146IMMERSE•CHRONICLES1:15–2:8and Memucan—seven nobles of Persia and Media. They met with theking regularly and held the highest positions in the empire.“What must be done to Queen Vashti?” the king demanded. “What penalty does the law provide for a queen who refuses to obey the king’s orders,properly sent through his eunuchs?”Memucan answered the king and his nobles, “Queen Vashti has wrongednot only the king but also every noble and citizen throughout your empire.Women everywhere will begin to despise their husbands when they learnthat Queen Vashti has refused to appear before the king. Before this dayis out, the wives of all the king’s nobles throughout Persia and Media willhear what the queen did and will start treating their husbands the sameway. There will be no end to their contempt and anger.“So if it please the king, we suggest that you issue a written decree, alaw of the Persians and Medes that cannot be revoked. It should orderthat Queen Vashti be forever banished from the presence of King Xerxes,and that the king should choose another queen more worthy than she.When this decree is published throughout the king’s vast empire, husbands everywhere, whatever their rank, will receive proper respect fromtheir wives!”The king and his nobles thought this made good sense, so he followedMemucan’s counsel. He sent letters to all parts of the empire, to each province in its own script and language, proclaiming that every man should bethe ruler of his own home and should say whatever he pleases.But after Xerxes’ anger had subsided, he began thinking about Vashti andwhat she had done and the decree he had made. So his personal attendantssuggested, “Let us search the empire to find beautiful young virgins for theking. Let the king appoint agents in each province to bring these beautiful young women into the royal harem at the fortress of Susa. Hegai, theking’s eunuch in charge of the harem, will see that they are all given beautytreatments. After that, the young woman who most pleases the king will bemade queen instead of Vashti.” This advice was very appealing to the king,so he put the plan into effect.At that time there was a Jewish man in the fortress of Susa whose namewas Mordecai son of Jair. He was from the tribe of Benjamin and was adescendant of Kish and Shimei. His family had been among those who,with King Jehoiachin of Judah, had been exiled from Jerusalem to Babylon by King Nebuchadnezzar. This man had a very beautiful and lovelyyoung cousin, Hadassah, who was also called Esther. When her father andmother died, Mordecai adopted her into his family and raised her as hisown daughter.As a result of the king’s decree, Esther, along with many other youngImmerseChronicles_NLT.indd 1466/21/2017 10:01:39 AM
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