Esther 2:1–7

THE SEARCH FOR A NEW QUEEN

2 Some time later,ai when King Ahasuerus’s rageaj had cooled down, he remembered Vashti, what she had done, and what was decided against her.ak 2 The king’s personal attendants suggested, “Let a search be made for beautiful young virgins for the king.a 3 Let the king appoint commissionersb in each province of his kingdom, so that they may gather all the beautiful young virgins to the harem at the fortress of Susa.c Put them under the supervision of Hegai, the king’s eunuch,d keeper of the women,e and give them the required beauty treatments. 4 Then the young woman who pleases the kingf will become queen instead of Vashti.”g This suggestion pleased the king, and he did accordingly.

5 In the fortress of Susa, there was a Jewish man named Mordecaih son of Jair, son of Shimei,i son of Kish,j a Benjaminite. 6 KishA had been taken into exile from Jerusalem with the other captives when King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon took King Jeconiah of Judah into exile.k 7 Mordecai was the legal guardian of his cousinB Hadassah (that is, Esther), because she had no father or mother. The young woman had a beautiful figure and was extremely good-looking. When her father and mother died, Mordecai had adopted her as his own daughter.l