Vashti’s Successor Sought

2 After these things, ^(A)when the anger of King Ahasuerus had subsided, he remembered Vashti and what she had done, and ^(B)what had been decided regarding her. ² Then the king’s attendants, who served him, said, “^(C)Let beautiful young virgins be sought for the king. ³ And may the king appoint overseers in ^(D)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 ^(E)Hegai, the king’s eunuch, who is in charge of the women; and ^(F)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 ^(G)Mordecai, the son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish, a Benjaminite, ^6 (H)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 ^(I)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 ^(J)many young ladies were gathered to the citadel of Susa into the ^[d]custody of ^(K)Hegai, that Esther was taken to the king’s ^[e]palace into the custody of Hegai, who was in charge of the women. ⁹ Now the young lady pleased him and found favor with him. So he quickly provided her with her ^(L)cosmetics and ^[f]food, gave her seven choice female attendants from the king’s palace, and transferred her and her attendants to the best place in the harem. ^10 (M)Esther did not reveal her people or her kindred, because Mordecai had instructed her that she was not to reveal them. ¹¹ And every day Mordecai walked back and forth in front of the courtyard of the harem to learn how Esther was and what was happening to her.

¹² Now when the turn came for each young woman to go in to King Ahasuerus, after the end of her twelve months under the regulations for the women—for the days of their beauty treatment were completed as follows: six months with oil of myrrh and six months with balsam oil and the cosmetics for women— ¹³ the young woman would go in to the king in this way: anything that she ^[g]desired was given her to ^[h]take with her from the harem to the king’s palace. ¹⁴ In the evening she would enter and in the morning she would return to the second harem, to the ^[i]custody of Shaashgaz, the king’s eunuch who was in charge of the concubines. She would not go in to the king again, unless the king delighted in her and she was summoned by name.

¹⁵ Now when the turn of Esther, ^(N)the daughter of Abihail the uncle of Mordecai who had taken her as his daughter, came to go in to the king, she did not request anything except what ^(O)Hegai, the king’s eunuch who was in charge of the women, ^[j]advised. And Esther was finding favor in the eyes of all who saw her. ¹⁶ So Esther was taken to King Ahasuerus in his royal palace in the tenth month, which is the month Tebeth, in the seventh year of his reign.

Esther Becomes Queen

¹⁷ The king loved Esther more than all the women, and she found favor and kindness with him more than all the virgins, so that ^(P)he set the royal turban on her head and made her queen in place of Vashti. ¹⁸ Then ^(Q)the king held a great banquet, Esther’s banquet, for all his officials and his servants; he also made a holiday for the provinces and gave gifts ^(R)in proportion to the king’s bounty.

^19 (S)Now when the virgins were gathered together for the second time, then Mordecai ^(T)was sitting at the king’s gate. ^20 (U)Esther still had not revealed her relatives or her people, just as Mordecai had instructed her; for Esther did ^[k]what Mordecai told her just as she had ^(V)when under his care.

Mordecai Saves the King

²¹ In those days, while Mordecai was sitting at the king’s gate, ^(W)Bigthan and Teresh, two of the king’s officials from those who guarded the door, became angry and sought to ^[l]attack King Ahasuerus. ²² But the ^[m]plot became known to Mordecai and ^(X)he informed Queen Esther, and Esther told the king in Mordecai’s name. ²³ Then when the plot was investigated and found to be so, they were both hanged on a wooden gallows; and it was written in ^(Y)the Book of the Chronicles in the king’s presence.

Paul before Festus

25 Festus, then, after arriving in ^(A)the province, went up to Jerusalem from ^(B)Caesarea three days later. ² And the chief priests and the leading men of the Jews ^(C)brought charges against Paul, and they were pleading with ^[a]Festus, ³ requesting a ^[b]concession against ^[c]Paul, that he might ^[d]have him brought to Jerusalem (at the same time, ^(D)setting an ambush to kill him on the way). ⁴ Festus then ^(E)answered that Paul ^(F)was being kept in custody in ^(G)Caesarea, and that he himself was about to leave shortly. ⁵ “Therefore,” he *said, “have the influential men among you ^[e]go there with me, and if there is anything wrong ^[f]about the man, have them bring charges against him.”

