1In the second year of the reign of Artaxerxes the great king, on the first day of Nisan, Mordecai son of Jair, son of Shimei, son of Kish, from the tribe of Benjamin, had a dream.
2He was a Jewish man living in the city of Susa, a great man, serving in the king’s court.
3And he was from the captivity that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had taken into exile from Jerusalem with Jeconiah the king of Judea.
4And this was his dream: Behold, there were voices and a tumult, thunders and an earthquake, a commotion upon the earth.
5And behold, two great dragons both came forth, ready to fight, and they made a great noise.
6And at their cry, every nation prepared for war, to fight against a righteous nation.
7And behold, a day of darkness and gloom, affliction and distress, oppression and great commotion upon the earth.
8And the whole righteous nation was thrown into confusion, fearing their own calamities, and they prepared to perish.
9And they cried out to God. And from their cry, as if from a small spring, there came to be a great river with much water.
10Light and the sun rose, and the lowly were exalted and devoured the glorious ones.
11And when Mordecai awoke, having seen this dream and what God had planned to do, he kept it in his heart and sought in every way to understand it until night.
12And Mordecai was resting in the court with Gabatha and Tharra, the two eunuchs of the king who guarded the court.
13He overheard their plots and investigated their schemes, and he learned that they were preparing to lay hands on King Artaxerxes. So he informed the king about them.
14And the king examined the two eunuchs, and when they confessed, they were led away.
15And the king wrote these events down as a memorial, and Mordecai also wrote about these events.
16And the king commanded Mordecai to serve in the court, and he gave him gifts for these things.
17Now Haman son of Hammedatha, the Bougaean, was honored in the presence of the king, and he sought to harm Mordecai and his people on account of the king’s two eunuchs.
18And it happened after these events, in the days of Artaxerxes—this is the Artaxerxes who ruled over one hundred and twenty-seven provinces from India.
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