Help QuickNav Adv. Options
NLT

NLT

Click to Change

Return to Top

Return to Top

Printer Icon

Print

Copy
Copy Options
Format by: Verse Paragraph
Strong's
Red Letter
Audio Bibles
Copy Options
Cite Print
The Blue Letter Bible

Esther 2 :: New Living Translation (NLT)

Choose a new font size and typeface
Audio Bibles
Esther Becomes Queen

Tools

Unchecked Copy Box Est 2:1

Unchecked Copy BoxEst 2:1 - But after Xerxes’ anger had subsided, he began thinking about Vashti and what she had done and the decree he had made.

Tools

Unchecked Copy Box Est 2:2

Unchecked Copy BoxEst 2:2 - So his personal attendants suggested, “Let us search the empire to find beautiful young virgins for the king.

Tools

Unchecked Copy Box Est 2:3

Unchecked Copy BoxEst 2:3 - Let the king appoint agents in each province to bring these beautiful young women into the royal harem at the fortress of Susa. Hegai, the king’s eunuch in charge of the harem, will see that they are all given beauty treatments.

Tools

Unchecked Copy Box Est 2:4

Unchecked Copy BoxEst 2:4 - After that, the young woman who most pleases the king will be made queen instead of Vashti.” This advice was very appealing to the king, so he put the plan into effect.

Tools

Unchecked Copy Box Est 2:5

Unchecked Copy BoxEst 2:5 - At that time there was a Jewish man in the fortress of Susa whose name was Mordecai son of Jair. He was from the tribe of Benjamin and was a descendant of Kish and Shimei.

Tools

Unchecked Copy Box Est 2:6

Unchecked Copy BoxEst 2:6 - His family[fn] had been among those who, with King Jehoiachin[fn] of Judah, had been exiled from Jerusalem to Babylon by King Nebuchadnezzar.

Tools

Unchecked Copy Box Est 2:7

Unchecked Copy BoxEst 2:7 - This man had a very beautiful and lovely young cousin, Hadassah, who was also called Esther. When her father and mother died, Mordecai adopted her into his family and raised her as his own daughter.

Tools

Unchecked Copy Box Est 2:8

Unchecked Copy BoxEst 2:8 - As a result of the king’s decree, Esther, along with many other young women, was brought to the king’s harem at the fortress of Susa and placed in Hegai’s care.

Tools

Unchecked Copy Box Est 2:9

Unchecked Copy BoxEst 2:9 - Hegai was very impressed with Esther and treated her kindly. He quickly ordered a special menu for her and provided her with beauty treatments. He also assigned her seven maids specially chosen from the king’s palace, and he moved her and her maids into the best place in the harem.

Tools

Unchecked Copy Box Est 2:10

Unchecked Copy BoxEst 2:10 - Esther had not told anyone of her nationality and family background, because Mordecai had directed her not to do so.

Tools

Unchecked Copy Box Est 2:11

Unchecked Copy BoxEst 2:11 - Every day Mordecai would take a walk near the courtyard of the harem to find out about Esther and what was happening to her.

Tools

Unchecked Copy Box Est 2:12

Unchecked Copy BoxEst 2:12 - Before each young woman was taken to the king’s bed, she was given the prescribed twelve months of beauty treatments—six months with oil of myrrh, followed by six months with special perfumes and ointments.

Tools

Unchecked Copy Box Est 2:13

Unchecked Copy BoxEst 2:13 - When it was time for her to go to the king’s palace, she was given her choice of whatever clothing or jewelry she wanted to take from the harem.

Tools

Unchecked Copy Box Est 2:14

Unchecked Copy BoxEst 2:14 - That evening she was taken to the king’s private rooms, and the next morning she was brought to the second harem,[fn] where the king’s wives lived. There she would be under the care of Shaashgaz, the king’s eunuch in charge of the concubines. She would never go to the king again unless he had especially enjoyed her and requested her by name.

Tools

Unchecked Copy Box Est 2:15

Unchecked Copy BoxEst 2:15 - Esther was the daughter of Abihail, who was Mordecai’s uncle. (Mordecai had adopted his younger cousin Esther.) When it was Esther’s turn to go to the king, she accepted the advice of Hegai, the eunuch in charge of the harem. She asked for nothing except what he suggested, and she was admired by everyone who saw her.

