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 Hegai
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