After these things, ^awhen the wrath of King Ahasuerus (Xerxes) had subsided, he remembered Vashti and what she had done and ^bwhat had been decreed against her. 2 Then the king’s attendants, who served him, said, “^aLet beautiful young virgins be sought for the king. 3 Let the king appoint administrators in ^aall the provinces of his kingdom, and have them gather all the beautiful young virgins to the citadel in Susa, into the harem, under the custody of ^bHegai, the king’s eunuch, who is in charge of the women; and ^clet their beauty preparations be given to them. 4 Then let the young woman who pleases the king be queen in place of Vashti.” This pleased the king, and he did accordingly.

5 There was a certain Jew in the citadel of Susa whose name was ^aMordecai the son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish, a Benjamite, 6 ^awho had been deported from Jerusalem with the captives who had been exiled with Jeconiah king of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had exiled. 7 He was the guardian of ¹Hadassah, that is ^aEsther, his uncle’s daughter, for she had no father or mother. The young woman was beautiful of form and ²face; and when her father and mother died, Mordecai took her in as his own daughter.

8 So it came about when the king’s command and his decree were proclaimed and when ^amany young women were gathered together in the citadel of Susa into the custody of ^bHegai, that Esther was taken to the king’s palace and placed in the custody of Hegai, who was in charge of the women. 9 Now the young woman pleased Hegai and found favor with him. So he quickly provided her with ^abeauty preparations and her portion of food, and he gave her seven choice maids from the king’s palace; then he transferred her and her maids to the best place in the harem. 10 ^aEsther did not reveal the Jewish background of her people or her family, for Mordecai had instructed her not to do so. 11 Every day Mordecai who was an ¹attendant in the king’s court walked back and forth in front of the courtyard of the harem to learn how Esther was getting along and what was happening to her.

12 Now when it was each young woman’s turn to go before King Ahasuerus, after the end of her twelve months under the regulations for the women—for the days of their beautification were completed as follows: six months with oil of myrrh and six months with sweet spices and perfumes and the beauty preparations for women— 13 then the young woman would go before the king in this way: anything that she wanted was given her to take with her from the harem into the king’s palace. 14 In the evening she would go in and the next morning she would return to the ¹second harem, to the custody of Shaashgaz, the king’s eunuch who was in charge of the ²concubines. She would not return to the king unless he delighted in her and she was summoned by name.

15 Now as for Esther, ^athe daughter of Abihail the uncle of Mordecai who had taken her in as his own daughter, when her turn came to go in to the king, she requested nothing except what ^bHegai the king’s eunuch and attendant who was in charge of the women, advised. And Esther found favor in the sight of all who saw her. 16 So Esther was taken to King Ahasuerus, to his royal palace in the tenth month, that is, the month of Tebeth (Dec-Jan) , in the seventh year of his reign.

17 Now the king loved Esther more than all the other women, and she found favor and kindness with him more than all the other virgins, so that ^ahe set the royal crown on her head and made her queen in the place of Vashti. 18 Then ^athe king held a great banquet, Esther’s banquet, for all his officials and his servants; and he made a ¹festival for the provinces and gave gifts in ^baccordance with the resources of the king.

19 And ^awhen the virgins were gathered together the second time, Mordecai ^1bwas sitting at the king’s gate. 20 ^aEsther had not revealed her family or her people that is, her Jewish background, just as Mordecai had instructed her; for Esther did what Mordecai told her just as ^bwhen she was under his care.

21 In those days, while Mordecai was sitting at the king’s gate, ^aBigthan and Teresh, two of the king’s eunuchs who guarded the door, became ¹angry and ²conspired to attack King Ahasuerus. 22 But the plot became known to Mordecai, ^awho informed Queen Esther, and Esther told the king in Mordecai’s name. 23 Now when the plot was investigated and found to be true, both men were ¹hanged on the gallows. And it was recorded in ^athe Book of the Chronicles in the king’s presence.