Esther 2:15-17

Expanded Bible

¹⁵ The ·time [^Lturn] came for Esther daughter of Abihail, Mordecai’s uncle [^CEsther was Mordecai’s younger cousin, v. 7], who had been raised [taken] by Mordecai as his own daughter, to go to the king. She asked for only what Hegai ·suggested [advised; recommended] she should take. (Hegai was the king’s eunuch who ·was in charge of [supervised] the women.) Everyone who saw Esther ·liked [favored] her. ¹⁶ So Esther was taken to King ·Xerxes [^LAhasuerus] in the royal ·palace [^Lhouse] in the tenth month [^Cearly winter], the month of Tebeth, during ·Xerxes’ [^LAhasuerus’s] seventh year ·as king [of his reign].

¹⁷ And the king ·was pleased with [loved] Esther more than with any of the other ·virgins [young women]. He liked her more than any of the ·others [other virgins], so he put a royal crown on her head and ·made [proclaimed; declared] her queen in place of Vashti.