አስቴር ንግሥት ሆነች
1ከዚህ በኋላ ንጉሡ ጠረክሲስ ቍጣው ሲበርድለት አስጢንን፣ ያደረገችውን ነገርና በእርሷም ላይ ያስተላለፈውን ዐዋጅ ዐሰበ። 2ከዚያም የንጉሡ የቅርብ አገልጋዮች እንዲህ የሚል ሐሳብ አቀረቡ፤ “ለንጉሡ ቈንጆ ልጃገረዶች ይፈለጉለት፤ 3እነዚህን ሁሉ ቈንጆ ልጃገረዶች በሱሳ ግንብ ወደሚገኘው ልዩ የሴቶች መኖሪያ ቦታ እንዲያመጡ፣ ንጉሡ በግዛቱ በሚገኙት አውራጃዎቹ ሁሉ ባለ ሥልጣኖችን ይሹም፤ እነርሱም የሴቶች የበላይ ኀላፊ በሆነው በንጉሡ ጃንደረባ በሄጌ ኀላፊነት ሥር ይሁኑ፤ የውበትም እንክብካቤ ይደረግላቸው። 4ከዚያም ንጉሡን ደስ የምታሰኘው ልጃገረድ በአስጢን ፈንታ ንግሥት ትሁን።” ምክሩ ንጉሡን ደስ አሰኘው፤ በተባለውም መሠረት አደረገ።
5በዚህ ጊዜ ከብንያም ነገድ የቂስ ልጅ፣ የሰሜኢ ልጅ፣ የኢያዕር ልጅ መርዶክዮስ የሚባል አንድ አይሁዳዊ በሱሳ ግንብ ይኖር ነበር፤ 6እርሱም የባቢሎን ንጉሥ ናቡከደነፆር ከማረካቸው ከይሁዳ ንጉሥ ከኢኮንያን2፥6 በዕብራይስጥ፣ ኢኮንያን የሚለው ስም ኢዮአቄም ከሚለው ጋር አንድ ዐይነት ነው። ጋር ከኢየሩሳሌም በምርኮ ከተወሰዱት አንዱ ነበር። 7መርዶክዮስ አንዲት ሀደሳ የምትባል የአጎቱ ልጅ ነበረችው፤ አባትና እናት ስላልነበራት፣ ያሳደጋት እርሱ ነበር። አስቴር ተብላ የምትጠራው ይህች ልጃገረድ በተክለ ሰውነቷም ሆነ በመልኳ እጅግ ውብ ነበረች። አባቷና እናቷ ከሞቱ በኋላ መርዶክዮስ እንደ ራሱ ልጅ አድርጎ ወሰዳት።
8የንጉሡ ትእዛዝና ዐዋጅ በወጣ ጊዜ፣ ብዙ ልጃገረዶች ወደ ሱሳ ግንብ ተወስደው ለጠባቂው ለሄጌ ተሰጡ፤ አስቴርም ወደ ንጉሡ ቤተ መንግሥት ተወስዳ፣ ለሴቶቹ ጠባቂ ለሄጌ በዐደራ ተሰጠች። 9ልጃገረዲቱም ደስ አሰኘችው፤ በእርሱም ዘንድ መወደድን አተረፈች፤ እርሱም የውበት መንከባከቢያዋንና የተለየ ምግብ ወዲያውኑ ሰጣት። ከቤተ መንግሥቱ የተመረጡ ሰባት ደንገጡሮችን በመመደብም እርሷንና ደንገጡሮቿን ምርጥ ወደ ሆነው የሴቶች መጠበቂያ አዛወረ።
10መርዶክዮስ እንዳትናገር አዝዟት ስለ ነበር፣ አስቴር የየት አገር ሰውና የእነማን ወገን እንደ ሆነች አልገለጸችም። 11መርዶክዮስም አስቴር እንዴት እንደ ሆነችና ምንስ እንዳጋጠማት ለማወቅ፣ በየዕለቱ በሴቶች መጠበቂያ አደባባይ አጠገብ ወዲያና ወዲህ ይመላለስ ነበር።
12አንዲት ልጃገረድ ወደ ንጉሥ ጠረክሲስ ዘንድ ለመግባት ተራዋ ከመድረሱ በፊት ስድስት ወር በከርቤ ዘይት፣ ስድስት ወር ደግሞ ልዩ ልዩ ሽቱ በመቀባትና በተለያዩ የፊት ቀለሞች በመዋብ በአጠቃላይ ዐሥራ ሁለት ወር መቈየት ነበረባት፤ 13ወደ ንጉሡ ዘንድ የምትገባውም በዚህ ሁኔታ ሲሆን፣ ሴቶቹ ከሚኖሩበት ስፍራ ወደ ንጉሡ ቤተ መንግሥት ስትሄድ፣ መውሰድ የምትፈልገው ማናቸውም ነገር ይሰጣት ነበር። 14ሲመሽ ወደዚያው ትሄዳለች፤ ሲነጋም የቁባቶች ኀላፊ በሆነው በንጉሡ ጃንደረባ በሻአሽጋዝ ጥበቃ ሥር ወደሚገኘው ወደ ሌላው የሴቶች መጠበቂያ ቤት ትመለሳለች፤ ደስ የተሰኘባት ካልሆነችና በስሟም ካልጠራት ዳግመኛ ወደ ንጉሡ ዘንድ አትገባም።
15መርዶክዮስ እንደ ልጁ አድርጎ ያሳደጋት የአጎቱ የአቢካኢል ልጅ አስቴር ወደ ንጉሡ ዘንድ የምትሄድበት ተራ በደረሰ ጊዜ የሴቶች ልዩ ጥበቃ ቤት ኀላፊ የሆነው ሄጌ የነገራትን እንጂ፣ ሌላ ምንም አልጠየቀችም። አስቴር በሚያዩዋት ሁሉ ዘንድ ሞገስ አገኘች። 16በነገሠ በሰባተኛው ዓመት ቴቤት በተባለው በዐሥረኛው ወር ወደ ንጉሥ ጠረክሲስ ቤተ መንግሥት ተወሰደች።
17በዚህ ጊዜ ንጉሡ ከሌሎቹ ሴቶች ሁሉ ይበልጥ አስቴርን ወደዳት፤ ከሌሎቹ ደናግልም ሁሉ ይልቅ በእርሱ ዘንድ ሞገስንና መወደድን አገኘች። ስለዚህ የእቴጌነት ዘውድ በራሷ ላይ ጫነላት፤ በአስጢንም ፈንታ ንግሥት አደረጋት። 18ንጉሡም ስለ አስቴር ክብር ለመኳንንቱና ለሹማምቱ ሁሉ ታላቅ ግብዣ አደረገ፤ በዓሉም በየአውራጃዎቹ ሁሉ እንዲከበር ዐወጀ፤ በንጉሣዊ ልግስናውም ስጦታ አደረገ።
መርዶክዮስ በንጉሡ ላይ የተጠነሰሰውን ሤራ ደረሰበት
19ደናግሉ ለሁለተኛ ጊዜ ተሰብስበው ሳለ፣ መርዶክዮስ በንጉሡ በር ተቀምጦ ነበር። 20አስቴር ግን ልክ መርዶክዮስ እንደ ነገራት የማን ወገንና የየት አገር ሰው እንደ ሆነች ደብቃ ነበር፤ ይህ የሆነበት ምክንያት መርዶክዮስ በሚያሳድጋት ጊዜ ታደርግ እንደ ነበረው ሁሉ፣ አሁንም ምክሩን ትከተል ስለ ነበር ነው።
21መርዶክዮስ በንጉሡ በር ተቀምጦ ሳለ፣ በሩን ከሚጠብቁት ከንጉሡ የጦር አለቆች ሁለቱ ገበታና ታራ ተቈጡ፤ ንጉሥ ጠረክሲስንም ለመግደል ዶለቱ። 22መርዶክዮስም አድማውን ስለ ደረሰበት፣ ለንግሥት አስቴር ገለጠላት፤ እርሷም ይህን ከመርዶክዮስ ማግኘቷን ለንጉሡ ገልጣ ነገረችው። 23ነገሩ ሲጣራም እውነት ሆኖ ተገኘ፤ ሁለቱም ሹማምት በስቅላት ሞት ተቀጡ። ይህ ሁሉ በንጉሡ ፊት በታሪክ መዝገብ ተጻፈ።
1After these things, when the wrath of king Ahasuerus was appeased, he remembered Vashti, and what she had done, and what was decreed against her. 2Then said the king’s servants that ministered unto him, Let there be fair young virgins sought for the king: 3And 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 Hege the king’s chamberlain, keeper of the women; and let their things for purification be given them:2.3 unto the…: Heb. unto the hand2.3 Hege: also called, Hegai 4And 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; 6Who 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.2.6 Jeconiah: also called, Jehoiachin 7And 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.2.7 brought…: Heb. nourished2.7 fair…: Heb. fair of form, and good of countenance
