1 Esdras 3

¹Now King Darius made a great feast for all his subjects, for all who were born in his house, for all the princes of Media and of Persia, ²and for all the local governors and captains and governors who were under him, from India to Ethiopia, in the one hundred twenty seven provinces. ³They ate and drank, and when they were satisfied went home. Then King Darius went into his bedchamber and slept, but awakened out of his sleep.

⁴Then the three young men of the bodyguard, who guarded the king, spoke one to another: ⁵“Let every one of us state what one thing is strongest. King Darius will give him whose statement seems wiser than the others great gifts and great honors in token of victory. ⁶He shall be clothed in purple, drink from gold cups, sleep on a gold bed, and have a chariot with bridles of gold, a fine linen turban, and a chain around his neck. ⁷He shall sit next to Darius because of his wisdom, and shall be called cousin of Darius.”

⁸Then they each wrote his sentence, sealed them, and laid them under King Darius’ pillow, ⁹and said, “When the king wakes up, someone will give him the writing. Whoever the king and the three princes of Persia judge that his sentence is the wisest, to him shall the victory be given, as it is written.” ¹⁰The first wrote, “Wine is the strongest.” ¹¹The second wrote, “The king is strongest.” ¹²The third wrote, “Women are strongest, but above all things Truth is the victor.”

¹³Now when the king woke up, they took the writing and gave it to him, so he read it. ¹⁴Sending out, he called all the princes of Persia and of Media, the local governors, the captains, the governors, and the chief officers ¹⁵and sat himself down in the royal seat of judgment; and the writing was read before them. ¹⁶He said, “Call the young men, and they shall explain their own sentences. So they were called and came in. ¹⁷They said to them, “Explain what you have written.”

Then the first, who had spoken of the strength of wine, began ¹⁸and said this: “O sirs, how exceedingly strong wine is! It causes all men who drink it to go astray. ¹⁹It makes the mind of the king and of the fatherless child to be the same, likewise of the bondman and of the freeman, of the poor man and of the rich. ²⁰It also turns every thought into cheer and mirth, so that a man remembers neither sorrow nor debt. ²¹It makes every heart rich, so that a man remembers neither king nor local governor. It makes people say things in large amounts. ²²When they are in their cups, they forget their love both to friends and kindred, and before long draw their swords. ²³But when they awake from their wine, they don’t remember what they have done. ²⁴O sirs, isn’t wine the strongest, seeing that it forces people to do this?” And when he had said this, he stopped speaking.