8 And when the king's command and decree were announced, and when many virgins were gathered together to the throne city of Susa, under the supervision of Hegai, then Esther was also taken into the king's house, under the supervision of Hegai, the guard of the women.

9 And this virgin pleased his eyes, and gained favor with him, and he hastened to give her the rubbings and all that was appointed for her part, and to assign to her seven virgins worthy to be with her, from the king's house, and he transferred her and her maidens to the best section of the women's house.

10 And Esther did not speak of her people, nor of her kindred, because Mordecai had commanded her not to speak.

11 And every day Mordecai came to the court of the women's house, to inquire about Esther's health, and what was happening to her.

12 And when the time came for every virgin to come in unto king Ahasuerus, after all that was ordained for the women had been done to her for twelve months, for so long were the days of their grinding, six months with myrrh oil, and six months with spices and other feminine rubbings,

13 Then the damsel went in to the king. Whatever she demanded, she was given everything to go out of the women's house to the king's house.

14 In the evening she went in, and in the morning returned to another house of women, under the supervision of Shaazgaz, the king's eunuch, the guard of the concubines; and she no longer went in to the king, unless the king desired her, and she was called by name.

15 When the time came for Esther, the daughter of Aminadab, the uncle of Mordecai, who had taken her to his place as his daughter, to go to the king, then she asked nothing but what Hegai, the king's eunuch, the keeper of women, had told her. And Esther gained favor with herself in the eyes of all who saw her.

16 And Esther was taken unto king Ahasuerus, to his king's house, in the tenth month, that is, in the month of Thebeth, in the seventh year of his reign.

17 И полюбил царь Есфирь более всех жен, и она приобрела его благоволение и благорасположение более всех девиц; и он возложил царский венец на голову ее и сделал ее царицею на место Астинь.

18 И сделал царь большой пир для всех князей своих и для служащих при нем, – пир ради Есфири, и сделал льготу областям и роздал дары с царственною щедростью.

19 И когда во второй раз собраны были девицы, и Мардохей сидел у ворот царских,

20 Есфирь все еще не сказывала о родстве своем и о народе своем, как приказал ей Мардохей; а слово Мардохея Есфирь выполняла и теперь так же, как тогда, когда была у него на воспитании.

21 В это время, как Мардохей сидел у ворот царских, два царских евнуха, Гавафа и Фарра, оберегавшие порог, озлобились [за то, что предпочтен был Мардохей], и замышляли наложить руку на царя Артаксеркса.