Esther 2 - The Scriptures 1998

¹ After these events, when the wrath of Sovereign Aḥ

² Then the sovereign’s servants who attended him said, “Let lovely young maidens be sought for the sovereign,

³ and let the sovereign appoint officers in all the provinces of his reign, and let them gather all the lovely young maidens to the citadel of Shushan, into the women’s quarters, under the hand of Hĕ

⁴ “And let the young woman who pleases the sovereign be sovereigness instead of Vashti.” And the word pleased the sovereign, and he did so.

⁵ In the citadel of Shushan there was a certain man, a Yehuḏ

⁶ who had been exiled from Yerushalayim with the captives who had been exiled with Yeḵ

⁷ And it came to be that he was raising Haḏ

⁸ And it came to be, when the sovereign’s command and decree were heard, and when many young women were gathered at the citadel of Shushan, into the hand of Hĕ

⁹ And the young woman pleased him, and she received kindness from him. So he hastened to give her preparations and her portions, and gave her seven choice female servants from the sovereign’s palace. And he moved her and her female servants to the best place in the house of the women.

¹⁰ Estĕ

¹¹ And every day Mordeḵ

¹² Now when the turn of each young woman came to go in to Sovereign Aḥ

¹³ thus prepared, the young woman went to the sovereign, and whatever she asked for was given to take with her from the house of the women to the sovereign’s palace.

¹⁴ In the evening she went, and in the morning she returned to the second house of the women, into the hand of Shaʽ

¹⁵ And when the turn came for Estĕ

¹⁶ And Estĕ

¹⁷ And the sovereign loved Estĕ

¹⁸ And the sovereign made a great feast, the Feast of Estĕ

¹⁹ And when maidens were assembled a second time, Mordeḵ

²⁰ Estĕ

²¹ In those days, while Mordeḵ

²² And the matter became known to Mordeḵ

²³ And when the matter was searched into, it was confirmed, and both were impaled on a stake. And it was written in the book of the annals in the presence of the sovereign.