⁶ After Festus had spent no more than eight or ten days among them, he went down to ^(H)Caesarea, and on the next day he took his seat on ^(I)the tribunal and ordered that Paul be brought. ⁷ After Paul arrived, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem stood around him, bringing ^(J)many, and serious, charges against him ^(K)which they could not prove, ⁸ while Paul said in his own defense, “^(L)I have not done anything wrong either against the Law of the Jews, or against the temple, or against Caesar.” ⁹ But Festus, ^(M)wanting to do the Jews a favor, replied to Paul and said, “^(N)Are you willing to go up to Jerusalem and ^[g]stand trial before me on these charges?” ¹⁰ But Paul said, “I am standing before Caesar’s ^(O)tribunal, where I ought to be tried. I have done nothing wrong to the Jews, as you also very well know. ¹¹ If, therefore, I am in the wrong and have committed something deserving death, I am not trying to avoid execution; but if there is nothing to the accusations which these men are bringing against me, no one can hand me over to them. I ^(P)appeal to Caesar.” ¹² Then when Festus had conferred with ^[h]his council, he answered, “You have appealed to Caesar; to Caesar you shall go.”

¹³ Now when several days had passed, King Agrippa and Bernice arrived in ^(Q)Caesarea, paying their respects to Festus. ¹⁴ And while they were spending many days there, Festus presented Paul’s case to the king, saying, “There is a man who was ^(R)left as a prisoner by Felix; ¹⁵ and when I was in Jerusalem, the chief priests and the elders of the Jews ^(S)brought charges against him, asking for a sentence of condemnation against him. ¹⁶ I ^(T)replied to them that it is not the custom of the Romans to hand over any person before ^(U)the accused meets his accusers face to face, and has an opportunity to make his defense against the charges. ¹⁷ So after they had assembled here, I did not delay, but on the next day took my seat on ^(V)the tribunal and ordered that the man be brought. ¹⁸ When the accusers stood up, they did not begin bringing any charges ^[i]against him of crimes that I suspected, ¹⁹ but they simply had some ^(W)points of disagreement with him about their own ^[j](X)religion and about a dead man, Jesus, whom Paul asserted to be alive. ²⁰ And ^(Y)being at a loss how to investigate ^[k]such matters, I ^[l]asked whether he was willing to go to Jerusalem and stand trial there on these matters. ²¹ But when Paul ^(Z)appealed to be held in custody for ^[m]the Emperor’s decision, I ordered that he be kept in custody until I send him to Caesar.” ²² Then ^(AA)Agrippa said to Festus, “I also would like to hear the man myself.” “Tomorrow,” he *said, “you shall hear him.”

Paul before Agrippa

²³ So, on the next day when ^(AB)Agrippa and ^(AC)Bernice came amid great pomp and entered the auditorium, ^[n]accompanied by the commanders and the prominent men of the city, at the command of Festus, Paul was brought before them. ²⁴ And Festus *said, “King Agrippa, and all you gentlemen present with us, you see this man about whom ^(AD)all the people of the Jews appealed to me, both in Jerusalem and here, shouting that ^(AE)he ought not to live any longer. ²⁵ But I found that he had committed ^(AF)nothing deserving death; and since he himself ^(AG)appealed to ^[o]the Emperor, I decided to send him. ^26 [p]Yet, I have nothing definite about him to write to my lord. Therefore, I have brought him before you all and especially before you, King Agrippa, so that after the investigation has taken place, I may have something to write. ²⁷ For it seems absurd to me in sending a prisoner, not to indicate the charges against him as well.”