1 ULB ከእነዚህ ነገሮች በኋላ የንጉሡ አርጤክስስ ቁጣ በበረደለት ጊዜ ንግሥት አስጢንን፥ እርሷም ያደረገችውን አሰበ። እንዲሁም በእርሷ ላይ ያስተላለፈውን የፍርድ ውሳኔ አሰበ። BSB BSB: Some time later, when the anger of King Xerxes had subsided, he remembered Vashti and what she had done, and what had been decreed against her.
2 ULB ከዚያም ያገለግሉት የነበሩት የንጉሡ ወጣቶች፥ "የተዋቡ ልጃገረዶች ለንጉሡ ይፈለጉለት። BSB BSB: Then the king’s attendants proposed, “Let a search be made for beautiful young virgins for the king,
3 ULB የተዋቡ ልጃገረዶችን በሙሉ በሱሳ ቤተመንግሥት ወደሚገኘው የሴቶች መኖሪያ እንዲሰበስቧቸው በመንግሥቱ አውራጃዎች ሁሉ ንጉሡ ኃላፊዎችን ይሹም። እነርሱም የሴቶች ኃላፊ በሆነው የንጉሡ ሹም በሄጌ ጥበቃ ሥር ይደረጉ፥ እርሱም መዋቢያዎቻቸውን ይስጣቸው። BSB BSB: and let the king appoint commissioners in each province of his kingdom to assemble all the beautiful young women into the harem at the citadel of Susa. Let them be placed under the care of Hegai, the king’s eunuch in charge of the women, and let them be given beauty treatments.
4 ULB ንጉሡን ደስ የምታሰኘው ልጃገረድ በአስጢን ፈንታ ንግሥት ትሁን።" ይህም ምክር ንጉሡን አስደሰተው፥ እርሱም እንደዚሁ አደረገ። BSB BSB: Then let the young woman who pleases the king become queen in place of Vashti.” This suggestion pleased the king, and he acted accordingly.
5 ULB በሱሳ ከተማ መርዶክዮስ የሚባል አንድ አይሁዳዊ ነበር፥ እርሱም ብንያማዊ ሲሆን የቂስ ልጅ፥ የሰሜኢ ልጅ፥ የኢያዕር ልጅ ነበር። BSB BSB: Now there was at the citadel of Susa a Jewish man from the tribe of Benjamin named Mordecai son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish.
6 ULB እርሱም የባቢሎን ንጉሥ ናቡከደነፆር ከማረከው ከይሁዳ ንጉሥ ከኢኮንያን ጋር ተማርከው ከተወሰዱት ምርኮኞች ጋር ከኢየሩሳሌም ተወስዶ ነበር። BSB BSB: He had been carried into exile from Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon among those taken captive with Jeconiah king of Judah.
7 ULB እርሱም አባትም ሆነ እናት አልነበራትምና የአጎቱን ልጅ ሀደሳ የተባለችውን አስቴርን ያሳድግ ነበር። ልጃገረዲቱም የተዋበ ተክለሰውነትና ማራኪ ገጽታ ነበራት። መርዶክዮስ እንደ ራሱ ልጅ አድርጎ ወስዷት ነበር። BSB BSB: And Mordecai had brought up Hadassah (that is, Esther), the daughter of his uncle, because she did not have a father or mother. The young woman was lovely in form and appearance, and when her father and mother had died, Mordecai had taken her as his own daughter.
8 ULB የንጉሡ መመሪያና ትዕዛዝ በታወጀ ጊዜ ብዙ ልጃገረዶችን ወደ ሱሳ ቤተመንግሥት ሰበሰቧቸው። እነርሱም ከሄጌ ጥበቃ ሥር ተደረጉ። አስቴርም ደግሞ ወደ ቤተመንግሥቱ ተወስዳ ከሴቶቹ ተቆጣጣሪ ከሄጌ ሥር ተደረገች። BSB BSB: When the king’s command and edict had been proclaimed, many young women gathered at the citadel of Susa under the care of Hegai. Esther was also taken to the palace and placed under the care of Hegai, the custodian of the women.
