The Living Bible (157 page)
Authors: Inc. Tyndale House Publishers
Tags: #BIBLES / Other Translations / Text
On that same day, as the laws of Moses were being read, the people found a statement which said that the Ammonites and Moabites should never be permitted to worship at the Temple.
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For they had not been friendly to the people of Israel. Instead, they had hired Balaam to curse them—although God turned the curse into a blessing.
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When this rule was read, all the foreigners were immediately expelled from the assembly.
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Before this had happened, Eliashib the priest, who had been appointed as custodian of the Temple storerooms and who was also a good friend of Tobiah,
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had converted a storage room into a beautiful guest room for Tobiah. The room had previously been used for storing the grain offerings, frankincense, bowls, and tithes of grain, new wine, and olive oil. Moses had decreed that these offerings belonged to the priests, Levites, the members of the choir, and the gatekeepers.
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I was not in Jerusalem at the time, for I had returned to Babylon in the thirty-second year of the reign of King Artaxerxes (though I later received his permission to go back again to Jerusalem).
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When I arrived back in Jerusalem and learned of this evil deed of Eliashib—that he had prepared a guest room in the Temple for Tobiah—
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I was very upset and threw out all of his belongings from the room.
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Then I demanded that the room be thoroughly cleaned, and I brought back the Temple bowls, the grain offerings, and frankincense.
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I also learned that the Levites had not been given what was due them, so they and the choir singers who were supposed to conduct the worship services had returned to their farms.
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I immediately confronted the leaders and demanded, “Why has the Temple been forsaken?” Then I called all the Levites back again and restored them to their proper duties.
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And once more all the people of Judah began bringing their tithes of grain, new wine, and olive oil to the Temple treasury.
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I put Shelemiah the priest, Zadok the scribe, and Pedaiah the Levite in charge of the administration of the storehouses; and I appointed Hanan (son of Zaccur, son of Mattaniah) as their assistant. These men had an excellent reputation, and their job was to make an honest distribution to their fellow Levites.
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O my God, remember this good deed and do not forget all that I have done for the Temple.
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One day I was on a farm and saw some men treading winepresses on the Sabbath, hauling in sheaves, and loading their donkeys with wine, grapes, figs, and all sorts of produce, which they took that day into Jerusalem. So I opposed them publicly.
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There were also some men from Tyre bringing in fish and all sorts of wares and selling them on the Sabbath to the people of Jerusalem.
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Then I asked the leaders of Judah, “Why are you profaning the Sabbath?
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Wasn’t it enough that your fathers did this sort of thing and brought the present evil days upon us and upon our city? And now you are bringing more wrath upon the people of Israel by permitting the Sabbath to be desecrated in this way.”
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So from then on I commanded that the gates of the city be shut as darkness fell on Friday evenings and not be opened until the Sabbath had ended; and I sent some of my servants to guard the gates so that no merchandise could be brought in on the Sabbath day.
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The merchants and tradesmen camped outside Jerusalem once or twice,
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but I spoke sharply to them and said, “What are you doing out here, camping around the wall? If you do this again, I will arrest you.” And that was the last time they came on the Sabbath.
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Then I commanded the Levites to purify themselves and to guard the gates in order to preserve the sanctity of the Sabbath. Remember this good deed, O my God! Have compassion upon me in accordance with your great goodness.
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About the same time I realized that some of the Jews had married women from Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab,
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and that many of their children spoke in the language of Ashdod and couldn’t speak the language of Judah at all.
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So I confronted these parents and cursed them and punched a few of them and knocked them around and pulled out their hair; and they vowed before God that they would not let their children intermarry with non-Jews.
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“Wasn’t this exactly King Solomon’s problem?” I demanded. “There was no king who could compare with him, and God loved him and made him the king over all Israel; but even so he was led into idolatry by foreign women.
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Do you think that we will let you get away with this sinful deed?”
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One of the sons of Jehoiada (the son of Eliashib the High Priest) was a son-in-law of Sanballat the Horonite, so I chased him out of the Temple.
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Remember them, O my God, for they have defiled the priesthood and the promises and vows of the priests and Levites.
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So I purged out the foreigners and assigned tasks to the priests and Levites, making certain that each knew his work.
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They supplied wood for the altar at the proper times and cared for the sacrifices and the first offerings of every harvest. Remember me, my God, with your kindness.
It was the third year of the reign of King Ahasuerus, emperor of vast Media-Persia, with its 127 provinces stretching from India to Ethiopia. This was the year of the great celebration at Shushan Palace, to which the emperor invited all his governors, aides, and army officers, bringing them in from every part of Media-Persia for the occasion.
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The celebration lasted six months, a tremendous display of the wealth and glory of his empire.
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When it was all over, the king gave a special party for the palace servants and officials—janitors and cabinet officials alike—for seven days of revelry, held in the courtyard of the palace garden.
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The decorations were green, white, and blue, fastened with purple ribbons
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tied to silver rings imbedded in marble pillars. Gold and silver benches stood on pavements of black, red, white, and yellow marble.
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Drinks were served in gold goblets of many designs, and there was an abundance of royal wine, for the king was feeling very generous.
