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.
20 When the king’s decree that he shall make is proclaimed throughout all his empire (for it is vast), then all the wives shall give honor to their husbands, both the prominent and lowly.”
21 The suggestion pleased the king and the princes, so the king did according to the word of Memukan.
22 He sent letters to all the king’s provinces, in the script of every province and in the language of every people group, bearing the message in the languages of his people that each man should rule over his own house.