19 When the young women(A) were assembled together for a second time, Mordecai was sitting at the King’s Gate.(B) 20 Esther still had not revealed her birthplace or her ethnic background, as Mordecai had directed. She obeyed Mordecai’s orders, as she always had while he raised her.

Mordecai Saves the King

21 During those days while Mordecai was sitting at the King’s Gate, Bigthan and Teresh, two eunuchs(C) who guarded the king’s entrance, became infuriated and planned to assassinate[a] King Ahasuerus. 22 When Mordecai learned of the plot, he reported it to Queen Esther, and she told the king on Mordecai’s behalf.(D) 23 When the report was investigated and verified, both men were hanged on the gallows.(E) This event was recorded in the Historical Record in the king’s presence.

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Footnotes

  1. Esther 2:21 Lit and they sought to stretch out a hand against

A Plot Against the King

19 When the virgins were gathered a second time, Mordecai was sitting at the gate of the king. 20 Esther had not made known her family and her people, just as Mordecai had instructed her; for Esther did what Mordecai told her,[a] just as when she was brought up by him. 21 In those days Mordecai was sitting at the gate of the king. Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king’s eunuchs from the keepers of the threshold, became angry and they conspired to assassinate[b] King Ahasuerus. 22 And the matter became known to Mordecai and he told it to Queen Esther, and Esther told it to the king in the name of Mordecai. 23 And the matter was investigated and found to be so; and the two of them were hanged on the gallows, and it was written in the scroll of the events of the days before the presence of the king.

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Footnotes

  1. Esther 2:20 Literally “did the word of Mordecai”
  2. Esther 2:21 Literally “to send a hand against”