Esther 1:1-2

New Revised Standard Version, Anglicised Catholic Edition

Addition A

Mordecai’s Dream

11 ^{[a] 2} In the second year of the reign of Ahasuerus the Great, on the first day of Nisan, Mordecai son of Jair son of Shimei^[b] son of Kish, of the tribe of Benjamin, had a dream. ³ He was a Jew living in the city of Susa, a great man, serving in the court of the king. ⁴ He was one of the captives whom King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon had brought from Jerusalem with King Jeconiah of Judah. And this was his dream: ⁵ Noises^[c] and confusion, thunders and earthquake, tumult on the earth! ⁶ Then two great dragons came forward, both ready to fight, and they roared terribly. ⁷ At their roaring every nation prepared for war, to fight against the righteous nation. ⁸ It was a day of darkness and gloom, of tribulation and distress, affliction and great tumult on the earth! ⁹ And the whole righteous nation was troubled; they feared the evils that threatened them,^[d] and were ready to perish. ¹⁰ Then they cried out to God; and at their outcry, as though from a tiny spring, there came a great river, with abundant water; ¹¹ light came, and the sun rose, and the lowly were exalted and devoured those held in honour.

¹² Mordecai saw in this dream what God had determined to do, and after he awoke he had it on his mind, seeking all day to understand it in every detail.

A Plot against the King

12 Now Mordecai took his rest in the courtyard with Bigthan and Teresh, the two eunuchs of the king who kept watch in the courtyard. ² He overheard their conversation and inquired into their purposes, and learned that they were preparing to lay hands on King Ahasuerus; and he informed the king concerning them. ³ Then the king examined the two eunuchs, and after they had confessed it, they were led away to execution. ⁴ The king made a permanent record of these things, and Mordecai wrote an account of them. ⁵ And the king ordered Mordecai to serve in the court, and rewarded him for these things. ⁶ But Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, who was held in great honour by the king, determined to injure Mordecai and his people because of the two eunuchs of the king.

End of Addition A

King Ahasuerus Deposes Queen Vashti

1 This happened in the days of Ahasuerus, the same Ahasuerus who ruled over one hundred and twenty-seven provinces from India to Ethiopia.^{[e] 2} In those days when King Ahasuerus sat on his royal throne in the citadel of Susa,