Liber Esther

Esther, chapter 2, Vulgate and King James Version

Chapter 2 Vulgate

   1 His ita gestis, postquam regis Asueri deferbuerat indignatio, recordatus est Vasthi, et quae fecisset vel quae passa esset.
   2 Dixeruntque pueri regis ac ministri eius: "Quaerantur regi puellae virgines ac speciosae,
   3 et constituantur, qui considerent per universas provincias puellas speciosas et virgines et adducant eas ad civitatem Susan et tradant in domum feminarum sub manu Egei eunuchi, qui est praepositus et custos mulierum regiarum; et accipiant mundum muliebrem.
   4 Et, quaecumque inter omnes oculis regis placuerit, ipsa regnet pro Vasthi". Placuit sermo regi; et ita, ut suggesserant, iussit fieri.
   5 Erat vir Iudaeus in Susan civitate vocabulo Mardochaeus filius Iair filii Semei filii Cis de tribu Beniamin,
   6 qui translatus fuerat de Ierusalem cum captivis, qui ducti fuerant cum Iechonia rege Iudae, quem Nabuchodonosor rex Babylonis transtulerat.
   7 Qui fuit nutricius filiae patrui sui Edissae, quae altero nomine Esther vocabatur et utrumque parentem amiserat: pulchra aspectu et decora facie. Mortuisque patre eius ac matre, Mardochaeus sibi eam adoptavit in filiam.
   8 Et factum est, cum percrebruisset regis imperium, et iuxta mandatum illius multae virgines pulchrae adducerentur Susan et Egeo traderentur, Esther quoque in domum regis in manus Egei custodis feminarum tradita est.
   9 Quae placuit ei et invenit gratiam in conspectu illius; et acceleravit mundum muliebrem et tradidit ei partes suas et septem puellas speciosissimas de domo regis, et tam ipsam quam pedisequas eius transtulit in optimam partem domus feminarum.
   10 Quae non indicaverat ei populum et cognationem suam; Mardochaeus enim praeceperat, ut de hac re omnino reticeret.
   11 Qui deambulabat cotidie ante vestibulum domus, in qua electae virgines servabantur, curam agens salutis Esther et scire volens quid ei accideret.
   12 Cum autem venisset tempus singularum per ordinem puellarum, ut intrarent ad regem, expletis omnibus, quae ad cultum muliebrem pertinebant, per menses duodecim; ita dumtaxat, ut sex mensibus oleo ungerentur myrrhino et aliis sex feminarum pigmentis et aromatibus uterentur,
   13 ingredientesque ad regem, quidquid postulassent, accipiebant, ut portarent secum de triclinio feminarum ad regis cubiculum.
   14 Et, quae intraverat vespere, mane iterum in domum feminarum deducebatur, sub manu Sasagazi eunuchi, qui concubinis praesidebat. Nec habebat potestatem ad regem ultra redeundi, nisi voluisset rex et eam venire iussisset ex nomine.
   15 Evoluto autem tempore per ordinem, instabat dies, quo Esther filia Abihail patrui Mardochaei, quam sibi adoptaverat in filiam, intrare deberet ad regem. Quae non quaesivit quidquam, nisi quae voluit Egeus eunuchus custos feminarum, et omnium oculis gratiosa et amabilis videbatur.
   16 Ducta est itaque ad cubiculum regis Asueri mense decimo, qui vocatur Tebeth, septimo anno regni eius.
   17 Et amavit eam rex plus quam omnes mulieres; habuitque gratiam et favorem coram eo super omnes virgines, et posuit diadema regni in capite eius fecitque eam regnare in loco Vasthi.
   18 Et iussit convivium praeparari magnificum cunctis principibus et servis suis, convivium Esther; et dedit remissionem tributi universis provinciis ac dona largitus est iuxta magnificentiam principalem.
   19 Mardochaeus autem manebat ad regis ianuam,
   20 necdum prodiderat Esther cognationem et populum suum iuxta mandatum eius; quidquid enim ille praecipiebat, observabat Esther, ut eo tempore solita erat, quo eam parvulam nutriebat.
   21 Eo igitur tempore, quo Mardochaeus ad regis ianuam morabatur, irati sunt Bagathan et Thares, duo eunuchi regis, qui ianitores erant volueruntque in regem mittere manus.
   22 Quod Mardochaeum non latuit; statimque nuntiavit reginae Esther, et illa regi ex nomine Mardochaei.
   23 Quaesitum est et inventum, et appensus uterque eorum in patibulo; mandatumque est libro annalium coram rege.

