have cloth, and I wear it not in spectanda fui. Gr. in my heard from my birth, in the the days of my tranquillity. And thy tribe of my kindred, that handmaid has not eaten at the table of thou, Lord, tookest Israel out of all Aman, and I have not honoured the the nations, and our fathers out of all banquet of the king, neither have I their kindred for a perpetual inherit- drunk wine of libations. Neither has ance, and hast wrought for them all thy handmaid rejoiced since the day that thou hast said. And now we have of my promotion until now, except in sinned before thee, and thou hast thee, O Lord God of Abraam. O God, delivered us into the hands of our who hast power over all, hearken to enemies, because we honoured their the voice of the desperate, and deliver gods thou art righteous, O Lord. us from the hand of them that devise But now they have not been con- mischief; and deliver me from my tented with the bitterness of our fear.] hand. + + + From the first verse to the commencement of the third the Gr. widely differs from the Heb. 5 day is my great day: if then it seem good to the king, let both him and Aman come to the feast which I will prepare this day. And the king said, Hasten Aman hither, that we may perform the word of Esther. So they both come to the feast of which Esther had spoken. And at the banquet the king said to Esther, What is thy request, queen Esther? speak, and thou shalt have all that thou requirest. And she said, My request and my petition are: if I have found favour in the sight of the king, let the king and Aman come again to-morrow to the feast which I shall prepare for them, and to-morrow I will do the same. 9 So Aman went out from the king very glad and merry: but when Aman saw Mardochæus the Jew in the court, he was greatly enraged. 10And having gone into his own house, 5. And it came to pass on the third day, when she had ceased praying, that she put off her mean dress and put on her glorious apparel. And being splendidly arrayed, and having called upon God the Overseer and Preserver of all things, she took her two maids, and she leaned upon one, as a delicate female, and the other followed bearing her train. And she was blooming in the perfection of her beauty; and her face was cheerful, as it were benevolent, but her heart was straitened for fear. And having passed through all the doors, she stood before the king: and he was sitting upon his royal throne, and he had put on all his glorious apparel, covered all over with gold and precious stones, and was very terrible. And having raised his face resplendent with glory, he looked with intense anger: and he called his friends, and his wife Zothe queen fell, and changed her colour as she fainted; and she bowed herself upon the head of the maid that went before her. But God changed the spirit of the king to gentleness, and in intense feeling he sprang from off his throne, and took her into his arms, until she recovered: and he comforted her with peaceable words, and said to her, What is the matter, Esther? I am thy brother; be of good cheer, thou shalt not die, for our command is openly declared to thee, Draw nigh. 2 And having raised the golden sceptre he laid it upon her neck, and embraced her, and said, Speak to me. And she said to him, I saw thee, my lord, as an angel of God, and my heart was troubled for fear of thy glory; for thou, my lord, art to be wondered at, and thy face is full of grace. And while she was speaking, she fainted and fell. Then the king was troubled, and all his servants comforted her. 3 And the king said, What wilt thou, Esther? and what is thy request? ask even to the half of my kingdom, and it shall be thine. And Esther said, To 4 sara. 11 And he showed them his 6. But the Lord removed sleep from the king that night: and he told his servant to bring in the books + Gr. letters. the registers of daily events to read to him. And he found the 're- + Gr. letters. cords written concerning Mardochæus, how he had told the king concerning M. &c., before if Mardochæus is of the race of the Jews, and thou hast begun or, if it he to be humbled before him, whom.' thou wilt assuredly fall, and thou wilt not be able to withstand him, for the living God is with him. 14 While they were yet speaking, the chamberlains arrived, to hasten Aman to the banquet which Esther had prepared. the two chamberlains of the king, when they were keeping guard, and sought to lay hands on Artaxerxes. 3 And the king said, What honour or favour have we done to Mardochæus? And the king's servants said, Thou hast not done anything to him. And while the king was inquiring about the kindness of Mardochæus, behold, Aman was in the court. And the king said, Who is in the court? Now 7. So the king and Aman went in Aman was come in to speak to the king, to drink with the queen. 