After these things, when the anger of King Ahasuerus had abated, he remembered Vashti and what she had done and what had been decreed against her. Then the king’s young men who attended him said, “Let beautiful young virgins be sought out for the king. And let the king appoint officers in all the provinces of his kingdom to gather all the beautiful young virgins to the harem in Susa the citadel, under custody of Hegai, the king’s eunuch, who is in charge of the women. Let their cosmetics be given them. And let the young woman who pleases the king be queen instead of Vashti.” This pleased the king, and he did so.
Now there was a Jew in Susa the citadel whose name was Mordecai, the son of Jair, son of Shimei, son of Kish, a Benjaminite, who had been carried away from Jerusalem among the captives carried away with Jeconiah king of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had carried away. He was bringing up Hadassah, that is Esther, the daughter of his uncle, for she had neither father nor mother. The young woman had a beautiful figure and was lovely to look at, and when her father and her mother died, Mordecai took her as his own daughter. So when the king’s order and his edict were proclaimed, and when many young women were gathered in Susa the citadel in custody of Hegai, Esther also was taken into the king’s palace and put in custody of Hegai, who had charge of the women.
Comment: It sounds as if the King had acted in anger and not thought things through. The young men of the court came up with a plan to bring a bevy of extreme beauties before the king to choose a replacement for Vashti. I wonder if they were thinking that they themselves might profit from those rejected!
The scene changes and we meet Mordecai who as a captive of the overthrow of the Jews had been brought to Susa. He was bringing up Esther (locally known as Hadassah) a relative whose parents had been killed probably when Judah was conquered. Esther was a beauty and picked as one of those who was to be paraded before the king.
Prayer: Life has many curves and surprises. Help us to trust You to lead us aright, O Father God.
As I read it! 