Source: Bibliorum Sacrorum Editio, Sacrosanti Oecumenici Concilii Vaticani II, Ratione Habita, Iussu Pauli PP. VI Recognita, Auctoritate Ioannis Pauli PP. II Promulgata, Editio Typica Altera

King James Version

   1 After these things, when the wrath of king Ahasuerus was appeased, he remembered Vashti, and what she had done, and what was decreed against her.
   2 Then said the king's servants that ministered unto him, Let there be fair young virgins sought for the king:
   3 And let the king appoint officers in all the provinces of his kingdom, that they may gather together all the fair young virgins unto Shushan the palace, to the house of the women, unto the custody of Hege the king's chamberlain, keeper of the women; and let their things for purification be given them:
   4 And let the maiden which pleaseth the king be queen instead of Vashti. And the thing pleased the king; and he did so.
   5 ¶ Now in Shushan the palace there was a certain Jew, whose name was Mordecai, the son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish, a Benjamite;
   6 Who had been carried away from Jerusalem with the captivity which had been carried away with Jeconiah king of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried away.
   7 And he brought up Hadassah, that is, Esther, his uncle's daughter: for she had neither father nor mother, and the maid was fair and beautiful; whom Mordecai, when her father and mother were dead, took for his own daughter.
   8 ¶ So it came to pass, when the king's commandment and his decree was heard, and when many maidens were gathered together unto Shushan the palace, to the custody of Hegai, that Esther was brought also unto the king's house, to the custody of Hegai, keeper of the women.
   9 And the maiden pleased him, and she obtained kindness of him; and he speedily gave her her things for purification, with such things as belonged to her, and seven maidens, which were meet to be given her, out of the king's house: and he preferred her and her maids unto the best place of the house of the women.
   10 Esther had not shewed her people nor her kindred: for Mordecai had charged her that she should not shew it.
   11 And Mordecai walked every day before the court of the women's house, to know how Esther did, and what should become of her.
   12 ¶ Now when every maid's turn was come to go in to king Ahasuerus, after that she had been twelve months, according to the manner of the women, (for so were the days of their purifications accomplished, to wit, six months with oil of myrrh, and six months with sweet odours, and with other things for the purifying of the women;)
   13 Then thus came every maiden unto the king; whatsoever she desired was given her to go with her out of the house of the women unto the king's house.
   14 In the evening she went, and on the morrow she returned into the second house of the women, to the custody of Shaashgaz, the king's chamberlain, which kept the concubines: she came in unto the king no more, except the king delighted in her, and that she were called by name.
   15 ¶ Now when the turn of Esther, the daughter of Abihail the uncle of Mordecai, who had taken her for his daughter, was come to go in unto the king, she required nothing but what Hegai the king's chamberlain, the keeper of the women, appointed. And Esther obtained favour in the sight of all them that looked upon her.
   16 So Esther was taken unto king Ahasuerus into his house royal in the tenth month, which is the month Tebeth, in the seventh year of his reign.
   17 And the king loved Esther above all the women, and she obtained grace and favour in his sight more than all the virgins; so that he set the royal crown upon her head, and made her queen instead of Vashti.
   18 Then the king made a great feast unto all his princes and his servants, even Esther's feast; and he made a release to the provinces, and gave gifts, according to the state of the king.
   19 And when the virgins were gathered together the second time, then Mordecai sat in the king's gate.
   20 Esther had not yet shewed her kindred nor her people; as Mordecai had charged her: for Esther did the commandment of Mordecai, like as when she was brought up with him.
   21 ¶ In those days, while Mordecai sat in the king's gate, two of the king's chamberlains, Bigthan and Teresh, of those which kept the door, were wroth, and sought to lay hand on the king Ahasuerus.
   22 And the thing was known to Mordecai, who told it unto Esther the queen; and Esther certified the king thereof in Mordecai's name.
   23 And when inquisition was made of the matter, it was found out; therefore they were both hanged on a tree: and it was written in the book of the chronicles before the king.