Esther Chosen Queen
1 After these things,
1when the anger of King Ahasuerus had abated, he remembered Vashti
2and what she had done and what had been decreed against her.
2
Then the king's young men who attended him said, "Let beautiful young virgins be sought out for the king.
3
And let the king appoint officers in all the provinces of his kingdom to gather all the beautiful young virgins to the harem in Susa the capital, under custody of
3Hegai, the king's eunuch, who is in charge of the women.
4Let their cosmetics be given them.
4
And let the young woman who pleases the king be queen instead of Vashti." This pleased the king, and he did so.
5
Now there was a Jew in Susa the citadel whose name was
5Mordecai, the son of Jair, son of Shimei, son of Kish, a Benjaminite,
6
6who had been carried away from Jerusalem among the captives carried away with Jeconiah king of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had carried away.
7
He was bringing up Hadassah, that is Esther,
7the daughter of his uncle, for she had neither father nor mother. The young woman had a beautiful figure and was lovely to look at, and when her father and her mother died, Mordecai took her as his own daughter.