1. Now it came to pass in the days of Ahasuerus (this is Ahasuerus who reigned from India even unto Ethiopia over one hundred and twenty-seven provinces)
2. That in those days, when the king Ahasuerus sat on the throne of his kingdom, which was in Shushan, the palace,
3. In the third year of his reign, he made a banquet unto all his princes and his slaves, having before him the power of Persia and Media, the governors and princes of the provinces,