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The Book of Esther 2

2 Some time later, when King Ahasuerus no longer felt so angry, he started to miss Vashti. But when she disobeyed his command, he had made a decree that she could never come into his presence again. 2 So some of the young men who attended the king said to him, “Your majesty, you should get a new wife for yourself. You could tell your servants to look for young virgins who are very beautiful. 3 Also, you could assign officers in each province of your empire to bring every virgin who is very beautiful here to your capital city of Susa. They could stay in the harem for virgins under the custody of Hegai, the castrated royal guardian who takes care of the young women who live there. He could arrange for them to receive beauty treatments. 4 Then you could decide which young woman you liked the best, and you could make her queen instead of Vashti.” The king liked what they suggested, so he did it.

5 At that time, there was a Jewish man named Mordecai living in the capital city of Susa. He was from the tribe of Benjamin. His father was named Jair, his grandfather was named Shimei, and his great-grandfather was named Kish. 6 Many years earlier, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon had taken Kish away from Jerusalem and brought him to Babylon along with many other captives. Nebuchadnezzar took them away from Jerusalem at the same time that he took King Jeconiah of Judah away from Jerusalem and brought him to Babylon. 7 Now Mordecai was taking care of his cousin, who was an orphan. Her Hebrew name was Hadassah, and her Persian name was Esther. When her father and mother died, Mordecai had adopted her as his own daughter. Esther was now a young woman, and she was exceptionally attractive.

8 And so this is what happened: Messengers went throughout the empire and proclaimed the new law that the king had spoken. At the same time, the officers whom the king had appointed in each province brought many beautiful young women to the capital city of Susa and put them under the custody of Hegai. He was the man who took care of the young women who lived in the harem for virgins. Because Esther was exceptionally attractive, the officers also brought her to the king’s palace and put her under the custody of Hegai. 9 Hegai was very impressed with Esther, and he treated her favorably. He quickly arranged for Esther to receive her beauty treatments and her allotment of food. He also chose seven female servants from the king’s palace and assigned them to be her personal attendants. He also moved Esther and her attendants to the best rooms in the harem for virgins. 10 Mordecai had warned Esther that she should not tell anyone what people group she was from. So she did not tell anyone that she was a Jew or who her relatives were. 11 Mordecai wanted to know how Esther was doing and what was happening to her. So each and every day, he would walk around in front of the courtyard of the harem for virgins. That way he could ask people who were going in and out of the harem how she was doing.

12 Each young woman in the harem, one at a time, was going to have sexual relations with King Ahasuerus and become one of his concubines. But before her turn came, each woman received a full year of beauty treatments, using techniques that had been developed for women in Persia. This is how the beauty treatments were completed: For the first six months, a woman’s attendants would rub her body every day with olive oil mixed with myrrh. For the next six months, her attendants would rub her body every day with perfumes and lotions designed for women. 13 This is the way that they would prepare a young woman to go and have sexual relations with the king and become one of his concubines. She could take whatever clothing and jewelry she wanted from the harem for virgins and wear them when she went to the king’s palace. 14 The king’s servants would bring her to the king’s private rooms in the evening. The next morning, they would bring her to the other harem, the one for concubines. There a man named Shaashgaz would take charge of her, because he was the castrated royal guardian who took care of the concubines. The young woman would live there for the rest of her life. She would not go and see the king again unless he asked for her by name because he had enjoyed being with her.

15 Eventually, the evening came when it was the turn for Esther, whom Mordecai had adopted as his daughter, to go to the king. She was the daughter of Abihail, Mordecai’s uncle. When Esther went to the king, she only asked for what Hegai, the royal guardian in charge of the harem for virgins, recommended that she should wear. Everyone who saw Esther was very impressed with her. 16 The king’s servants brought Esther to King Ahasuerus in his royal palace during the tenth month of the year (the month of Tebeth), in the seventh year of his reign as king of Persia. 17 The king loved Esther more than any of the other women. He treated her more kindly and more favorably than any of the other young women who had become his concubines. So King Ahasuerus put a royal crown on her head, and he made her the queen instead of Vashti. 18 Then the king hosted a great feast and invited all of his officials and servants. It was a feast to celebrate Esther becoming the queen. He proclaimed that this would be a time to celebrate for people in all of the provinces of his empire when they would not have to pay taxes, and he generously gave gifts to people.

19 Later, Ahasuerus had his officers bring more virgins to Susa. During this time, Mordecai was working for the king, and he sat at the king’s gate. 20 Esther had still not told anyone what people group she was from, because Mordecai had warned her not to tell anyone. In fact, she continued to follow all of Mordecai’s instructions, just as she had done when she was growing up in his house. 21 During that time, when Mordecai was doing his work at the king’s gate, two of the king’s guards who protected the doorway to the king’s private rooms became angry with the king. They planned to assassinate King Ahasuerus. Their names were Bigthan and Teresh. 22 But Mordecai found out about what they were planning. He told Queen Esther about it, and she told the king. She explained that Mordecai had given her the information. 23 So the king’s officials investigated Mordecai’s report and discovered that it was true. So the king ordered his servants to hang those two men from wooden poles until they died. In the king’s presence, the king’s scribes recorded an account of this in the royal chronicles.

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