Esther 6

Ἐσθήρ

1 Ο δὲ Κύριος ἀπέστησε τὸν ὕπνον ἀπὸ τοῦ βασιλέως τὴν νύκτα ἐκείνην, καὶ εἶπε τῷ διακόνῳ αὐτοῦ εἰσφέρειν γράμματα μνημόσυνα τῶν ἡμερῶν ἀναγινώσκειν αὐτῷ.

But the Lord removed sleep from the king that night: and he told his servant to bring in the books, the registers of daily events, to read to him.

2 εὗρε δὲ τὰ γράμματα τὰ γραφέντα περὶ Μαρδοχαίου, ὡς ἀπήγγειλε τῷ βασιλεῖ περὶ τῶν δύο εὐνούχων τοῦ βασιλέως ἐν τῷ φυλάσσειν αὐτοὺς καὶ ζητῆσαι ἐπιβαλεῖν τὰς χεῖρας Ἀρταξέρξῃ.

And he found the records written concerning Mardochaeus, how he had told the king concerning the two chamberlains of the king, when they were keeping guard, and sought to lay hands on Artaxerxes.

3 εἶπε δὲ ὁ βασιλεύς· τίνα δόξαν ἢ χάριν ἐποιήσαμεν τῷ Μαρδοχαίῳ; καὶ εἶπαν οἱ διάκονοι τοῦ βασιλέως· οὐκ ἐποίησας αὐτῷ οὐδέν.

And the king said, What honour or favour have we done to Mardochaeus? And the king's servants said, You have not done anything to him.

4 ἐν δὲ τῷ πυνθάνεσθαι τὸν βασιλέα περὶ τῆς εὐνοίας Μαρδοχαίου, ἰδοὺ Ἀμὰν ἐν τῇ αὐλῇ. εἶπε δὲ ὁ βασιλεύς· τίς ἐν τῇ αὐλῇ; ὁ δὲ Ἀμὰν εἰσῆλθεν εἰπεῖν τῷ βασιλεῖ κρεμάσαι τὸν Μαρδοχαῖον ἐπὶ τῷ ξύλῳ, ᾧ ἡτοίμασε.

And while the king was enquiring about the kindness of Mardochaeus, behold, Aman [was] in the court. And the king said, Who [is] in the court? Now Aman was come in to speak to the king, that he should hang Mardochaeus on the gallows, which he had prepared.

5 καὶ εἶπαν οἱ διάκονοι τοῦ βασιλέως· ἰδοὺ Ἀμὰν ἕστηκεν ἐν τῇ αὐλῇ. καὶ εἶπεν ὁ βασιλεύς· καλέσατε αὐτόν.

And the king's servants said, Behold, Aman stands in the court. And the king said, Call him.

6 εἶπε δὲ ὁ βασιλεὺς τῷ Ἀμάν· τί ποιήσω τῷ ἀνθρώπῳ, ὃν ἐγὼ θέλω δοξάσαι; εἶπε δὲ ἐν ἑαυτῷ Ἀμάν· τίνα θέλει ὁ βασιλεὺς δοξάσαι εἰ μὴ ἐμέ;

And the king said to Aman, What shall I do to the man whom I wish to honour? And Aman said within himself, Whom would the king honour but myself?

7 εἶπε δὲ πρὸς τὸν βασιλέα· ἄνθρωπον, ὃν ὁ βασιλεὺς θέλει δοξάσαι,

and he said to the king, As for the man whom the king wishes to honour,

8 ἐνεγκάτωσαν οἱ παῖδες τοῦ βασιλέως στολὴν βυσσίνην, ἣν ὁ βασιλεὺς περιβάλλεται, καὶ ἵππον ἐφ᾿ ὃν ὁ βασιλεὺς ἐπιβαίνει,

let the king's servants bring the robe of fine linen which the king puts on, and the horse on which the king rides,