9 ULB ልጃገረዲቱ ደስ አሰኘችው፥ በፊቱም ሞገስን አገኘች። ወዲያውም የምግብ ድርሻዋንና መዋቢያዎቿን ሰጣት። ለእርሷም ከንጉሡ ቤተመንግሥት የሚያገለግሏትን ሰባት ልጃገረዶች መደበላት፥ እርሷንና የሚያገለግሏትን ልጃገረዶች በሴቶቹ መኖሪያ ውስጥ ወደ ተሻለው ክፍል አዛወራቸው። BSB BSB: And the young woman pleased him and obtained his favor, so he quickly provided her with beauty treatments and the special diet. He assigned to her seven select maidservants from the palace and transferred her with them to the best place in the harem.
10 ULB መርዶክዮስ እንዳትናገር አዝዟት ስለ ነበር፥ አስቴር ሕዝቧንም ሆነ ወገንዋን ለማንም አልተናገረችም ነበር። BSB BSB: Esther did not reveal her people or her lineage, because Mordecai had instructed her not to do so.
11 ULB መርዶክዮስ የአስቴርን ደኅንነትና ያለችበትን ሁኔታ ለማወቅ በየዕለቱ በሴቶቹ መኖሪያ በስተውጭ ባለው አደባባይ ይመላለስ ነበር። BSB BSB: And every day Mordecai would walk back and forth in front of the court of the harem to learn about Esther’s welfare and what was happening to her.
12 ULB እያንዳንዷ ልጃገረድ ወደ ንጉሡ አርጤክስስ የምትሄድበት ተራ በደረሰ ጊዜ- ለሴቶቹ በወጣው ደንብ መሠረት እያንዳንዷ ልጃገረድ ስድስት ወር በከርቤ ዘይት፥ ስድስት ወር ደግሞ በሽቶዎችና በመዋቢያዎች ለአሥራ ሁለት ወራት የውበት አያያዝ ጊዜአቸውን ማጠናቀቅ ነበረባቸው- BSB BSB: In the twelve months before her turn to go to King Xerxes, the harem regulation required each young woman to receive beauty treatments with oil of myrrh for six months, and then with perfumes and cosmetics for another six months.
13 ULB አንዲት ልጃገረድ ወደ ንጉሡ በምትሄድበት ጊዜ ወደ ቤተመንግሥት እንድትወስደው የፈለገችው ሁሉ ከሴቶቹ መኖሪያ ይሰጣት ነበር። BSB BSB: When the young woman would go to the king, she was given whatever she requested to take with her from the harem to the king’s palace.
14 ULB ሲመሽ ትገባና ሲነጋ ወደ ሁለተኛው የሴቶች መኖሪያ፥ በቁባቶቹ ላይ ኃላፊ ወደሆነው የንጉሥ ሹም ወደ ሻአሽጋዝ ጥበቃ ሥር ትመለስ ነበር። ንጉሡ ተደስቶባት ዳግም ካልጠራት በስተቀር ሁለተኛ ወደ እርሱ መመለስ አትችልም ነበር። BSB BSB: She would go there in the evening, and in the morning she would return to a second harem under the care of Shaashgaz, the king’s eunuch in charge of the concubines. She would not return to the king unless he delighted in her and summoned her by name.
15 ULB ወደ ንጉሡ ለመግባት የአስቴር (መርዶክዮስ እንደ ራሱ ልጅ አድርጎ የወሰዳት የአቢካኤል ልጅ) ተራ በደረሰ ጊዜ በሴቶች ላይ ኃላፊ የሆነው የንጉሡ ሹም ሄጌ ከነገራት በቀር ምንም ነገር አልጠየቀችም። አስቴርም በሚያዩዋት ሁሉ ፊት ሞገስን ታገኝ ነበር። BSB BSB: Now Esther was the daughter of Abihail, the uncle from whom Mordecai had adopted her as his own daughter. And when it was her turn to go to the king, she did not ask for anything except what Hegai, the king’s trusted official in charge of the harem, had advised. And Esther found favor in the eyes of everyone who saw her.
