1And king Ahasuerus laid a tax on the land and on the isles of the sea.
2And all the acts of his authority and of his might, and the declaration of the greatness of Mordecai, with which the king made him great, are they not written in the Book of the Matters of the Days of the Kings of Media and Persia?
3For Mordecai the Jew was second to king Ahasuerus, and great among the Jews, and pleasing to the multitude of his brothers, seeking the welfare of his people, and speaking peace to all his seed.