Leadership Verses

And Memucan answered before the king and the princes, Vashti the queen hath not done wrong to the king only, but also to all the princes, and to all the people that {are} in all the provinces of the king Ahasuerus.

For {this} deed of the queen shall come abroad unto all women, so that they shall despise their husbands 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.

{Likewise} shall the ladies of Persia and Media say this day unto all the king's princes, which have heard of the deed of the queen. Thus {shall there arise} too much contempt and wrath.

If it please the king, let there go 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 unto another that is better than she. {If it...: Heb. If it be good with the king} {unto...: Heb. unto her companion} {from him: Heb. from before him} {be not...: Heb. pass not away}

And when the king's decree which he shall make shall be published throughout all his empire, (for it is great,) all the wives shall give to their husbands honour, both to great and small.

And the saying pleased the king and the princes; and the king did according to the word of Memucan: {pleased...: Heb. was good in the eyes of the king}

For he sent letters into all the king's provinces, into every province according to the writing thereof, and to every people after their language, that every man should bear rule in his own house, and that {it} should be published according to the language of every people. {that it...: Heb. that one should publish it according to the language of his people}

After these things, when the wrath of king Ahasuerus was appeased, he remembered Vashti, and what she had done, and what was decreed against her.

Then said the king's servants that ministered unto him, Let there be fair young virgins sought for the king:

And let the king appoint officers in all the provinces of his kingdom, that they may gather together all the fair young virgins unto Shushan the palace, to the house of the women, unto the custody of Hege the king's chamberlain, keeper of the women; and let their things for purification be given {them}: {unto the...: Heb. unto the hand} {Hege: also called, Hegai}

And let the maiden which pleaseth the king be queen instead of Vashti. And the thing pleased the king; and he did so.

Who had been carried away from Jerusalem with the captivity which had been carried away with Jeconiah king of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried away. {Jeconiah: also called, Jehoiachin}