1And the king Ahasuerus laid a tax on the land, and on the isles of the sea. 2And all the acts of his power and of his might, and the full account of the greatness of Mordecai, to which the king advanced him, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Media and Persia? 3For Mordecai the Jew was next to King Ahasuerus, and great among the Jews, and accepted of the multitude of his brothers, seeking the good of his people, and speaking peace to all his seed.