Esther 2:1-8

English Standard Version

Esther Chosen Queen

2 After these things, ^(A)when the anger of King Ahasuerus had abated, he remembered Vashti ^(B)and what she had done and what had been decreed against her. ² Then the king's young men who attended him said, “Let beautiful young virgins be sought out for the king. ³ And let the king appoint officers in all the provinces of his kingdom to gather all the beautiful young virgins to the harem in Susa the citadel, under custody of ^(C)Hegai, the king's eunuch, who is in charge of the women. ^(D)Let their cosmetics be given them. ⁴ And let the young woman who pleases the king^[a] be queen instead of Vashti.” This pleased the king, and he did so.

⁵ Now there was a Jew in Susa the citadel whose name was ^(E)Mordecai, the son of Jair, son of Shimei, son of Kish, a Benjaminite, ^6 (F)who had been carried away from Jerusalem among the captives carried away with Jeconiah king of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had carried away. ⁷ He was bringing up Hadassah, that is Esther, ^(G)the daughter of his uncle, for she had neither father nor mother. The young woman had a beautiful figure and was lovely to look at, and when her father and her mother died, Mordecai took her as his own daughter. ⁸ So when the king's order and his edict were proclaimed, and ^(H)when many young women were gathered in Susa the citadel in custody of ^(I)Hegai, Esther also was taken into the king's palace and put in custody of Hegai, who had charge of the women.