1 After these statements, when the king’s anger {ekopasen: ceased in strength} had quieted, he no longer kept Astin {Astin: Greek form of Vashti} in mind, though he still recalled what she had said and how he had judged her.
2 Then the king’s attendants {diakonoi: personal aides} said, “Let young women, virgins {korasia aphthora: untouched maidens}, beautiful in appearance {kala to eidei: pleasing to see}, be sought for the king.”
3 Let the king station officials throughout all the regions of his kingdom, and let them gather every virgin girl of pleasing appearance to Susa, the city, into the women’s quarters, and let them be placed under the custody of the king’s eunuch {eunuchos: personal attendant}, and let purification ointment and the remaining care {epimeleia: ongoing provision} be given to them.
4 And the woman who pleases the king will reign {basilēsei: assume royal authority} instead of Astin; and the matter {pragma: proposed plan} was pleasing to the king, and he did so.
5 There was a man who was a Jew {Ioudaios: ethnic designation} in Susa the city, and his name was Mordecai, the son of Jair, the son of Shemei, the son of Kish, from the tribe {phulḗs: kin-based community} of Benjamin.
6 He was a captive{aichmalōtos: forced detainee} from Jerusalem, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon took captive{aichmalōteuse: decisive subjugation}.
7 And Mordecai had a fosterdaughter {threpte: raised in household}, Esther, the daughter of Aminadab, his father’s brother; when her parents died {metallaxai: passing away}, he trained her for himself as a wife. And the girl was beautiful in appearance.
8 When the king’s order {prostagma: official command} was heard, and many girls were gathered into Susa, the citadel under Gai’s authority, Esther also was brought to Gai, the guardian {phylaka: official custodian} of the women.
9 And the maiden pleased Gai and obtained favor before him, and he hastened to give her her ointment {smēgma: perfumed oil} and her portion {merida: daily provisions}, along with the seven maidens appointed for her from the royal house, and he treated her and her delicate companions well in the women’s quarters.
10 Esther did not reveal her lineage {genos: family ancestry} or her homeland {patrída: home country}, for Mordecai had commanded her not to report it.
11 Every single day {hekasten: continuous frequency} Mordecai walked before the women’s courtyard {aule: protected enclosure} to observe what would happen to Esther.
12 When the time for a maiden to go in to the king came and she had completed twelve months according to the custom of the women, the days of her treatment {therapeia: prescribed preparation} were fulfilled: six months being anointed {aleiphomenai: ritual anointing} in myrrh oil and six months in the spices and ointments of the women.
13 And then{tote: sequential transition} she went in to the king; whatever she asked, he would provide for her to enter{suneiserchesthai: go in together} with him from the women’s quarters to the palace.
14 At dusk she entered, and at dawn she returned to the second women’s quarters {gynaikōna: women’s quarters}, where Gai, the king’s eunuch and guardian of the women, served; and she did not enter the king again unless he desired her and she was summoned by name {onomati: summoned personally}.
15 When the appointed time {chronon: formal occasion} was fulfilled for Esther, daughter of Aminadab, the brother of Mordecai’s father, to enter the king’s presence, she requested nothing except what the eunuch, the guardian of the women, commanded. Esther found favor {charin: gracious approval} in the eyes of all who saw her.
16 And Esther entered to King Artaxerxes in the twelfth {dodekato: ordinal designation} month, which is Adar, in the seventh year of his kingdom {basileia: royal authority}.
17 And the king was enamored of Esther {Esther: Persian name meaning hidden} more than all the women, and she found favor {charin: gracious approval} before him more than all the virgins; and he set the royal diadem upon her head.
18 And the king held a drinking feast {pōtos: banquet of wine} for all his companions and his forces for seven days, and he honored Esther’s wedding, and he granted release {aphēsis: remission of debt} to those under his kingdom.
19 And Mordecai was serving {etherapeuen: ministered regularly} in the courtyard {aulē: palace entrance area}.
20 Esther did not reveal her homeland {patrida: ancestral roots}, for thus Mordecai had commanded her to fear God {Theos, Object of Reverence} and to obey his commandments, and just as Esther had been with him, she did not change her conduct.
21 In those days the two eunuchs {eunouchoi: palace chamberlains} of King Artaxerxes, the chief bodyguards, were distressed when Mordecai was promoted {proēkhthē: honored advancement}, and they sought to kill King Artaxerxes.
22 The message {logos: communicated report} was disclosed to Mordecai, and Esther signified it, and she herself conveyed to the king the details of the conspiracy {epiboules: covert plan}.
23 The king inquired into the two eunuchs and had them hanged. He then ordered that it be recorded as a memorial {mnēmosynon: lasting tribute} in the royal library, in praise of Mordecai’s goodwill {eunoia: loyal service}.