Esther Made Queen

Mordecai was one of the captives that Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, had carried away from Jerusalem. Jehoiachin, the king of Judea, had been carried away with them.

This was his dream. There were voices and noise, thunder and an earthquake, and uproar on the earth. Then two huge serpents came out, both ready for a fight. A loud voice came from them, and at their voice every nation got ready for battle, to fight against the nation of the righteous.

It was a day of darkness and blackness, of suffering and anguish, of trouble and turmoil on the earth. The whole righteous nation was shaken, afraid of what they would suffer. They prepared to die, and they cried out to God. And from their cry came something like a great river, full of water, out of a little spring. Then there was light, and the sun rose. The lowly were lifted high, and they devoured those who had been honored.

Mordecai had seen this vision, and what God meant to do. When he got up, he kept it in his heart. Right up until night, he longed to understand it in any way he could.

The king questioned the two men. They confessed, and they were led away and put to death. The king wrote these things down for a record, and Mordecai also wrote about them. The king commanded Mordecai to serve in the palace, and he gave him gifts for this service.

But the king honored Haman the son of Hammedatha the Bougean. And because of the king’s two eunuchs, Haman tried to harm Mordecai and his people.

In his third year as king, he held a feast for all his princes and officials. The army of Persia and Media was there, and so were the nobles and princes of the provinces. For many days, a hundred and eighty in all, he showed off the riches of his glorious kingdom and how great and splendid he was as king.

When those days were over, the king gave a seven-day feast for all the people, great and small, who were in the fortress of Susa. It was held in the courtyard of the king’s palace garden.

White and blue hangings were fastened to silver rings and marble pillars by cords of fine linen and purple. Couches of gold and silver stood on a floor of red, white, yellow and black marble.

Drinks were served in gold cups of every kind, and there was plenty of royal wine, given with a king’s generosity. By law, no one had to drink. The king had told all the officials of his household to let every man do as he pleased.

Queen Vashti held a feast too. Hers was for the women, in the royal house that belonged to King Ahasuerus.

But Queen Vashti refused to come when the eunuchs brought her the king’s command. So the king was furious, and his anger burned inside him.

It was the king’s custom to ask the advice of those who knew law and justice, so he spoke to the wise men who knew the times. Closest to him were the seven princes of Persia and Media: Carshena, Shethar, Admatha, Tarshish, Meres, Marsena and Memucan. They could see the king face to face, and they ranked first in the kingdom.

“By law, what should we do to Queen Vashti?” the king asked. “She has not done what King Ahasuerus commanded through the eunuchs.”

Memucan answered in front of the king and the princes. “Queen Vashti hasn’t wronged only the king. She has wronged all the princes too, and all the people in all King Ahasuerus’ provinces. What the queen has done will become known to all the women. They will hear people say, ‘King Ahasuerus ordered Queen Vashti to be brought to him, but she didn’t come.’ Then they will look down on their husbands. The princesses of Persia and Media have heard what the queen did, and this very day they will tell all the king’s princes about it. There will be a great deal of disrespect and anger.

“If it pleases the king, let him send out a royal command that Vashti is never again to come into King Ahasuerus’ presence. Let it be written among the laws of the Persians and the Medes, so that it can never be changed. Then let the king give her place as queen to someone else, someone better than she is. When the king’s decree is announced through all his great kingdom, all the wives will honor their husbands, great and small.”

The king and the princes liked this advice, and the king did what Memucan said. He sent letters to all his provinces, to every province in its own writing and to every people in their own language. The letters said that every man should rule his own house, speaking the language of his own people.

Then the servants who waited on the king said, “Let beautiful young virgins be found for the king. Let the king appoint officers in every province of his kingdom. Let them gather together all the beautiful young virgins to the women’s house in the fortress of Susa, into the care of Hegai, the king’s eunuch who keeps the women. Let the young women be given cosmetics. And whichever one pleases the king, let her be queen instead of Vashti.” The king liked the idea, and he did it.

Now in the fortress of Susa there was a Jew named Mordecai. He was the son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish, a Benjamite, who had been carried away from Jerusalem with the captives. Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried them away, along with Jehoiachin king of Judah.

Mordecai had brought up his cousin Hadassah, also called Esther, because she had no father or mother. She was his uncle’s daughter, and she was very beautiful. When her father and mother died, Mordecai took her in as his own daughter.

So the king’s command and decree were made known, and many young women were gathered to the fortress of Susa, into Hegai’s care. Esther too was taken into the king’s house and put in the care of Hegai, the keeper of the women.

The young woman pleased Hegai, and he was kind to her. He quickly gave her the cosmetics and the share of food that were hers. He also gave her the seven chosen girls from the king’s house who were meant for her. He moved her and those girls to the best place in the women’s house.

Esther had not told anyone who her people or her family were, because Mordecai had told her not to.

Every day Mordecai walked past the courtyard of the women’s house, to learn how Esther was doing and what would become of her.

Then she went to the king. She could take with her whatever she wanted, from the women’s house to the king’s house. She went to him in the evening and spent the night with him. The next day she went back, this time to a second women’s house, in the care of Shaashgaz, the king’s eunuch who kept the king’s concubines, his wives of lower rank. She did not go to the king again unless he delighted in her and she was called for by name.

Esther was the daughter of Abihail, Mordecai’s uncle, and Mordecai had taken her as his daughter. When it was her turn to go to the king, she asked for nothing more than what Hegai advised. He was the king’s eunuch, the keeper of the women. And everyone who looked at Esther thought well of her.

So Esther was taken to King Ahasuerus in his royal house. It was the tenth month, which is the month Tebeth, in the seventh year of his reign.

The king loved Esther more than all the women. More than any of the other virgins, she won his favor and kindness, so he set the royal crown on her head and made her queen instead of Vashti.

Then the king held a great feast for all his princes and officials. It was Esther’s feast. He declared a holiday in the provinces, and he gave gifts as freely as a king can.

In those days, while Mordecai sat at the king’s gate, two of the king’s eunuchs became angry. They were Bigthan and Teresh, who guarded the doors, and they looked for a way to attack King Ahasuerus.

Mordecai found out about it and told Queen Esther, and she told the king, saying it came from Mordecai.

The matter was looked into and found to be true, and both men were hanged on a gallows. It was written down in the book of records, in the king’s presence.