16. Then Memucan spoke up in the presence of the king and the officials, “Queen Vashti has done wrong, not only against the king but also against all the officials and all the people in every province of King Xerxes.
17. The news of what the queen has done will spread to all women, and they will despise their husbands. They will say, ‘King Xerxes ordered Queen Vashti to be brought to him, but she would not come.’
18. Today the wives of the officials in Persia and Media who have heard what the queen did will talk back to all the king’s officials. There will be contempt and short tempers.
19. If it pleases you, Your Majesty, issue a royal decree. It should be recorded in the decrees of the Persians and Medes, never to be repealed, that Vashti may never again appear in front of King Xerxes. Furthermore, Your Majesty, you should give her royal position to another woman who is more worthy than she.
20. When you issue your decree, your whole kingdom, great as it is, will hear it. Then all the wives will honor their husbands, regardless of their status.”
21. The king and his officials approved of this, and so the king did as Memucan suggested.
22. He sent official documents to all the king’s provinces, to each province in its own script and to the people in each province in their own language: “Let every husband be the ruler in his own house and speak with authority.”