⁵ Now there was at the citadel in Susa a Jew. And his name was ^(A)Mordecai, the son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish, a Benjamite, ^6 (B)who had been taken away into exile from Jerusalem with the exiles who had been taken away into exile with Jeconiah king of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had taken away into exile. ⁷ And he was bringing up Hadassah, that is ^(C)Esther, his uncle’s daughter, for she had no father or mother. Now the young lady was beautiful in form and beautiful in appearance, and when her father and her mother died, Mordecai took her as his own daughter.

Esther Advances in Favor

⁸ Now it happened that when the word and law of the king were heard and ^(D)many young ladies were gathered to the citadel of Susa into the hand of ^(E)Hegai, that Esther was taken to the king’s ^[a]house into the hand of Hegai, who kept charge of the women. ⁹ And the young lady was good in his eyes, and she advanced in lovingkindness before him. So he hurried to give her ^(F)cosmetics and portions of food to her, and to give to her seven choice young women from the king’s ^[b]house. And he transferred her and her young women to the best place in the harem. ^10 (G)Esther did not tell anyone about her people or her kinsmen, for Mordecai had commanded her that she should not tell anyone about them. ¹¹ And every day Mordecai walked back and forth in front of the court of the harem to know the well-being of Esther and ^[c]how she fared.