Part 182 (1/2)

”Curse ye Meroz, said the angel of the Lord, Curse ye bitterly the inhabitants thereof; Because they came not to the help of the Lord, To the help of the Lord against the mighty.

”Blessed above women shall Jael be, The wife of Heber the Kenite, Blessed shall she be above women in the tent.

He asked water, and she gave him milk; {59} She brought him b.u.t.ter in a lordly dish.

She put her hand to the nail, And her right hand to the workmen's hammer; And with the hammer she smote Sisera, she smote through his head, Yea, she pierced and struck through his temples.

At her feet he bowed, he fell, he lay: At her feet he bowed, he fell: Where he bowed, there he fell down dead.

”Through the windows she looked forth, and cried, The mother of Sisera cried through the lattice, 'Why is his chariot so long in coming?

Why tarry the wheels of his chariots?'

Her wise ladies answered her, Yea, she returned answer to herself, 'Have they not found, have they not divided the spoil?

A damsel, two damsels to every man; To Sisera a spoil of dyed garments, A spoil of dyed garments embroidered, Of dyed garments embroidered on both sides, on the necks of the spoil?'

”So let all thine enemies perish, O Lord: But let them that love him be as the sun when he goeth forth in his might.”

{60}

ESTHER

PERSONS OF THE STORY.

_Ahasuerus, King of Persia_.

_Vashti, Queen of Ahasuerus, deposed by him_.

_Esther, Queen of Ahasuerus_.

_Mordecai, an officer of the Court_.

_Courtiers, officers, women of the harem, messengers_.

PLACE OF THE STORY.

_The Palace of Ahasuerus_.

ESTHER.

THE STORY OF A BRAVE QUEEN WHO SAVED HER PEOPLE IN A FOREIGN LAND.

Now it came to pa.s.s in the days of Ahasuerus (this is Ahasuerus who reigned, from India even to Ethiopia, over an hundred and seven and twenty provinces): that in those days, when the king Ahasuerus sat on the throne of his kingdom, which was in Shushan the palace, in the third year of his reign, he made a feast for all his princes and his servants; the mighty men of Persia and Media, the n.o.bles and princes of the provinces, being before him: when he showed the riches of his glorious kingdom and the honor {61} of his excellent majesty many days, even an hundred and eighty days.

And when these days were ended, the king made a feast for all the people that were present in Shushan the palace, both great and small, seven days, in the court of the garden of the king's palace; there were hangings of white cloth, of green, and of blue, fastened with cords of fine linen and purple to silver rings and pillars of marble: the couches were of gold and silver, upon a pavement of red, and white, and yellow, and black marble. And they gave them drink in vessels of gold, (the vessels being different one from another,) and royal wine in abundance, according to the bounty of the king.

Also Vashti the queen made a feast for the women in the royal house who belonged to King Ahasuerus.

On the seventh day, when the heart of the king was merry with wine, he commanded the seven chamberlains that ministered in the presence of Ahasuerus the king, to bring Vashti the queen before the king with the crown royal, to show the peoples and the princes her beauty: for she was fair to look on. But the queen Vashti refused to come at the king's commandment by the chamberlains: therefore was the king very wroth, and his anger burned in him. Then the king said to the wise men, ”What shall we do to the queen Vashti according to law, because she hath not done the bidding of the king Ahasuerus by the chamberlains?”

And one of the wise men answered before the king and the princes, ”Vashti the queen hath not done wrong {62} to the king only, but also to all the princes, and to all the peoples who are in all the provinces of the king Ahasuerus. For this deed of the queen will come abroad to all women, to make their husbands contemptible in their eyes, when it shall be reported, 'The king Ahasuerus commanded Vashti the queen to be brought in before him, but she came not.' And this day will the princesses of Persia and Media which have heard of the deed of the queen say the like unto all the king's princes. So shall there arise much contempt and wrath. If it please the king, let there go forth a royal commandment from him, and let it be written among the laws of the Persians and the Medes, that it be not altered, that Vashti come no more before King Ahasuerus; and let the king give her royal estate to another who is better than she.