Esther 2
1 After these things, when the wrath of king Ahasuerus was appeased, he remembered Vashti, and what she had done, and what was decreed against her.
His ita gestis, postquam regis Assueri indignatio deferbuerat, recordatus est Vasthi, et quæ fecisset, vel quæ passa esset:
2 Then said the king’s servants that ministered to him, Let there be fair young virgins sought for the king:
dixeruntque pueri regis, ac ministri eius: Quærantur regi puellæ virgines ac speciosæ,
3 And let the king appoint officers in all the provinces of his kingdom, that they may gather all the fair young virgins to Shushan the palace, to the house of the women, into the custody of Hege the king’s chamberlain, keeper of the women; and let their things for purification be given them:
et mittantur qui considerent per universas provincias puellas speciosas et virgines: et adducant eas ad civitatem Susan, et tradant eas in domum feminarum sub manu Egei eunuchi, qui est præpositus et custos mulierum regiarum: et accipiant mundum muliebrem, et cetera ad usus necessaria.
4 And let the maiden who pleaseth the king be queen instead of Vashti. And the thing pleased the king; and he did so.
Et quæcumque inter omnes oculis regis placuerit, ipsa regnet pro Vasthi. Placuit sermo regi: et ita, ut suggesserant, iussit fieri.
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;
Erat vir Iudæus in Susan civitate, vocabulo Mardochæus filius Iair, filii Semei, filii Cis, de stirpe Iemini,
6 Who had been carried away from Jerusalem with the captives who had been carried away with Jeconiah king of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried away.
qui translatus fuerat de Ierusalem eo tempore, quo Iechoniam regem Iuda Nabuchodonosor rex Babylonis transtulerat,
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.
qui fuit nutritius filiæ fratris sui Edissæ, quæ altero nomine vocabatur Esther: et utrumque parentem amiserat: pulchra nimis, et decora facie. Mortuisque patre eius ac matre, Mardochæus sibi eam adoptavit in filiam.
8 So it came to pass, when the king’s commandment and his decree were heard, and when many maidens were gathered at Shushan the palace, to the custody of Hegai, that Esther was brought also to the king’s house, to the custody of Hegai, keeper of the women.
Cumque percrebruisset regis imperium, et iuxta mandatum illius multæ pulchræ virgines adducerentur Susan, et Egeo traderentur Eunucho; Esther quoque inter ceteras puellas ei tradita est, ut servaretur in numero feminarum.
9 And the maiden pleased him, and she obtained kindness from him; and he speedily gave her her things for purification, with such things as belonged to her, and seven choice maidens, to be given her, out of the king’s house: and he preferred her and her maids to the best place of the house of the women.
Quæ placuit ei, et invenit gratiam in conspectu illius. Et præcepit eunucho, ut acceleraret mundum muliebrem, et traderet ei partes suas, et septem puellas speciosissimas de domo regis, et tam ipsam, quam pedissequas eius ornaret atque excoleret.
10 Esther had not revealed her people nor her kindred: for Mordecai had charged her that she should not make it known.
Quæ noluit indicare ei populum et patriam suam: Mardochæus enim præceperat ei, ut de hac re omnino reticeret:
11 And Mordecai walked every day before the court of the women’s house, to know how Esther did, and what should become of her.
qui deambulabat quotidie ante vestibulum domus, in qua electæ virgines servabantur, curam agens salutis Esther, et scire volens quid ei accideret.
12 Now when every maid’s turn had come to go in to king Ahasuerus, after that she had been twelve months, according to the law for the women, (for so were the days of their purifications accomplished, that is, six months with oil of myrrh, and six months with sweet odours, and with other things for the purifying of the women; )
Cum autem venisset tempus singularum per ordinem puellarum, ut intrarent ad regem, expletis omnibus, quæ ad cultum muliebrem pertinebant, mensis duodecimus vertebatur: ita dumtaxat, ut sex mensibus oleo ungerentur myrrhino, et aliis sex quibusdam pigmentis et aromatibus uterentur.
