The Search for a New Queen
1Some time later,2:1 Est 1:3,10 when King Ahasuerus’s rage2:1 Est 1:12; 7:10 had cooled down, he remembered Vashti, what she had done, and what was decided against her.2:1 Est 1:10–12,16–21
2The king’s personal attendants suggested, “Let a search be made for beautiful young virgins for the king.2:2 1Kg 1:2
3Let the king appoint commissioners2:3 Gn 41:34 in each province of his kingdom, so that they may gather all the beautiful young virgins to the harem at the fortress of Susa.2:3 Neh 1:1; Est 1:1; Dn 8:2 Put them under the supervision of Hegai, the king’s eunuch,2:3 Est 1:10 keeper of the women,2:3 Est 2:8–9,12–13 and give them the required beauty treatments.
5In the fortress of Susa, there was a Jewish man named Mordecai2:5 Ezr 2:2; Est 2:15; 3:2 son of Jair, son of Shimei,2:5 2Sm 6:5–13 son of Kish,2:5 1Sm 9:1 a Benjaminite.
6Kish2:6 Lit He had been taken into exile from Jerusalem with the other captives when King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon took King Jeconiah of Judah into exile.2:6 2Kg 24:10–15; 2Ch 36:10; Jr 24:1; 29:1–2
8When the king’s command and edict became public knowledge and when many young women were gathered at the fortress of Susa under Hegai’s supervision, Esther was taken to the palace, into the supervision of Hegai, keeper of the women.
9The young woman pleased him and gained his favor so that he accelerated the process of the beauty treatments and the special diet that she received. He assigned seven hand-picked female servants to her from the palace and transferred her and her servants to the harem’s best quarters.
10Esther did not reveal her ethnicity or her family background, because Mordecai had ordered her not to make them known.
11Every day Mordecai took a walk in front of the harem’s courtyard to learn how Esther was doing and to see what was happening to her.
12During the year before each young woman’s turn to go to King Ahasuerus, the harem regulation required her to receive beauty treatments with oil of myrrh for six months and then with perfumes and cosmetics for another six months.
13When the young woman would go to the king, she was given whatever she requested to take with her from the harem to the palace.
Esther Becomes Queen
15Esther was the daughter of Abihail,2:15 Est 9:29 the uncle of Mordecai who had adopted her as his own daughter. When her turn came to go to the king, she did not ask for anything except what Hegai, the king’s eunuch, keeper of the women, suggested. Esther gained favor in the eyes of everyone who saw her.2:15 Est 5:2,8
16She was taken to King Ahasuerus in the palace in the tenth month, the month Tebeth, in the seventh year of his reign.2:16 Est 1:2
17The king loved Esther more than all the other women. She won more favor and approval from him than did any of the other virgins. He placed the royal crown on her head and made her queen in place of Vashti.2:17 Est 1:10–11; 2:4
Mordecai Saves the King
19When the virgins2:19 Est 2:12–14 were gathered a second time, Mordecai was sitting at the King’s Gate.2:19 Est 5:13
20Esther still did not reveal her family background or her ethnicity, as Mordecai had directed. She obeyed Mordecai’s orders, as she always had while he raised her.
21During those days while Mordecai was sitting at the King’s Gate, Bigthan and Teresh, two of the king’s eunuchs2:21 Est 1:10,12; 2:3,14 who guarded the entrance, became infuriated and planned to assassinate2:21 Lit and they sought to stretch out a hand against King Ahasuerus.
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