1. Now king Darius made a great feast to all his subjects, and to all that were born in his house, and to all the princes of Media and of Persia,
2. and to all the satraps and captains and governors that were under him, from India to Ethiopia, in the hundred twenty and seven provinces.
3. And when they had eaten and drunken, and being satisfied were gone home, then Darius the king went into his bedchamber, and slept, and awaked out of his sleep.
4. Then the three young men of the body-guard, that kept the king’s person, spoke one to another:
5. Let every one of us say one thing which shall be strongest: and he whose sentence shall seem wiser than the others, to him shall Darius the king give great gifts, and great honors in token of victory:
6. as, to be clothed in purple, to drink in gold, and to sleep upon gold, and a chariot with bridles of gold, and a headtire of fine linen, and a chain about his neck:
7. and he shall sit next to Darius because of his wisdom, and shall be called Darius his cousin.
8. And then they wrote every one his sentence, and set to their seals, and laid the writing under king Darius his pillow,
9. and said, When the king is risen, some shall give him the writing; and of whose side the king and the three princes of Persia shall judge that his sentence is the wisest, to him shall the victory be given, as it is written.
10. The first wrote, Wine is the strongest.
11. The second wrote, The king is strongest.
12. The third wrote, Women are strongest: but above all things Truth bears away the victory.