Esther

¹After these events, when King Ahasuerus' anger had calmed down, he remembered Vashti, what she had done, and the decree made against her.

²Then the king’s attendants who served him said, “Let beautiful young virgins be found for the king.

³Let the king appoint officials in all the provinces of his kingdom to gather all the beautiful young virgins to the fortress of Susa, to the women’s quarters, under the care of Hegai, the king’s eunuch who is in charge of the women. Let them be given beauty treatments.

⁴And let the young woman who pleases the king become queen instead of Vashti.” The king liked this idea and did as they suggested.

⁵There was a Jew in the fortress of Susa named Mordecai, son of Jair, son of Shimei, son of Kish, from the tribe of Benjamin.

⁶He had been taken from Jerusalem with the captives when King Jeconiah of Judah was taken captive by Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon.

⁷He had raised Hadassah, also known as Esther, his uncle's daughter, because she had no father or mother. The young woman was lovely and beautiful, and after her father and mother died, Mordecai adopted her as his own daughter.

⁸So, when the king’s command and decree were announced, and many young women were brought to the fortress of Susa and placed under Hegai's care, Esther was also taken to the king's palace and put under the care of Hegai, who was in charge of the women.

⁹The girl pleased him and gained his favor. He quickly provided her with beauty treatments and special food, as well as seven chosen female servants from the king’s palace. He moved her and her servants to the best part of the women's quarters.

¹⁰Esther had not revealed her nationality or family, because Mordecai had told her not to.

¹¹Every day Mordecai walked in front of the courtyard of the women’s quarters to find out how Esther was doing and what would happen to her.

¹²Each young woman’s turn came to go to King Ahasuerus after completing twelve months of purification, as was required. This involved six months with oil of myrrh and six months with perfumes and other beauty preparations.

¹³When a young woman went to the king, she was given whatever she wanted to take with her from the women’s quarters to the king’s palace.

¹⁴She would go in the evening, and the next morning she would return to the second women’s quarters, under the care of Shaashgaz, the king’s eunuch who was in charge of the concubines. She would not go to the king again unless the king desired her and called her by name.

¹⁵When it was Esther’s turn to go to the king (Esther was the daughter of Abihail, Mordecai’s uncle, who had adopted her as his daughter), she requested nothing other than what Hegai, the king’s eunuch who was in charge of the women, advised. Esther won the admiration of everyone who saw her.

¹⁶So Esther was brought to King Ahasuerus at his royal palace in the tenth month, called Tebeth, during the seventh year of his reign.

¹⁷The king loved Esther more than all the other women. She won his approval and favor more than any of the other virgins. So he placed the royal crown on her head and made her queen instead of Vashti.

¹⁸Then the king held a great feast for all his officials and servants, which was Esther's feast. He declared a holiday throughout the provinces and gave out gifts generously, befitting a king.

¹⁹When the virgins were gathered a second time, Mordecai was sitting at the king's gate.

²⁰Esther had not yet revealed her family or her people, just as Mordecai had instructed her. Esther continued to obey Mordecai, just as she had when he raised her.

²¹During that time, while Mordecai was sitting at the king's gate, two of the king's eunuchs, Bigthan and Teresh, who guarded the entrance, became angry and planned to attack King Ahasuerus.

²²Mordecai learned about this, and he told Queen Esther, who then informed the king in Mordecai's name.

²³When the matter was investigated and found to be true, both men were hanged on a gallows. This event was recorded in the official royal chronicles.