Seeking Vashti’s Successor
1 After these things, when the wrath of King Ahasuerus was pacified, he remembered Vashti, and what she had done, and what was decreed against her. 2 Then the king’s servants who were serving him said, “Let beautiful young virgins be sought for the king. 3 Let the king appoint officers in all the provinces of his kingdom, that they may gather together all the beautiful young virgins to the citadel of Susa, to the harem, to the custody of Hegai the king’s eunuch, keeper of the harem. Let beauty treatments be given to them, 4 and let the maiden who pleases the king be queen instead of Vashti.”
This pleased the king, and he did accordingly.
5 There was a certain Jew in the citadel of Susa, whose name was Mordecai, the son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish, a Benjamite, 6 who had been taken captive from Jerusalem with the other captives who had been captured with Jeconiah king of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had taken.
7 He brought up Hadassah, that is, Esther, his uncle’s daughter, for she had neither father nor mother. The maiden was fair and beautiful, and when her father and mother were dead, Mordecai took her as his own daughter.
Esther Finds Favor
8 So when the king’s command and decree was heard and when many maidens were gathered together to the citadel of Susa, to the custody of Hegai, Esther was taken into the king’s house, to the custody of Hegai, keeper of the harem.
9 The maiden pleased him, and she obtained kindness from him. He quickly gave her beauty products and portions of food and the seven choice maidens who were to be given to her from the king’s house. He moved her and her maidens to the best place in the harem.
10 Esther had not made known her people nor her relatives, because Mordecai had instructed her that she should not make it known. 11 Mordecai walked every day in front of the court of the harem, to find out how Esther was doing and what would become of her.
12 Each young woman’s turn came to go in to King Ahasuerus after her purification for twelve months (for so were the days of their purification accomplished, six months with oil of myrrh and six months with sweet fragrances and with preparations for beautifying women). 13 When the young woman went to the king, whatever she desired was given her to take with her from the harem to the king’s house. 14 In the evening she went, and the next day she returned into the second harem, to the custody of Shaashgaz, the king’s eunuch, who kept the concubines. She would not return to the king unless the king delighted in her, and she was called by name.
15 Now when the turn came for Esther, the daughter of Abihail the uncle of Mordecai, who had taken her for his daughter, to go in to the king, she required nothing but what Hegai the king’s eunuch, the keeper of the harem, advised. Esther obtained favor in the sight of all those who looked at her.
16 So Esther was taken to King Ahasuerus into his royal house in the tenth month, which is the month Tebeth, in the seventh year of his reign.
Esther Becomes Queen
17 The king loved Esther more than all the women, and she obtained favor and kindness in his sight more than all the virgins, so that he set the royal crown on her head and made her queen instead of Vashti.
18 Then the king gave a great feast for all his princes and his servants, Esther’s feast, and he proclaimed a holiday in the provinces and gave gifts according to the king’s bounty.
19 When the virgins were gathered together the second time, Mordecai was sitting in the king’s gate. 20 Esther had not yet made known her relatives nor her people, as Mordecai had commanded her, for Esther obeyed Mordecai, like she did when she was brought up by him.
Mordecai Uncovers a Conspiracy
21 In those days, while Mordecai was sitting in the king’s gate, two of the king’s eunuchs, Bigthan and Teresh, who were doorkeepers, were angry, and sought to assassinate King Ahasuerus. 22 This became known to Mordecai, who informed Esther the queen, and Esther informed the king in Mordecai’s name. 23 When this matter was investigated, and it was found to be true, they were both hanged on a gallows; and it was written in the book of the chronicles in the king’s presence.