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 palace, to the custody of Hegai, that Esther was brought also unto the king’s house, to the custody of Hegai, keeper of the women. 9And the maiden pleased him, and she obtained kindness of him; and he speedily gave her her things for purification, with such things as belonged to her, and seven maidens, which were meet to be given her, out of the king’s house: and he preferred her and her maids unto the best place of the house of the women.2.9 such…: Heb. her portions2.9 preferred: Heb. changed 10Esther had not shewed her people nor her kindred: for Mordecai had charged her that she should not shew it. 11And Mordecai walked every day before the court of the women’s house, to know how Esther did, and what should become of her.2.11 to know…: Heb. to know the peace
12¶ Now when every maid’s turn was come to go in to king Ahasuerus, after that she had been twelve months, according to the manner of the women, (for so were the days of their purifications accomplished, to wit, six months with oil of myrrh, and six months with sweet odours, and with other things for the purifying of the women;) 13Then thus came every maiden unto the king; whatsoever she desired was given her to go with her out of the house of the women unto the king’s house. 14In the evening she went, and on the morrow she returned into the second house of the women, to the custody of Shaashgaz, the king’s chamberlain, which kept the concubines: she came in unto the king no more, except the king delighted in her, and that she were called by name.
15¶ Now when the turn of Esther, the daughter of Abihail the uncle of Mordecai, who had taken her for his daughter, was come to go in unto 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. 16So Esther was taken unto king Ahasuerus into his house royal in the tenth month, which is the month Tebeth, in the seventh year of his reign. 17And 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.2.17 favour: or, kindness2.17 in his…: Heb. before him 18Then the king made a great feast unto all his princes and his servants, even Esther’s feast; and he made a release to the provinces, and gave gifts, according to the state of the king.2.18 release: Heb. rest 19And when the virgins were gathered together the second time, then Mordecai sat in the king’s gate. 20Esther had not yet shewed her kindred nor her people; as Mordecai had charged her: for Esther did the commandment of Mordecai, like as when she was brought up with him.
21¶ In those days, while Mordecai sat in the king’s gate, two of the king’s chamberlains, Bigthan and Teresh, of those which kept the door, were wroth, and sought to lay hand on the king Ahasuerus.2.21 Bigthan: also called, Bigthana2.21 the door: Heb. the threshold 22And the thing was known to Mordecai, who told it unto Esther the queen; and Esther certified the king thereof in Mordecai’s name. 23And when inquisition was made of the matter, it was found out; therefore they were both hanged on a tree: and it was written in the book of the chronicles before the king.
