² Then the king’s servants who attended him said, “Let beautiful young virgins be sought out for the king. ³ And let the king appoint commissioners in all the provinces of his kingdom to gather all the beautiful young virgins to the harem in the citadel of Susa under custody of Hegai, the king’s eunuch, who is in charge of the women; let their cosmetic treatments be given them.^{(A) 4} And let the young woman who pleases the king be queen instead of Vashti.” This pleased the king, and he did so.

⁸ When the king’s order and his edict were proclaimed and when many young women were gathered in the citadel of Susa in custody of Hegai, Esther was taken into the king’s palace and put in custody of Hegai, who had charge of the women.^{(A) 9} The young woman pleased him and won his favor, and he quickly provided her with her cosmetic treatments and her portion of food and with seven chosen maids from the king’s palace, and he advanced her and her maids to the best place in the harem.^{(B) 10} Esther did not reveal her people or kindred, for Mordecai had charged her not to tell.^{(C) 11} Every day Mordecai would walk back and forth in front of the court of the harem to learn how Esther was and how she fared.

¹² The turn came for each young woman to go in to King Ahasuerus, after being twelve months under the regulations for the women, since this was the regular period of their cosmetic treatment: six months with oil of myrrh and six months with perfumes and cosmetics for women. ¹³ When the young woman went in to the king, she was given whatever she asked for to take with her from the harem to the king’s palace. ¹⁴ In the evening she went in; then in the morning she came back to the second harem in custody of Shaashgaz, the king’s eunuch who was in charge of the concubines; she did not go in to the king again unless the king delighted in her and she was summoned by name.