2 And the that he should hang Mardochæus on king said to Esther at the banquet on the gallows, which he had prepared. the second day, What is it, queen And the king's servants said, Behold, Esther? and what is thy request, and Aman stands in the court. And the what is thy petition? and it shall be king said, Call him. And the king done for thee, to the half of my kingsaid to Aman, What shall I do to the dom. And she answered and said, If man whom I wish to honour? And I have found favour in the sight of the Aman said within himself, Whom king, let my life be granted to my would the king honour but myself? petition, and my people to my request. and he said to the king, As for the For both I and my people are sold for man whom the king wishes to honour, destruction, and pillage, and slavery; 8 let the king's servants bring the robe both we and our children for bondmen of fine linen which the king puts on, and bond women: and I consented not to and the horse on which the king rides, it, for the slanderer is not + See Heb. 9 and let him give it to one of the king's worthy of the king's palace. 5 And noble friends, and let him array the the king said, Who is this that has man whom the king loves; and let dared to do this thing? And Esther him mount him on the horse, and pro- said, The adversary is + Gr. hostile + Or, wide claim through the street Aman, this wicked man. of the city, saying, Thus Then Aman was troubled before the shall it be done to every man whom the king and the queen. And the king king honours. 10 Then the king said rose up from the banquet to go into to Aman, Thou hast well said: so do the garden: and Aman began to ento Mardochæus the Jew, who waits in treat the queen; for he saw that he the palace, and let not a word of what was in an evil case. 8 And + Gr. evils. thou hast spoken be neglected. "So the king returned from the garden; Aman took the robe and the horse, and Aman had fallen upon the bed, and arrayed Mardochæus, and mounted entreating the queen. And the king him on the horse, and went through said, Wilt thou even force my wife in the street of the city, and proclaimed, my house? And when Aman heard saying, Thus shall it be to every man it he changed countenance. 9 And whom the king wishes to honour. Bugathan, one of the chamberlains, 12 And Mardochæus returned to the said to the king, Behold, Aman has palace: but Aman went home mourn- also prepared a gallows for Mardoing, and having his head covered. chæus, who spoke concerning the king, 13 And Aman related the events and a gallows of fifty cubits high has that had befallen him to Zosara his been set up in the premises of Aman. wife, and to his friends: and his And the king said, Let him Or, impaled. friends and his wife said to him, be hanged thereon. 10 So Aman was space. man. + Enemy, or, traducer. 2 rulers, see hanged on the gallows that had been according to their dialects. 10 And they prepared for Mardochæus: and then were written by order of the king, the king's wrath was appeased. and sealed with his ring, and they sent the letters by the posts: "wherein he 8. And in that day king Artaxerxes charged them to use their own laws in gave to Esther all that belonged to every city, and to help each other, and Aman the slanderer: and to treat their adversaries, and those Mardochæus was called by who attacked them, as they pleased, the king; for Esther had shown that 12 on one day in all the kingdom of he was related to her. And the king Artaxerxes, on the thirteenth day of took the ring which he had taken the twelfth month, which is Adar. away from Aman, and gave it to Mar-13 And the following is the copy of the dochæus: and Esther appointed Mar- letter of the orders. dochæus over all that had been Aman's. The great king Artaxerxes sends 3 And she spoke yet again to the king, greeting to the rulers of provinces in a and fell at his feet, and besought him hundred and twenty-seven satrapies, to do away the mischief of Aman, and from India to Ethiopia, even to those all that he had done against the Jews. who are faithful to our interests. 4 Then the king stretched out to Esther Many who have been frequently hothe golden sceptre: and Esther arose noured by the most abundant kindness to stand near the king. 5And Esther of their benefactors have + Perhaps said, If it seem good to thee, and I conceived ambitious de- Luke 22. 25. have found favour in thy sight, let an signs, and not only endeavour to hurt order be sent that the letters sent by our subjects, but moreover, not being Aman may be reversed, that were able to bear prosperity, they also enwritten for the destruction of the Jews, deavour to plot against their own who are in thy kingdom. For how benefactors. And they not only would shall I be able to look upon the afflic- utterly abolish gratitude from among tion of my people, and how shall I be men, but also, elated by the boastings able to survive the destruction of my of men who are strangers to all that is + Gr. country. *kindred? And the king good, they suppose that they shall said to Esther, If I have given and escape the sin-hating vengeance of the freely granted thee all that was Aman's, ever-seeing God. And oftentimes evil and hanged him on