1 And it cometh to pass, in the days of Ahasuerus -- he [is] Ahasuerus who is reigning from Hodu even unto Cush, seven and twenty and a hundred provinces -- 2 in those days, at the sitting of the king Ahasuerus on the throne of his kingdom, that [is] in Shushan the palace, 3 in the third year of his reign, he hath made a banquet to all his heads and his servants; of the force of Persia and Media, the chiefs and heads of the provinces [are] before him, 4 in his shewing the wealth of the honour of his kingdom, and the glory of the beauty of his greatness, many days -- eighty and a hundred days. 5 And at the fulness of these days hath the king made to all the people who are found in Shushan the palace, from great even unto small, a banquet, seven days, in the court of the garden of the house of the king -- 6 white linen, white cotton, and blue, fastened with cords of fine linen and purple on rings of silver, and pillars of marble, couches of gold, and of silver, on a pavement of smaragdus, and white marble, and mother-of-pearl, and black marble -- 7 and the giving of drink in vessels of gold, and the vessels [are] divers vessels, and the royal wine [is] abundant, as a memorial of the king. 8 And the drinking [is] according to law, none is pressing, for so hath the king appointed for every chief one of his house, to do according to the pleasure of man and man. 9 Also Vashti the queen hath made a banquet for women, in the royal house that the king Ahasuerus hath.