Esther 2:8-10

The Voice

⁸ As the result of the king’s decree, Esther, along with many other young women, was brought to the royal palace in the citadel of Susa, and she was put in the care of Hegai (who was in charge of the harem). ⁹ Esther soon impressed Hegai and was favored. He arranged that she be given the most lustrous beauty treatments and fed the finest fruits and vegetables from the king’s garden. He assigned to her seven servants and moved her and her servants to the harem’s finest rooms. ¹⁰ Mordecai had instructed Esther to keep her Jewish heritage a secret, and so she told no one. Still her cousin worried about her.