Seeking Vashti’s Successor 1 UDB After a while, when King Ahasuerus's anger had quieted down, he remembered Vashti. He also thought about the law he had made because of what she had done. 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 UDB So his personal servants said to him, "Your Majesty, you should send some men to search for beautiful young virgin girls for the king. BSB BSB: Then the king’s attendants proposed, “Let a search be made for beautiful young virgins for the king,
3 UDB After they find some, you can appoint some officials in each province to bring them to the place where you keep your wives here in Susa. They are to be cared for by Hegai (the king's eunuch) who is who protects and cares for these women, he can arrange for their cosmetics. 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 UDB Then the young girl who pleases you most can become queen instead of Vashti." The king liked what they suggested, so he did it. 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.
Esther Finds Favor 5 UDB At that time there was a Jew living in the city of Susa, whose name was Mordecai. He was the son of Jair who was the son of Shimei, the son of Kish, and he was a member of the tribe of Benjamin. 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 UDB Many years before that, Nebuchadnezzar, who had been king of Babylonia, had taken Mordecai and brought him from Jerusalem to Babylon. This was at the same time that he took away King Jehoiachin from Judah, along with many others. 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 UDB Mordecai was caring for his cousin, whose Hebrew name was Hadassah. She had a beautiful face and a lovely figure, and she was called Esther. After her father and mother died, Mordecai took care of Esther as though she were his own daughter. 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 UDB After the king commanded that they search for some beautiful women, servants brought Esther and many other young women to the king's palace in Susa, and put them under the care of Hegai. 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 UDB Hegai was pleased with Esther. He immediately arranged for her to have the cosmetics she wanted, and he arranged for special food to be given to her. He assigned servant girls from the king's palace and arranged for her to stay in the best rooms in the women's part of the palace. 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 UDB Esther did not tell anyone that she was a Jew, or anything about her relatives, because Mordecai had told her not to tell anyone. BSB BSB: Esther did not reveal her people or her lineage, because Mordecai had instructed her not to do so.
11 UDB Every day Mordecai walked near the courtyard of the place where those women stayed. He stood in the courtyard hoping to find out what was happening to Esther. 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 UDB Before these women were taken to the king, for twelve months they received beauty treatments, and for six months they were treated with olive oil mixed with myrrh. 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 UDB When one of these women was summoned to go to the king, she was allowed to have whatever she wished to take with her from the house of the women, when she went to the king's palace. 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 UDB In the evening, she would go to the king, and the next morning she would return to the second house of the women, and to the protection of Shaashgaz, the king's official in charge of the concubines. She would not return to the king again, except when the king wanted her and called her by name. 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 UDB Now when the time came for Esther (the daughter of Abihail, who was the uncle of Mordecai) to go in the king, she did not ask for anything from the house of the women to take with her, but only what Hegai, the king's official in charge of the women, suggested. Now Esther pleased everyone who saw her. 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 UDB Esther was taken up to King Ahasuerus into royal the residence on the tenth month (which is the month of Tebeth), in the seventh year of his reign. 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.
Esther Becomes Queen 17 UDB The king loved Esther more than any of the other women whom they brought to him. So he put a crown on her head and declared that Esther would be the queen instead of Vashti. 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 UDB To celebrate her becoming the queen, he gave a great feast in her honor, that he prepared for all his officials and servants. He granted relief from paying taxes to all the provinces and gave expensive gifts to all with generosity that only a king can give. 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 UDB Later all those young women were gathered together again. By that time Mordecai was sitting at the king's gate, where the elders and leaders would hold court and settle disputes for others in the kingdom. BSB BSB: When the virgins were assembled a second time, Mordecai was sitting at the king’s gate.
20 UDB But Esther still did not tell anyone about her family, or about her people, the Jews. She continued to do what Mordecai had told her to do; she continued to respect him and honor him by doing what he said. 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.
Mordecai Uncovers a Conspiracy 21 UDB One day when Mordecai was at the king's gate, two of the king's officials were there. Their names were Bigthana and Teresh. They were the guards who protected the king, standing just outside the king's own rooms. They became angry with the king, and they were planning how they could do him great harm. 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 UDB But Mordecai heard about what they were planning, he told Queen Esther. Then she told the king, and she told the king that the information came from Mordecai, calling him by name. BSB BSB: When Mordecai learned of the plot, he reported it to Queen Esther, and she informed the king on Mordecai’s behalf.
23 UDB The king investigated it and confirmed. So the king ordered those two men be hanged from a gallows. When that was done, an official wrote a report about it in the book called The History of the King. 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.