¹⁷ For should this matter of the queen spread to all wives, then they would look with contempt on their husbands when it is reported that, ‘King Ahasuerus commanded Queen Vashti to be brought before him, but she never came.’ ¹⁸ This very day the noble ladies of Persia and Media, who hear of the queen’s act, will say the same thing to all the king’s princes. Then there will be more contempt and wrath.

¹⁹ “If it pleases the king, let a royal decree be sent by him, and let it be written in the laws of the Persians and the Medes, that it may not be altered, that Vashti can never enter into the presence of King Ahasuerus, and that the king will give her royal position to another woman who is better than she.