Tools

Unchecked Copy Box Est 2:16

Unchecked Copy BoxEst 2:16 - Esther was taken to King Xerxes at the royal palace in early winter[fn] of the seventh year of his reign.

Tools

Unchecked Copy Box Est 2:17

Unchecked Copy BoxEst 2:17 - And the king loved Esther more than any of the other young women. He was so delighted with her that he set the royal crown on her head and declared her queen instead of Vashti.

Tools

Unchecked Copy Box Est 2:18

Unchecked Copy BoxEst 2:18 - To celebrate the occasion, he gave a great banquet in Esther’s honor for all his nobles and officials, declaring a public holiday for the provinces and giving generous gifts to everyone.

Tools

Unchecked Copy Box Est 2:19

Unchecked Copy BoxEst 2:19 - Even after all the young women had been transferred to the second harem[fn] and Mordecai had become a palace official,[fn]

Tools

Unchecked Copy Box Est 2:20

Unchecked Copy BoxEst 2:20 - Esther continued to keep her family background and nationality a secret. She was still following Mordecai’s directions, just as she did when she lived in his home.
Mordecai’s Loyalty to the King

Tools

Unchecked Copy Box Est 2:21

Unchecked Copy BoxEst 2:21 - One day as Mordecai was on duty at the king’s gate, two of the king’s eunuchs, Bigthana[fn] and Teresh—who were guards at the door of the king’s private quarters—became angry at King Xerxes and plotted to assassinate him.

Tools

Unchecked Copy Box Est 2:22

Unchecked Copy BoxEst 2:22 - But Mordecai heard about the plot and gave the information to Queen Esther. She then told the king about it and gave Mordecai credit for the report.

Tools

Unchecked Copy Box Est 2:23

Unchecked Copy BoxEst 2:23 - When an investigation was made and Mordecai’s story was found to be true, the two men were impaled on a sharpened pole. This was all recorded in The Book of the History of King Xerxes’ Reign.
See the NLT Preface (Especially for Parenthesis, Brackets, & Asterisks).
NLT Footnotes
Hebrew He.
Hebrew Jeconiah, a variant spelling of Jehoiachin.
Or to another part of the harem.
Hebrew in the tenth month, the month of Tebeth. A number of dates in the book of Esther can be cross-checked with dates in surviving Persian records and related accurately to our modern calendar. This month of the ancient Hebrew lunar calendar occurred within the months of December 479 B.C. and January 478 B.C.
The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain.
Hebrew and Mordecai was sitting in the gate of the king.
Hebrew Bigthan; compare 6:2.
NLT

Holy Bible, New Living Translation copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Full copyright information is provided here. Visit the New Living Translation website.

For more information on this translation, see the NLT Preface.

BLB Searches
Search the Bible
NLT
  [?]

Advanced Options

Other Searches

Multi-Verse Retrieval
x
NLT
Daily Devotionals
x

Blue Letter Bible offers several daily devotional readings in order to help you refocus on Christ and the Gospel of His peace and righteousness.

Daily Bible Reading Plans
x

Recognizing the value of consistent reflection upon the Word of God in order to refocus one's mind and heart upon Christ and His Gospel of peace, we provide several reading plans designed to cover the entire Bible in a year.

One-Year Plans

Two-Year Plan

Esther Chapter 2 — Additional Translations:

King James Version New King James Version New International Version English Standard Version Christian Standard Bible New American Standard Bible 2020 New American Standard Bible 1995 Legacy Standard Bible Amplified Bible New English Translation Revised Standard Version American Standard Version Young's Literal Translation Darby Translation Webster's Bible Hebrew Names Version Latin Vulgate Westminster Leningrad Codex Septuagint Smith Van Dyck Arabic Bible Open New Arabic Version Brenton's English Septuagint Reina Valera 1909 Reina-Valera 1960 Bible in Basic English Chinese Traditional Union Espanol Moderno Korean Holy Bible Louis Segond German Luther Russian Synodal Translation Sagradas Escrituras