1 Esdras 4:31
King James VersionSource notes
“And yet for all this the king gaped and gazed upon her with open mouth: if she laughed upon him, he laughed also: but if she took any displeasure at him, the king was fain to flatter, that she might be reconciled to him again.”
Context
28And now do ye not believe me? is not the king great in his power? do not all regions fear to touch him?
29Yet did I see him and Apame the king’s concubine, the daughter of the admirable Bartacus, sitting at the right hand of the king,
30And taking the crown from the king’s head, and setting it upon her own head; she also struck the king with her left hand.
31And yet for all this the king gaped and gazed upon her with open mouth: if she laughed upon him, he laughed also: but if she took any displeasure at him, the king was fain to flatter, that she might be reconciled to him again.
32O ye men, how can it be but women should be strong, seeing they do thus?
33Then the king and the princes looked one upon another: so he began to speak of the truth.
34O ye men, are not women strong? great is the earth, high is the heaven, swift is the sun in his course, for he compasseth the heavens round about, and fetcheth his course again to his own place in one day.