Now there was a Jew in Susa the citadel whose name was (A)Mordecai, the son of Jair, son of Shimei, son of Kish, a Benjaminite, (B)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. He was bringing up Hadassah, that is Esther, (C)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. So when the king's order and his edict were proclaimed, and (D)when many young women were gathered in Susa the citadel in custody of (E)Hegai, Esther also was taken into the king's palace and put in custody of Hegai, who had charge of the women. And the young woman pleased him and won his favor. And he quickly provided her (F)with her cosmetics and her portion of food, and with seven chosen young women from the king's palace, and advanced her and her young women to the best place in the harem. 10 (G)Esther had not made known her people or kindred, for Mordecai had commanded her not to make it known. 11 And every day Mordecai walked in front of the court of the harem to learn how Esther was and what was happening to her.

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Now there was a Jew in the citadel of Susa whose name was Mordecai son of Jair son of Shimei son of Kish, a Benjaminite,(A) who had been carried away from Jerusalem among the captives carried away with King Jeconiah of Judah, whom King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon had carried away.(B) He had brought up Hadassah, that is, Esther, his cousin, for she had neither father nor mother; the young woman was fair and beautiful, and when her father and her mother died, Mordecai adopted her as his own daughter.(C) When the king’s order and his edict were proclaimed and when many young women were gathered in the citadel of Susa in custody of Hegai, Esther was taken into the king’s palace and put in custody of Hegai, who had charge of the women.(D) The young woman pleased him and won his favor, and he quickly provided her with her cosmetic treatments and her portion of food and with seven chosen maids from the king’s palace, and he advanced her and her maids to the best place in the harem.(E) 10 Esther did not reveal her people or kindred, for Mordecai had charged her not to tell.(F) 11 Every day Mordecai would walk back and forth in front of the court of the harem to learn how Esther was and how she fared.

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