Side by side
Esther 2
Our retelling next to the Bible text it comes from. Each row lines up one scene with the verses it retells.
Scene 1: Taken to the PalaceVerses 1 to 11
King Xerxes had no queen. So officials in every province gathered beautiful young women for the king's harem in Susa. The harem was the part of the palace where the king's women lived. The one who pleased the king would be queen.
In Susa lived a Jewish man named Mordecai. He had raised his young cousin as his own daughter, because her father and mother had died. Her name was Hadassah, and she was also called Esther.
The king's order went out. "Esther was also taken to the palace" (2:8). She had little choice.
Hegai, the official in charge of the women, was pleased with Esther. He gave her beauty treatments, special food, and seven maids.
Mordecai had told Esther not to tell anyone she was Jewish. So she kept it secret. Every day Mordecai walked outside the harem courtyard to learn how she was.
1Some 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. 2Then the king’s attendants proposed, “Let a search be made for beautiful young virgins for the king, 3and 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. 4Then let the young woman who pleases the king become queen in place of Vashti.” This suggestion pleased the king, and he acted accordingly. 5Now 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. 6He had been carried into exile from Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon among those taken captive with Jeconiah king of Judah. 7And 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 in as his own daughter. 8When 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. 9And 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. 10Esther did not reveal her people or her lineage, because Mordecai had instructed her not to do so. 11And 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.
Scene 2: Queen EstherVerses 12 to 20
After a year of beauty treatments, each young woman was taken to the king for one night. She did not go back unless the king called for her by name.
When Esther's turn came, she asked only for what Hegai advised. Everyone who saw her liked her.
The king loved Esther more than all the other women. He put the royal crown on her head and made her queen in place of Vashti.
Esther was queen now. But she still kept it secret that she was Jewish, as Mordecai had told her.
12In 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. 13When 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. 14She 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. 15Now 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. 16She was taken to King Xerxes in the royal palace in the tenth month, the month of Tebeth, in the seventh year of his reign. 17And 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. 18Then 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. 19When the virgins were assembled a second time, Mordecai was sitting at the king’s gate. 20Esther 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.
Scene 3: A Plot at the GateVerses 21 to 23
Mordecai often sat at the king's gate. Two of the king's guards, Bigthan and Teresh, grew angry. They made a plan to kill King Xerxes.
Mordecai found out and told Queen Esther. She told the king, giving Mordecai the credit. The report proved true, and both men were hanged.
The whole thing was written down in the king's record book. But Mordecai got no reward.
21In 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. 22When Mordecai learned of the plot, he reported it to Queen Esther, and she informed the king on Mordecai’s behalf. 23After 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.
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