13
Then the kingsaid to the wise men, which knew the times, (for so was the king'smannertoward all that knewlaw and judgment:
14
And the next unto him was Carshena,Shethar,Admatha,Tarshish,Meres,Marsena, and Memucan, the sevenprinces of Persia and Media, which saw the king'sface, and which sat the first in the kingdom;)
15
What shall we do unto the queenVashti according to law, because she hath not performed the commandment of the kingAhasuerusby the chamberlains?
16
And Memucanansweredbefore 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 kingAhasuerus.
17
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 kingAhasueruscommandedVashti the queen to be brought inbefore him, but she came not.
18
Likewise shall the ladies of Persia and Mediasay this day unto all the king'sprinces, which have heard of the deed of the queen. Thus shall there arise too muchcontempt and wrath.
19
If it please the king, let there go a royalcommandment from him, and let it be written among the laws of the Persians and the Medes, that it be not altered , That Vashticome no more beforekingAhasuerus; and let the kinggive her royal estate unto another that is better than she.
20
And when the king'sdecree which he shall make shall be published throughout all his empire, (for it is great,) all the wives shall give to their husbandshonour, both to great and small.
21
And the sayingpleased[a]* the king and the princes; and the kingdid according to the word of Memucan:
22
For he sentletters into all the king'sprovinces, 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.