13 Then thus came every maiden to the king; whatever she desired was given her to go with her out of the house of the women to the king’s house.
Ingredientesque ad regem, quidquid postulassent ad ornatum pertinens, accipiebant: et ut eis placuerat, compositæ de triclinio feminarum ad regis cubiculum transibant.
14 In the evening she went, and on the next morning she returned into the second house of the women, to the custody of Shaashgaz, the king’s chamberlain, who kept the concubines: she came in to the king no more, except that the king delighted in her, and she was called by name.
Et quæ intraverat vespere, egrediebatur mane, atque inde in secundas ædes deducebatur, quæ sub manu Susagazi eunuchi erant, qui concubinis regis præsidebat: nec habebat potestatem ad regem ultra redeundi, nisi voluisset rex, et eam venire iussisset ex nomine.
15 Now when the turn of Esther, the daughter of Abihail the uncle of Mordecai, who had taken her for his daughter, had come to go in to the king, she required nothing but what Hegai the king’s chamberlain, the keeper of the women, appointed. And Esther obtained favour in the sight of all them that looked upon her.
Evoluto autem tempore per ordinem, instabat dies, quo Esther filia Abihail fratris Mardochæi, quam sibi adoptaverat in filiam, deberet intrare ad regem. Quæ non quæsivit muliebrem cultum, sed quæcumque voluit Egeus eunuchus custos virginum, hæc ei ad ornatum dedit. Erat enim formosa valde, et incredibili pulchritudine, omnium oculis gratiosa et amabilis videbatur.
16 So Esther was taken to king Ahasuerus into his house royal in the tenth month, which is the month Tebeth, in the seventh year of his reign.
Ducta est itaque ad cubiculum regis Assueri mense decimo, qui vocatur Tebeth, septimo anno regni eius.
17 And the king loved Esther above all the women, and she obtained grace and favour in his sight more than all the virgins; so that he set the royal crown upon her head, and made her queen instead of Vashti.
Et adamavit eam rex plus quam omnes mulieres, habuitque gratiam et misericordiam coram eo super omnes mulieres, et posuit diadema regni in capite eius, fecitque eam regnare in loco Vasthi.
18 Then the king made a great feast to all his princes and his servants, even Esther’s feast; and he made a release to the provinces, and gave gifts, according to the bounty of the king.
Et iussit convivium præparari permagnificum cunctis principibus, et servis suis pro coniunctione, et nuptiis Esther. Et dedit requiem universis provinciis, ac dona largitus est iuxta magnificentiam principalem.
19 And when the virgins were gathered together the second time, then Mordecai sat in the king’s gate.
Cumque secundo quærerentur virgines et congregarentur, Mardochæus manebat ad ianuam regis:
20 Esther had not yet revealed her kindred nor her people; as Mordecai had charged her: for Esther performed the commandment of Mordecai, as when she was brought up with him.
necdum prodiderat Esther patriam, et populum suum, iuxta mandatum eius. Quidquid enim ille præcipiebat, observabat Esther: et ita cuncta faciebat ut eo tempore solita erat, quo eam parvulam nutriebat.
21 In those days, while Mordecai sat in the king’s gate, two of the king’s chamberlains, Bigthan and Teresh, of those who kept the door, were angry, and sought to lay hand on the king Ahasuerus.
Eo igitur tempore, quo Mardochæus ad regis ianuam morabatur, irati sunt Bagathan, et Thares duo eunuchi regis, qui ianitores erant, et in primo palatii limine præsidebant: volueruntque insurgere in regem, et occidere eum.
22 And the thing was known to Mordecai, who told it to Esther the queen; and Esther informed the king of it in Mordecai’s name.
Quod Mardochæum non latuit, statimque nuntiavit reginæ Esther: et illa regi ex nomine Mardochæi, qui ad se rem detulerat.
23 And when enquiry was made of the matter, it was discovered; therefore they were both hanged on a tree: and it was written in the book of the chronicles before the king.
Quæsitum est, et inventum: et appensus est uterque eorum in patibulo. Mandatumque est historiis, et annalibus traditum coram rege.
