⁷ He was the guardian to Hadassah, that is ^(A)Esther, his uncle’s daughter, for she had no father or mother. Now the young woman was beautiful of form and ^[a]face, and when her father and her mother died, Mordecai took her as his own daughter.

Esther Finds Favor

⁸ So it came about, when the command and decree of the king were heard and ^(B)many young ladies were gathered to the citadel of Susa into the ^[b]custody of ^(C)Hegai, that Esther was taken to the king’s ^[c]palace into the custody of Hegai, who was in charge of the women. ⁹ Now the young lady pleased him and found favor with him. So he quickly provided her with her ^(D)cosmetics and ^[d]food, gave her seven choice female attendants from the king’s palace, and transferred her and her attendants to the best place in the harem.