1Afterthesethings1when the anger of KingAhasuerus had subsided, he rememberedVashti and what she had done and 2what had been decreedagainst her.
2
Then the king'sattendants, who served him, said, "3Let beautifulyoungvirgins be sought for the king.
3
"Let the kingappointoverseers in 4all the provinces of his kingdom that they may gathereverybeautifulyoungvirgin to the citadel of Susa, to the harem , into the custody of 5Hegai, the king'seunuch, who is in charge of the women ; and 6let their cosmetics be given them.
4
"Then let the youngladywhopleases the king be queen in place of Vashti." And the matterpleased the king, and he didaccordingly.
5
Now there was at the citadel in Susa a Jew whose name was 7Mordecai, the son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish, a Benjamite ,
68who had been taken into exile from Jerusalem with the captiveswho had been exiled with Jeconiahking of Judah, whomNebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had exiled.
7
He was bringing up Hadassah, that is 9Esther, his uncle'sdaughter, for she hadnofatherormother. Now the younglady was beautiful of form and aface, and when her father and her motherdied, Mordecaitook her as his own daughter.
Esther Finds Favor
8
So it came about when the command and decree of the king were heard and 10manyyoungladies were gathered to the citadel of Susa into the custody of 11Hegai, that Esther was taken to the king'sbpalace into the custody of Hegai, who was in charge of the women.
9
Now the youngladypleased him and foundfavor with him. So he quicklyprovided her with her 12cosmetics and cfood, gave her sevenchoicemaids from the king'spalace and transferred her and her maids to the best place in the harem .
1013Esther did not makeknown her people or her kindred, for Mordecai had instructed her that she should not make them known.
11EverydayMordecaiwalkedback and forth in front of the court of the harem to learnhowEsther was and how she fared.
12
Now when the turn of eachyoungladycame to go in to KingAhasuerus, after the end of her twelvemonths under the regulations for the women -for the days of their beautification were completed as follows : sixmonths with oil of myrrh and sixmonths with spices and the cosmetics for women -
13
the younglady would go in to the king in thisway : anything that she ddesired was given her to take with her from the harem to the king'spalace.
14
In the evening she would go in and in the morning she would return to the secondharem , to the ecustody of Shaashgaz, the king'seunuch who was in charge of the concubines. She would not againgo in to the kingunless the kingdelighted in her and she was summoned by name.
15
Now when the turn of Esther, 14the daughter of Abihail the uncle of Mordecaiwho had taken her as his daughter, came to go in to the king, she did not requestanythingexceptwhat15Hegai, the king'seunuch who was in charge of the women, fadvised. And Estherfoundfavor in the eyes of all who saw her.
16
So Esther was taken to KingAhasuerus to his royalpalace in the tenthmonthwhich is the monthTebeth, in the seventhyear of his reign.
Esther Becomes Queen
17
The kinglovedEsthermorethanall the women, and she foundfavor and kindness with him morethanall the virgins, so that 16he set the royalcrown on her head and made her queeninstead of Vashti.
18
Then 17the kinggave a greatbanquet, Esther'sbanquet, for all his princes and his servants ; he also made a holiday for the provinces and gavegifts18according to the king'sbounty.
1919When the virgins were gathered together the secondtime, then Mordecai20was sitting at the king'sgate.
2021Esther had not yet made known her kindred or her people, even as Mordecai had commanded her; for EstherdidgwhatMordecaitold her as she had done22when under his care.
Mordecai Saves the King
21
In thosedays, while Mordecai was sitting at the king'sgate, 23Bigthan and Teresh, two of the king'sofficials from those who guarded the door, becameangry and sought to hlayhands on KingAhasuerus.
22
But the iplot became known to Mordecai and 24he toldQueenEsther, and Estherjinformed the king in Mordecai'sname.
23
Now when the plot was investigated and found to be so, they were bothhanged on a kgallows ; and it was written in 25the Book of the Chronicles in the king'spresence.