9 καὶ δότω ἑνὶ τῶν φίλων τοῦ βασιλέως τῶν ἐνδόξων καὶ στολισάτω τὸν ἄνθρωπον, ὃν ὁ βασιλεὺς ἀγαπᾷ, καὶ ἀναβιβασάτω αὐτὸν ἐπὶ τὸν ἵππον καὶ κηρυσσέτω διὰ τῆς πλατείας τῆς πόλεως λέγων· οὕτως ἔσται παντὶ ἀνθρώπῳ, ὃν ὁ βασιλεὺς δοξάζει.

and let him give [it] to one of the king's noble friends, and let him array the man whom the king loves; and let him mount him on the horse, and proclaim through the street of the city, saying, Thus shall it be [done] to every man whom the king honours.

10 εἶπε δὲ ὁ βασιλεὺς τῷ Ἀμάν· καλῶς ἐλάλησας. οὕτως ποίησον τῷ Μαρδοχαίῳ τῷ Ἰουδαίῳ τῷ θεραπεύοντι ἐν τῇ αὐλῇ, καὶ μὴ παραπεσάτω σου λόγος, ὧν ἐλάλησας.

Then the king said to Aman, You have well said: so do to Mardochaeus the Jew, who waits in the palace, and let not a word of what you have spoken be neglected.

11 ἔλαβε δὲ Ἀμὰν τὴν στολὴν καὶ τὸν ἵππον, καὶ ἐστόλισε τὸν Μαρδοχαῖον, καὶ ἀνεβίβασεν αὐτὸν ἐπὶ τὸν ἵππον καὶ διῆλθε διὰ τῆς πλατείας τῆς πόλεως καὶ ἐκήρυσσε λέγων· οὕτως ἔσται παντὶ ἀνθρώπῳ, ὃν ὁ βασιλεὺς θέλει δοξάσαι.

So Aman took the robe and the horse, and arrayed Mardochaeus, and mounted him on the horse, and went through the street of the city, and proclaimed, saying, Thus shall it be to every man whom the king wishes to honour.

12 ἐπέστρεψε δὲ ὁ Μαρδοχαῖος εἰς τὴν αὐλήν. Ἀμὰν δὲ ὑπέστρεψεν εἰς τὰ ἴδια λυπούμενος κατὰ κεφαλῆς.

And Mardochaeus returned to the palace: but Aman went home mourning, and having his head covered.

13 καὶ διηγήσατο Ἀμὰν τὰ συμβεβηκότα αὐτῷ Ζωσάρᾳ τῇ γυναικὶ αὐτοῦ καὶ τοῖς φίλοις, καὶ εἶπαν πρὸς αὐτὸν οἱ φίλοι καὶ ἡ γυνή· εἰ ἐκ γένους Ἰουδαίων Μαρδοχαῖος, ἦρξαι ταπεινοῦσθαι ἐνώπιον αὐτοῦ, πεσὼν πεσῇ καὶ οὐ μὴ δύνῃ αὐτὸν ἀμύνασθαι, ὅτι Θεὸς ζῶν μετ᾿ αὐτοῦ.

And Aman related the events that had befallen him to Zosara his wife, and to [his] friends: and his friends and his wife said to him, If Mardochaeus [be] of the race of the Jews, [and] you have begun to be humbled before him, you will assuredly fall, and you will not be able to withstand him, for the living God [is] with him.

14 ἔτι αὐτῶν λαλούντων, παραγίνονται οἱ εὐνοῦχοι ἐπισπεύδοντες τὸν Ἀμὰν ἐπὶ τὸν πότον, ὃν ἡτοίμασεν Ἐσθήρ.

While they were yet speaking, the chamberlains arrived, to hasten Aman to the banquet which Esther had prepared.

Greek: the Septuagint as the Orthodox Media Network published it (Mount Athos); 2 Maccabees and the Prayer of Manasseh from Brenton's edition (1851). English: Brenton's translation (1851), its spelling updated by Michael Paul Johnson; public domain. About these texts.