⁵ There was a certain Jew in the citadel of Susa whose name was Mordecai the son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish, a Benjamite, ⁶ who had been deported from Jerusalem with the captives who had been exiled with Jeconiah king of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had exiled. ⁷ He was the guardian of ^[a]Hadassah, that is Esther, his uncle’s daughter, for she had no father or mother. The young woman was beautiful of form and ^[b]face; and when her father and mother died, Mordecai took her in as his own daughter.

Esther Finds Favor

⁸ So it came about when the king’s command and his decree were proclaimed and when many young women were gathered together in the citadel of Susa into the custody of Hegai, that Esther was taken to the king’s palace [and placed] in the custody of Hegai, who was in charge of the women. ⁹ Now the young woman pleased Hegai and found favor with him. So he quickly provided her with beauty preparations and her [portion of] food, and he gave her seven choice maids from the king’s palace; then he transferred her and her maids to the best place in the harem. ¹⁰ Esther did not reveal [the Jewish background of] her people or her family, for Mordecai had instructed her not to do so. ¹¹ Every day Mordecai [who was an ^[c]attendant in the king’s court] walked back and forth in front of the courtyard of the harem to learn how Esther was getting along and what was happening to her.