And when these days were fulfilled, the king held a feast lasting seven days for all the people who were present at the citadel in Susa, from the greatest to the least, in the court of the garden of the king’s palace.

And drinks were served in golden vessels of various kinds, and the royal wine was plentiful according to the king’s hand.

and were close to him: Carshena, Shethar, Admatha, Tarshish, Meres, Marsena, and Memucan, the seven princes of Persia and Media who had access to the king’s presence and sat in the first place in the kingdom—

This day the ladies of Persia and Media who have heard of the word about the queen will speak in the same way to all the king’s princes, and there will be plenty of spite and indignation.

And the king’s sentence, which he will make, will be heard throughout all his kingdom, for it is vast, and all women will give respect to their husbands, great and small.”

So he sent letters to all the king’s provinces, to each province according to its script and to every people according to their tongue, that every man should be the ruler in his own house and the one who speaks in the tongue of his own people.

And let the king appoint overseers in all the provinces of his kingdom that they may gather every young virgin, beautiful in appearance, to the citadel of Susa, to the harem, into the hand of Hegai, the king’s eunuch, who keeps charge of the women; and let their cosmetics be given to them.

And he was bringing up Hadassah, that is Esther, his uncle’s daughter, for she had no father or mother. Now the young lady was beautiful in form and beautiful in appearance, and when her father and her mother died, Mordecai took her as his own daughter.

Now it happened that when the word and law of the king were heard and many young ladies were gathered to the citadel of Susa into the hand of Hegai, that Esther was taken to the king’s house into the hand of Hegai, who kept charge of the women.

And the young lady was good in his eyes, and she advanced in lovingkindness before him. So he hurried to give her cosmetics and portions of food to her, and to give to her seven choice young women from the king’s house. And he transferred her and her young women to the best place in the harem.

then the young lady would go in to the king in this way: anything that she said she desired was given to her to come with her from the harem to the king’s house.

In the evening she would go in, and in the morning she would return to the second harem, to the hand of Shaashgaz, the king’s eunuch who kept charge of the concubines. She would not again go in to the king unless the king delighted in her and she was summoned by name.

Now when it reached the turn of Esther, the daughter of Abihail the uncle of Mordecai who had taken her as his daughter, to go in to the king, she did not seek anything except what Hegai, the king’s eunuch who kept charge of the women, said. And Esther advanced in favor in the eyes of all who saw her.

Then the king held a great feast, Esther’s feast, for all his princes and his servants; he also held a remission of taxes for the provinces and gave gifts according to the king’s hand.

And when the virgins were gathered together the second time, then Mordecai was sitting at the king’s gate.

In those days, while Mordecai was sitting at the king’s gate, Bigthan and Teresh, two of the king’s eunuchs from those who were doorkeepers, became furious and sought to send forth their hand against King Ahasuerus.

But the matter became known to Mordecai, and he told it to Queen Esther, and Esther said it to the king in Mordecai’s name.

Then the matter was sought out and found to be true, so they were both hanged on a gallows; and it was written in the book of the chronicles in the king’s presence.

And all the king’s servants who were at the king’s gate were bowing down and prostrating themselves before Haman, for so the king had commanded concerning him. But Mordecai would not bow down or prostrate himself.

So the king’s servants who were at the king’s gate said to Mordecai, “Why do you trespass against the king’s command?”

Now it happened when they had spoken daily to him and he would not listen to them, that they told Haman to see whether Mordecai’s words would stand; for he had told them that he was a Jew.

Then Haman said to King Ahasuerus, “There is a certain people scattered and separated among the peoples in all the provinces of your kingdom; their laws are different from those of all other people, and they do not do the king’s laws, so it is not worth it for the king to let them remain.

If it seems good to the king, let it be written down that they should perish, and I will pay 10,000 talents of silver into the hands of those who do this work, to bring into the king’s treasuries.”