a gallows, because exhortation has made partakers of the he laid his hands upon the Jews, what guilt of shedding innocent blood, and dost thou yet further seek? Write has involved in irremediable calamities, ye also in my name, as it seems good many of those who were appointed to to you, and seal it with my ring: offices of authority, who had been for whatever orders are written at entrusted with the management of the command of the king, and sealed their friends' affairs, while men, by the with my ring, it is not lawful to false sophistry of an evil disposition, + Or, possible. gainsay them. So the have deceived the simple candour scribes were called in the first month, of the ruling powers. And it is which is Nisan, on the three and possible to see this, not so much from twentieth day of the same year; and more ancient traditionary accounts, orders were written to the Jews, what- as it is immediately in your power ever the king had commanded to the to see it by examining what things +Gr. stewards. local governors and chiefs have been wickedly per- + Or, conof the satraps, from India even to Ethi-petrated by the baseness trived." opia, a hundred and twenty-seven sa- of men unworthily holding power. traps, according to the several provinces, And it is right to take heed with + ing borne. + + regard to the future, that we may strengthen them, that on the thirteenth maintain the government in undis- of the twelfth month Adar, on the selfturbed peace for all men, adopting same day, they may defend themselves needful changes, and ever judging against those who attacked them in a those cases which come under our time of affliction. For in the place of notice, with truly equitable decision. the destruction of the chosen race, For whereas Aman, a Macedonian, Almighty God has granted them this the son of Amadathes, in reality an time of gladness. Do ye therefore alien from the blood of the Persians, also, among your notable feasts, keep a and differing widely from our mild distinct day with all festivity, that course of government, having been both now and hereafter it may be a day hospitably entertained by us, obtained of deliverance to us and those who are so large a share of our universal kind- well disposed towards the Persians, but ness, as to be called our father, and to to those that plotted against us a mecontinue the person next to the royal morial of destruction. And every city throne, reverenced of all; he, however, and province collectively, which shall + Gr. not hav- overcome by the pride of not do accordingly, shall be consumed his station, endeavoured to with vengeance by spear and fire: it deprive us of our dominion, and our shall be made not only inaccessible to + Gr. spirit. life; having by various men, but also most hateful to wild and subtle artifices demanded for de- beasts and birds for ever. And let the struction both Mardochæus our de- copies be posted in conspicuous places liverer and perpetual benefactor, and throughout the kingdom, and let all Esther the blameless consort of our the Jews be ready against this day, to kingdom, with their whole nation. fight against their enemies. For by these methods he thought, having surprised us in a defenceless state, to transfer the dominion of the Persians to the Macedonians. But we find that the Jews, who have been consigned to destruction by the most + Gr. thrice abominable of men, are not guilty. malefactors, but living according to the justest laws, and being the sons of the living God, the most +Gr.greatest. high and mighty, who maintains the kingdom, to us as well as to our forefathers, in the most excellent order. Ye will therefore do well in refusing to obey the letters sent by Aman the son of Amadathes, because he that has done these things, 9. 14 So the horsemen went forth with haste to perform the king's commands; and the ordinance was also published in Susa. 15 And Mardochæus went forth robed in the royal apparel, and wearing a golden crown, and a diadem of fine purple linen and the people in Susa saw it and rejoiced. 16 And the Jews had light and gladness, 17 in every city and province wherever the ordinance was published: wherever the proclamation took place, the Jews had joy and gladness, feasting and mirth: and many of the Gentiles were circumcised, and became Jews, for fear of the Jews. For in has been hanged with the twelfth month, on the thirteenth paled, same his whole family at the day of the month which is Adar, the subsequently gates of Susa, Almighty letters written by the king arrived. for crucified. God having swiftly returned In that day the adversaries of the to him a worthy recompense. We Jews perished: for no one resisted, enjoin you then, having openly pub- through fear of them. For the chiefs lished a copy of this letter in every of the satraps, and the princes, and the place, to give the Jews permission to royal scribes honoured the Jews; for use their own lawful customs, and to the fear of Mardochæus lay upon them. + Gr. or, im word used 2 1 |