Esther 6
1 noctem illam rex duxit insomnem iussitque adferri sibi historias et annales priorum temporum qui cum illo praesente legerentur
That night the king passed without sleep, and he commanded the histories and chronicles of former times to be brought him. And when they were reading them before him,
2 ventum est ad eum locum ubi scriptum erat quomodo nuntiasset Mardocheus insidias Bagathan et Thares eunuchorum regem Asuerum iugulare cupientium
They came to that place where it was written, how Mardochai had discovered the treason of Bagathan and Thares the eunuchs, who sought to kill king Assuerus.
3 quod cum rex audisset ait quid pro hac fide honoris ac praemii Mardocheus consecutus est dixeruntque ei servi illius ac ministri nihil omnino mercedis accepit
And when the king heard this, he said: What honour and reward hath Mardochai received for this fidelity? His servants and ministers said to him: He hath received no reward at all.
4 statimque rex quis est inquit in atrio Aman quippe interius atrium domus regiae intraverat ut suggereret regi et iuberet Mardocheum adfigi patibulo quod ei fuerat praeparatum
And the king said immediately: Who is in the court? for Aman was coming in to the inner court of the king’s house, to speak to the king, that he might order Mardochai to be hanged upon the gibbet which was prepared for him.
5 responderunt pueri Aman stat in atrio dixitque rex ingrediatur
The servants answered: Aman standeth in the court, and the king said: Let him come in.
6 cumque esset ingressus ait illi quid debet fieri viro quem rex honorare desiderat cogitans Aman in corde suo et reputans quod nullum alium rex nisi se vellet honorare
And when he was come in, he said to him: What ought to be done to the man whom the king is desirous to honour? But Aman thinking in his heart, and supposing that the king would honour no other but himself,
7 respondit homo quem rex honorare cupit
Answered: The man whom the king desireth to honour,
8 debet indui vestibus regiis et inponi super equum qui de sella regis est et accipere regium diadema super caput suum
Ought to be clothed with the king’s apparel, and to be set upon the horse that the king rideth upon, and to have the royal crown upon his head,
9 et primus de regis principibus ac tyrannis teneat equum eius et per plateam civitatis incedens clamet ac dicat sic honorabitur quemcumque rex voluerit honorare
And let the first of the king’s princes and nobles hold his horse, and going through the street of the city, proclaim before him and say: Thus shall he be honoured, whom the king hath a mind to honour.
10 dixitque ei rex festina et sumpta stola et equo fac ita ut locutus es Mardocheo Iudaeo qui sedet ante fores palatii cave ne quicquam de his quae locutus es praetermittas
And the king said to him: Make haste and take the robe and the horse, and do as thou hast spoken to Mardochai the Jew, who sitteth before the gates of the palace. Beware thou pass over any of those things which thou hast spoken.
11 tulit itaque Aman stolam et equum indutumque Mardocheum in platea civitatis et inpositum equo praecedebat atque clamabat hoc honore condignus est quemcumque rex voluerit honorare
So Aman took the robe and the horse, and arraying Mardochai in the street of the city, and setting him on the horse, went before him, and proclaimed: This honour is he worthy of, whom the king hath a mind to honour.
12 reversus est Mardocheus ad ianuam palatii et Aman festinavit ire in domum suam lugens et operto capite
But Mardochai returned to the palace gate: and Aman made haste to go to his house, mourning and having his head covered:
13 narravitque Zares uxori suae et amicis omnia quae evenissent sibi cui responderunt sapientes quos habebat in consilio et uxor eius si de semine Iudaeorum est Mardocheus ante quem cadere coepisti non poteris ei resistere sed cades in conspectu eius
And he told Zares his wife, and his friends, all that had befallen him. And the wise men whom he had in counsel, and his wife answered him: If Mardochai be of the seed of the Jews, before whom thou hast begun to fall, thou canst not resist him, but thou shalt fall in his sight.
14 adhuc illis loquentibus venerunt eunuchi regis et cito eum ad convivium quod regina paraverat pergere conpulerunt
As they were yet speaking, the king’s eunuchs came, and compelled him to go quickly to the banquet which the queen had prepared.
