¹⁶ So Esther was taken to King Ahasuerus, into his royal palace, in the tenth month, which is the month of Tebeth, in the seventh year of his reign.

^9 (A)So the king’s scribes were called at that time, in the third month, which is the month of Sivan, on the twenty-third day; and it was written, according to all that Mordecai commanded, to the Jews, the satraps, the governors, and the princes of the provinces ^(B)from India to Ethiopia, one hundred and twenty-seven provinces in all, to every province ^(C)in its own script, to every people in their own language, and to the Jews in their own script and language.

³ and let the king appoint officers in all the provinces of his kingdom, that they may gather all the beautiful young virgins to ^[a]Shushan the ^[b]citadel, into the women’s quarters, under the custody of ^[c]Hegai the king’s eunuch, custodian of the women. And let beauty preparations be given them.

Esther Becomes Queen

2 After these things, when the wrath of King Ahasuerus subsided, he remembered Vashti, ^(A)what she had done, and what had been decreed against her.

⁸ And Ezra came to Jerusalem in the fifth month, which was in the seventh year of the king.