Esther 2

A search for a new queen

¹Some time later, when the anger of King Ahasuerus had cooled, he remembered Vashti and what she had done and what had been decreed against her. ²Then the king’s young attendants who served him said, “Let a search be made for beautiful young virgins for the king. ³Let the king appoint officers in all the provinces of his kingdom to gather every beautiful young virgin to the harem in the citadel of Susa. Let them be put in the care of Hegai, the king’s eunuch who is in charge of the women, and let them be given their beauty treatments. ⁴Then let the young woman who pleases the king become queen instead of Vashti.” The king liked this advice, and he did so.

Mordecai and Esther

⁵Now there was a Jew in the citadel of Susa named Mordecai son of Jair, son of Shimei, son of Kish, a Benjaminite,^{a 6}who had been carried into exile from Jerusalem among the captives taken away with Jeconiah king of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had deported.^{b 7}He had brought up Hadassah, that is, Esther, his uncle’s daughter, because she had neither father nor mother. The young woman had a lovely figure and was beautiful to look at. When her father and mother died, Mordecai took her in as his own daughter. ⁸So when the king’s command and his decree were proclaimed and many young women were gathered to the citadel of Susa and put in the care of Hegai, Esther too was taken to the king’s palace and put in the care of Hegai, who was in charge of the women. ⁹The young woman pleased Hegai and won his favor. He quickly provided her with her beauty treatments and her special food, and he gave her seven young women chosen from the king’s palace to serve her. Then he moved her and her attendants to the best place in the harem. ¹⁰Esther had not revealed her nationality or her family background, because Mordecai had told her not to. ¹¹Every day Mordecai walked back and forth in front of the court of the harem to find out how Esther was and what was happening to her. ¹²Each young woman’s turn to go in to King Ahasuerus came after she had completed twelve months under the regulations for the women, since this was the full length of their beauty treatment: six months with oil of myrrh and six months with perfumes and cosmetics for women. ¹³This is how each young woman went in to the king: whatever she asked for was given to her to take with her from the harem to the king’s palace. ¹⁴She would go in the evening, and in the morning she would return to the second harem, in the care of Shaashgaz, the king’s eunuch who was in charge of the concubines. She would not go to the king again unless he was pleased with her and she was summoned by name. ¹⁵When the turn came for Esther, the daughter of Abihail, Mordecai’s uncle, who had adopted her as his daughter, to go in to the king, she asked for nothing except what Hegai the king’s eunuch, who was in charge of the women, advised. And Esther won the favor of everyone who saw her. ¹⁶Esther was taken to King Ahasuerus in his royal palace in the tenth month, which is the month Tebeth, in the seventh year of his reign. ¹⁷The king loved Esther more than all the other women, and she won his favor and approval more than any of the other virgins. So he set the royal crown on her head and made her queen instead of Vashti. ¹⁸Then the king gave a great banquet for all his officials and servants, the banquet in honor of Esther. He also declared a release from taxes for the provinces and gave gifts with royal generosity.^{c 19}When the virgins were gathered together a second time, Mordecai was sitting at the king’s gate.^{d 20}Esther still had not revealed her family background or her nationality, just as Mordecai had instructed her. She continued to follow Mordecai’s instructions as she had done when he was bringing her up.

Mordecai uncovers a plot against the king

²¹In those days, while Mordecai was sitting at the king’s gate, Bigthan and Teresh, two of the king’s eunuchs who guarded the doorway, became angry and plotted to assassinate King Ahasuerus. ²²Mordecai learned of the plot and told Queen Esther, and Esther told the king, giving Mordecai the credit. ²³The matter was investigated and found to be true, and both men were hanged on a gallows. And this was recorded in the book of the annals in the king’s presence.^e