Esther 1:1-2

Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition

Mordecai’s Dream

11 ^[a]2 In the second year of the reign of Ahasu-e′rus^[b] the Great, on the first day of Nisan, Mor′decai the son of Ja′ir, son of Shim′e-i, son of Kish, of the tribe of Benjamin, had a dream. ³ He was a Jew, dwelling in the city of Susa, a great man, serving in the court of the king. ⁴ He was one of the captives whom Nebuchadnez′zar king of Babylon had brought from Jerusalem with Jeconi′ah king of Judea. And this was his dream:

⁵ Behold, noise^[c] and confusion, thunders and earthquake, tumult upon the earth! ⁶ And behold, two great dragons came forward, both ready to fight, and they roared terribly. ⁷ And at their roaring every nation prepared for war, to fight against the nation of the righteous. ⁸ And behold, a day of darkness and gloom, tribulation and distress, affliction and great tumult upon the earth! ⁹ And the whole righteous nation was troubled; they feared the evils that threatened them, and were ready to perish. ¹⁰ Then they cried to God; and from their cry, 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 consumed those held in honor.

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

A Plot against the King

12 ¹ Now Mor′decai took his rest in the courtyard with Gab′atha and Tharra, 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 upon Ahasu-e′rus^[d] the king; and he informed the king concerning them. ³ Then the king examined the two eunuchs, and when they confessed they were led to execution. ⁴ The king made a permanent record of these things, and Mor′decai wrote an account of them. ⁵ And the king ordered Mor′decai to serve in the court and rewarded him for these things. ⁶ But Haman, the son of Hammeda′tha, a Bougae′an, was in great honor with the king, and he sought to injure Mor′decai and his people because of the two eunuchs of the king.

King Ahasu-erus Deposes Queen Vashti

1 In the days of Ahasu-e′rus, the Ahasu-e′rus who reigned from India to Ethiopia over one hundred and twenty-seven provinces, ² in those days when King Ahasu-e′rus sat on his royal throne in Susa the capital,