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The only restriction on the drinking was that no one should be compelled to take more than he wanted, but those who wished could have as much as they pleased. For the king had instructed his officers to let everyone decide this matter for himself.
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Queen Vashti gave a party for the women of the palace at the same time.
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On the final day when the king was feeling high, half drunk from wine, he told the seven eunuchs who were his personal aides—Mehuman, Biztha, Harbona, Bigtha, Abagtha, Zethar, and Carkas—
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to bring Queen Vashti to him with the royal crown upon her head so that all the men could gaze upon her beauty—for she was a very beautiful woman.
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But when they conveyed the emperor’s order to Queen Vashti, she refused to come. The king was furious
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but first consulted his lawyers, for he did nothing without their advice. They were men of wisdom who knew the temper of the times as well as Persian law and justice, and the king trusted their judgment. These men were Carshena, Shethar, Admatha, Tarshish, Meres, Marsena, and Memucan—seven high officials of Media-Persia. They were his personal friends as well as being the chief officers of the government.
“What shall we do about this situation?” he asked them. “What penalty does the law provide for a queen who refuses to obey the king’s orders, properly sent through his aides?”
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Memucan answered for the others, “Queen Vashti has wronged not only the king but every official and citizen of your empire.
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For women everywhere will begin to disobey their husbands when they learn what Queen Vashti has done.
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And before this day is out, the wife of every one of us officials throughout your empire will hear what the queen did and will start talking to us husbands the same way, and there will be contempt and anger throughout your realm.
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We suggest that, subject to your agreement, you issue a royal edict, a law of the Medes and Persians that can never be changed, that Queen Vashti be forever banished from your presence and that you choose another queen more worthy than she.
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When this decree is published throughout your great kingdom, husbands everywhere, whatever their rank, will be respected by their wives!”
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The king and all his aides thought this made good sense, so he followed Memucan’s counsel
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and sent letters to all of his provinces, in all the local languages, stressing that every man should rule his home and should assert his authority.
But after King Ahasuerus’ anger had cooled, he began brooding over the loss of Vashti, realizing that he would never see her again.
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So his aides suggested, “Let us go and find the most beautiful girls in the empire and bring them to the king for his pleasure.
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We will appoint agents in each province to select young lovelies for the royal harem. Hegai, the eunuch in charge, will see that they are given beauty treatments,
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and after that, the girl who pleases you most shall be the queen instead of Vashti.”
This suggestion naturally pleased the king very much, and he put the plan into immediate effect.
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Now there was a certain Jew at the palace named Mordecai (son of Jair, son of Shimei, son of Kish, a Benjaminite).
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He had been captured when Jerusalem was destroyed by King Nebuchadnezzar and had been exiled to Babylon along with King Jeconiah of Judah and many others.
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This man had a beautiful and lovely young cousin, Hadassah (also called Esther), whose father and mother were dead, and whom he had adopted into his family and raised as his own daughter.
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So now, as a result of the king’s decree, Esther was brought to the king’s harem at Shushan Palace along with many other young girls.
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Hegai, who was responsible for the harem, was very much impressed with her and did his best to make her happy; he ordered a special menu for her, favored her for the beauty treatments, gave her seven girls from the palace as her maids, and gave her the most luxurious apartment in the harem.
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Esther hadn’t told anyone that she was a Jewess, for Mordecai had said not to.
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He came daily to the court of the harem to ask about Esther and to find out what was happening to her.
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The instructions concerning these girls were that before being taken to the king’s bed, each would be given six months of beauty treatments with oil of myrrh, followed by six months with special perfumes and ointments. Then, as each girl’s turn came for spending the night with King Ahasuerus, she was given her choice of clothing or jewelry she wished, to enhance her beauty. She was taken to the king’s apartment in the evening and the next morning returned to the second harem where the king’s wives lived. There she was under the care of Shaashgaz, another of the king’s eunuchs and lived there the rest of her life, never seeing the king again unless he had especially enjoyed her and called for her by name.
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When it was Esther’s
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turn to go to the king, she accepted the advice of Hegai, the eunuch in charge of the harem, dressing according to his instructions. And all the other girls exclaimed with delight when they saw her.
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So Esther was taken to the palace of the king in January of the seventh year of his reign.
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Well, the king loved Esther more than any of the other girls. He was so delighted with her that he set the royal crown on her head and declared her queen instead of Vashti.
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To celebrate the occasion, he threw another big party for all his officials and servants, giving generous gifts to everyone and making grants to the provinces in the form of remission of taxes.
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Later the king demanded a second bevy of beautiful girls.
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By that time Mordecai had become a government official.
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Esther still hadn’t told anyone she was a Jewess, for she was still following Mordecai’s orders, just as she had in his home.
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One day as Mordecai was on duty at the palace, two of the king’s eunuchs, Bigthan and Teresh—who were guards at the palace gate—became angry at the king and plotted to assassinate him.
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Mordecai heard about it and passed on the information to Queen Esther, who told the king, crediting Mordecai with the information.
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An investigation was made, the two men found guilty, and impaled alive.
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This was all duly recorded in the book of the history of King Ahasuerus’ reign.