16 ULB አስቴርም ንጉሡ አርጤክስስ በነገሠ በሰባተኛው ዓመት፥ ቴቤት ተብሎ በሚጠራው በአሥረኛው ወር፥ ወደ ንጉሣዊ መኖሪያው ተወሰደች። BSB BSB: She was taken to King Xerxes in the royal palace in the tenth month, the month of Tebeth, in the seventh year of his reign.
17 ULB ንጉሡም ከሌሎቹ ሴቶች ሁሉ ይልቅ አስቴርን ወደዳት፥ ከደናግሉም ሁሉ ይልቅ በፊቱ ሞገስንና መወደድን አገኘች፥ ስለዚህ የእቴጌነትን ዘውድ በራሷ ላይ አደረገላት፥ በአስጢንም ምትክ ንግሥት አደረጋት። BSB BSB: And the king loved Esther more than all the other women, and she found grace and favor in his sight more than all of the other virgins. So he placed the royal crown upon her head and made her queen in place of Vashti.
18 ULB ንጉሡም "የአስቴር ግብዣ" ብሎ የጠራውን ታላቅ ግብዣ ለሹማምንቱና ለአገልጋዮቹ ሁሉ አደረገ፥ አውራጃዎቹንም ከቀረጥ አሳረፋቸው። ደግሞም በንጉሣዊ ልግስናው ስጦታዎችን ሰጠ። BSB BSB: Then the king held a great banquet, Esther’s banquet, for all his officials and servants. He proclaimed a tax holiday in the provinces and gave gifts worthy of the king’s bounty.
19 ULB ደናግሎቹ ለሁለተኛ ጊዜ በተሰበሰቡ ጊዜ መርዶክዮስ በንጉሡ በር ይቀመጥ ነበር። BSB BSB: When the virgins were assembled a second time, Mordecai was sitting at the king’s gate.
20 ULB አስቴር ሕዝቧን ወይም ወገኗን መርዶክዮስ ባዘዛት መሠረት ገና ለማንም አልተናገረችም ነበር። እርሷም በልጅነትዋ ጊዜ ታደርግ አንደነበረው የመርዶክዮስን ምክር መከተልዋን ቀጠለች። BSB BSB: Esther still had not revealed her lineage or her people, just as Mordecai had instructed. She obeyed Mordecai’s command, as she had done under his care.
21 ULB በእነዚያም ቀናት መርዶክዮስ በንጉሡ በር ተቀምጦ እያለ በሩን ይጠብቁ የነበሩት ሁለቱ የንጉሡ ሹማምንት ገበታና ታራ ተቆጡ፥ ንጉሡን አርጤክስስንም ለመግደል ፈለጉ። BSB BSB: In those days, while Mordecai was sitting at the king’s gate, Bigthan and Teresh, two of the king’s eunuchs who guarded the entrance, grew angry and conspired to assassinate King Xerxes.
22 ULB መርዶክዮስ ጉዳዩን ባወቀ ጊዜ ለንግሥት አስቴር ነገራት፥ እርሷም በመርዶክዮስ ስም ለንጉሡ ነገረችው። BSB BSB: When Mordecai learned of the plot, he reported it to Queen Esther, and she informed the king on Mordecai’s behalf.
23 ULB መረጃው ሲመረመር እውነት ሆኖ ተገኝ፥ ሁለቱም ሰዎች በስቅላት ተቀጡ። ታሪኩም በንጉሡ ፊት በታሪክ መዝገብ ላይ ተጻፈ። BSB BSB: After the report had been investigated and verified, both officials were hanged on the gallows. And all this was recorded in the Book of the Chronicles in the presence of the king.
Select verses for actions: Enter goes to them and Escape comes back.