Esther 2:3-8

New American Standard Bible

³ And may the king appoint overseers in ^(A)all the provinces of his kingdom, and have them ^[a]bring every beautiful young virgin to the citadel of Susa, to the harem, into the custody of ^(B)Hegai, the king’s eunuch, who is in charge of the women; and ^(C)let their cosmetics be given to them. ⁴ Then let the young woman who pleases the king be queen in place of Vashti.” And the ^[b]suggestion pleased the king, and he did accordingly.

⁵ There was a Jew at the citadel in Susa whose name was ^(D)Mordecai, the son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish, a Benjaminite, ^6 (E)who had been taken from Jerusalem with the exiles who had been deported with Jeconiah king of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had deported. ⁷ He was the guardian to Hadassah, that is ^(F)Esther, his uncle’s daughter, for she had no father or mother. Now the young woman was beautiful of form and ^[c]face, and when her father and her mother died, Mordecai took her as his own daughter.

Esther Finds Favor

⁸ So it came about, when the command and decree of the king were heard and ^(G)many young ladies were gathered to the citadel of Susa into the ^[d]custody of ^(H)Hegai, that Esther was taken to the king’s ^[e]palace into the custody of Hegai, who was in charge of the women.