CHAPTER 2
Some time later,
when the anger
of King
Xerxes
had subsided,
he recalled
Vashti
and
what
she had done,
and
what
had been decreed
against her.
Then the king's
attendants
proposed,
“Let a search be made
for beautiful
young
virgins
for the king,
and let the king
appoint
commissioners
in each
province
of his kingdom
to assemble
all
the beautiful
young
women
into
the harem
at
the citadel
of Susa.
Let them be placed
under the care
of Hegai,
the king’s
eunuch
in charge of
the women,
and give them
the required beauty treatments.
Then let the young woman
who
pleases
the king
become queen
in place
of Vashti.”
This suggestion
pleased
the king,
and he acted
accordingly.
Now there was
at the citadel
of Susa
a Jewish
man
from the tribe of Benjamin
named
Mordecai
son
of Jair,
the son
of Shimei,
the son
of Kish.
He
had been carried into exile
from Jerusalem
by Nebuchadnezzar
king
of Babylon
among
those taken captive
with
Jeconiah
king
of Judah.
And Mordecai
had brought up
Hadassah
(that is,
Esther),
the daughter
of his uncle,
because
she did not
have a father
or mother.
The young woman
was lovely
in form
and
appearance,
and when her father
and mother
had died,
Mordecai
had taken her in
as his own
daughter.
When
the king’s
command
and edict
had been proclaimed,
many
young women
gathered
at
the citadel
of Susa
under
the care
of Hegai.
Esther
was also taken
to
the palace
and placed under
the care
of Hegai,
the custodian
of the women.
And the young woman
pleased him
and obtained
his
favor,
so he quickly
provided her
with beauty treatments
and the special diet.
He assigned
to her
seven
select
maidservants
from the palace
and transferred her
with them
to the best
place in the harem.
Esther
did not
reveal
her people
or
her lineage,
because
Mordecai
had instructed
her
not
to do so.
Every day
Mordecai
walked back and forth
in front
of the courtyard
of the harem
to learn
about
Esther's
welfare
and what
was happening
to her.
In the twelve
months
before her
turn
to go
to
King
Xerxes,
the harem
regulation required
each young woman
to receive beauty treatments
with oil
of myrrh
for six
months,
and then with perfumes
and cosmetics
for another six
months.
When
the young woman
would go
to
the king,
she was given
whatever
she requested
to take
with her
from the harem
to
the king's
palace.
She
would go there
in the evening,
and in the morning
she
would return
to
a second
harem
under
the care
of Shaashgaz,
the king’s
eunuch
in charge of
the concubines.
She would not
return
to
the king
unless
he
delighted
in her
and summoned her
by name.
Now Esther
was the daughter
of Abihail,
the uncle
from whom Mordecai
had adopted
her
as his own daughter.
And when it was her turn
to go
to
the king,
she did not
ask for
anything
except
what
Hegai,
the king’s
trusted official
in charge of
the harem,
had advised.
And Esther
found
favor
in the eyes
of everyone
who saw her.
She
was taken
to
King
Xerxes
in
the royal
palace
in the tenth
month,
the month
Tebeth,
in the seventh
year
of his reign.
And the king
loved
Esther
more than all
the other women,
and she found
grace
and favor
in his sight
more than all
of the other virgins.
So he placed
the royal
crown
upon her head
and made her queen
in place of
Vashti.
Then the king
held
a great
banquet,
Esther’s
banquet,
for all
his officials
and servants.
He proclaimed
a tax holiday
in the provinces
and gave
gifts
worthy of the king’s
bounty.
Esther
still had not
revealed
her lineage
or her people,
just as
Mordecai
had instructed.
She
obeyed
Mordecai’s
command,
as
she had done
under his care.
In those
days,
while Mordecai
was sitting
at the King’s
Gate,
Bigthan
and Teresh,
two
eunuchs
who guarded
the king’s
entrance,
grew angry
and conspired
to assassinate
King
Xerxes.
When Mordecai
learned
of the plot,
he reported
it to Queen
Esther,
and she
informed
the king
on Mordecai’s behalf.
After the report
had been investigated
and verified,
both officials
were hanged
on
the gallows.
And all this was recorded
in the Book
of the Chronicles
in the presence
of the king.