After these things, when the anger of King Ahasuerus had abated,
he remembered Vashti and what she had done and what had been
decreed against her. Then the king's young men who attended him
said, “Let beautiful young virgins be sought out for the king. And
let the king appoint officers in all the provinces of his kingdom
to gather all the beautiful young virgins to the harem in Susa the
citadel, under custody of Hegai, the king's eunuch, who is in
charge of the women. Let their cosmetics be given them. And let the
young woman who pleases the king be queen instead of Vashti.” This
pleased the king, and he did so.
Now there was a Jew in Susa the citadel whose name was Mordecai,
the son of Jair, son of Shimei, son of Kish, a Benjaminite, who had
been carried away from Jerusalem among the captives carried away
with Jeconiah king of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon
had carried away. He was bringing up Hadassah, that is Esther, the
daughter of his uncle, for she had neither father nor mother. The
young woman had a beautiful figure and was lovely to look at, and
when her father and her mother died, Mordecai took her as his own
daughter. So when the king's order and his edict were proclaimed,
and when many young women were gathered in Susa the citadel in
custody of Hegai, Esther also was taken into the king's palace and
put in custody of Hegai, who had charge of the women. And the young
woman pleased him and won his favor. And he quickly provided her
with her cosmetics and her portion of food, and with seven chosen
young women from the king's palace, and advanced her and her young
women to the best place in the harem. Esther had not made known her
people or kindred, for Mordecai had commanded her not to make it
known. And every day Mordecai walked in front of the court of the
harem to learn how Esther was and what was happening to her.
Now when the turn came for each young woman to go in to King
Ahasuerus, after being twelve months under the regulations for the
women, since this was the regular period of their beautifying, six
months with oil of myrrh and six months with spices and ointments
for women—when the young woman went in to the king in this way, she
was given whatever she desired to take with her from the harem to
the king's palace. In the evening she would go in, and in the
morning she would return to the second harem in custody of
Shaashgaz, the king's eunuch, who was in charge of the concubines.
She would not go in to the king again, unless the king delighted in
her and she was summoned by name.
When the turn came for Esther the daughter of Abihail the uncle
of Mordecai, who had taken her as his own daughter, to go in to the
king, she asked for nothing except what Hegai the king's eunuch,
who had charge of the women, advised. Now Esther was winning favor
in the eyes of all who saw her. And when Esther was taken to King
Ahasuerus, into his royal palace, in the tenth month, which is the
month of Tebeth, in the seventh year of his reign, the king loved
Esther more than all the women, and she won grace and favor 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. Then the king gave a
great feast for all his officials and servants; it was Esther's
feast. He also granted a remission of taxes to the provinces and
gave gifts with royal generosity.
Now when the virgins were gathered together the second time,
Mordecai was sitting at the king's gate. Esther had not made known
her kindred or her people, as Mordecai had commanded her, for
Esther obeyed Mordecai just as when she was brought up by him. In
those days, as Mordecai was sitting at the king's gate, Bigthan and
Teresh, two of the king's eunuchs, who guarded the threshold,
became angry and sought to lay hands on King Ahasuerus. And this
came to the knowledge of Mordecai, and he told it to Queen Esther,
and Esther told the king in the name of Mordecai. When the affair
was investigated and found to be so, the men were both hanged on
the gallows. And it was recorded in the book of the chronicles in
the presence of the king.
