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Esther was picked to be the new queen
1 Some time later, after King Zerk-sees (Xerxes) stopped being angry with Queen Vashti, he started to think about her and what she had done. And he thought about the law that stopped her from coming to see him.
2 Zerk-sees' helpers said to the king, “We think that you should send men everywhere to find beautiful young women that have never been to bed with a man. Your workers can bring them back here to be second wives for you and live in your palace. Then you can pick one of them to be your new queen. 3 We think you should pick leaders from every part of Persia to bring those young women here to Susa. When they get here, they can go and live where all the king's women live. Give those young women to Hegai, he is the one who looks after all the king's women. And he can make sure those young women have all sorts of baths and are rubbed with nice smelling oils to make them look beautiful for the king. 4 And then you can pick the woman you like the best and make her the queen instead of Vashti.”
The king liked the idea and so that is what he did.
5-6 Many years before this time, King Neb-you-cad-nezzar (Nebuchadnezzar), the king of Babylon, grabbed Jehoi-achin the king of Judah and a lot of other Jewish people who were living in Jerusalem. Then he took them all back to Babylon as prisoners. Later on, the Persian army beat the Babylonian army and took all the Babylonian country and people for themselves. That is why there were Jewish people living in Persia.
There was a Jewish man from the Benjamin tribe named More-dek-eye (Mordecai) who lived in the part of Susa that had really strong walls. More-dek-eye's father's name was Jair, his grandfather's name was Shim-eye and his great grandfather's name was Kish. And Kish was one of the people who was taken from Jerusalem as a prisoner by Neb-you-cad-nezzer, the king of Babylon.
7 More-dek-eye had a cousin named Hadassah. Abi-hail was her father and both Abi-hail and Hadassah's mother had died. So More-dek-eye adopted her and looked after her like she was his own daughter.
Hadassah was her Jewish name but everyone called her Esther. She was very beautiful.
8 When the king's law was read out, the men that the king had picked were sent out all over the country. They found Esther and a lot of other beautiful young women and took them to a special part of the king's palace in Susa. And that was where Hegai, the king's worker, looked after them.
9 Hegai really liked Esther and so she was the first of the young women to have the nice smelling oils rubbed on her. Hegai gave Esther the best food and 7 women from the king's palace to help her. And he gave Esther and her women helpers the best rooms where all the women lived in the king's palace.
10 Some time before Esther was taken to the king's palace, More-dek-eye said to her, “Do not tell anyone that you are a Jew or that I am your cousin.” And so Esther did what More-dek-eye said.
11 When Esther was living in the king's palace, More-dek-eye worried for her. So every day he walked near the yard in front of where the women lived. He tried to find out what they were doing to her and if she was alright. 12 Every one of the young women had to have a lot of nice things done to her for 12 months so that she was ready to meet the king. So, for 6 months she rubbed her body with a special smelling oil. And then for the next 6 months they gave her other nice smelling oils and perfumes to put on her body.
13 At the end of the 12 months it was time for each woman to meet the king. When the woman went to be with the king, she was allowed to take whatever she wanted from her room. 14 When it was night time, the woman went to the king's room to spend the night with him. Then in the morning someone took her to another part of the palace. In those days, the king had other wives who were not as important as his main wife, the queen. Those second wives lived in a special place in the palace and a man named Shay-ash-gaz (Shaashgaz) looked after them for King Zerk-sees.
None of the women in that part of the house were allowed to go back to see the king unless he was really pleased with her. Then the king would send someone to call out her name and take her to be with the king.
15 Esther's father's name was Abi-hail. Abi-hail was More-dek-eye's uncle. More-dek-eye adopted Esther after her parents died.
When the time came for Esther to go to the king, Hegai told her what clothes and what pretty things to take with her. Esther did what Hegai said, and everyone who saw Esther liked her.
16 Zerk-sees had been the king of Persia for 6 years, and then in the cool weather time of the 7th year, Esther went to meet Zerk-sees in his palace.
17 King Zerk-sees loved Esther more than any other woman in his house. He was really pleased with her, and he liked her more than any of the other young women that were taken to the palace. So Zerk-sees put the special hat called a crown on Esther's head and he made her the queen of Persia instead of Vashti.
18 And then the king invited all the leaders and all the important people to a big party for Esther. Zerk-sees said that everyone in Persia was allowed to have a holiday, and he gave really nice presents to people.
More-dek-eye saved the king's life
19 Esther's cousin More-dek-eye was one of the important workers for the king and so he was allowed to sit near the gate to the king's palace. And he was sitting there when Esther and all the other young women were meeting together for the second time. 20 Esther had always done what More-dek-eye told her to do right from when she went to live in his house. And More-dek-eye had warned her not to tell anyone that she was his cousin and that she was a Jew.
21 One day while More-dek-eye was sitting near the gate to the palace, 2 of the men who were the guards at the door to the king's private rooms got angry with the king. Their names were Big-thana and Ter-resh, and they made plans to kill the king. 22 When More-dek-eye found out what they were planning to do, he told Esther and she told the king what More-dek-eye had said. 23 The king sent some men to make sure that the story was true. They found out that the 2 men really were planning to kill the king. So the king sent his soldiers to put the 2 men up on wooden poles until they were dead. The king told one of his workers to write down in The Book about the Persian Nation how More-dek-eye saved the king.