< Esther 2 >

1 He ol hnukah tah manghai Ahasuerus kah kosi tah daeh tih Vashti khaw, anih kah a saii te khaw, anih sokah a tuiphih te khaw, a poek.
Some time later, when the wrath of King Ahasuerus had subsided, he remembered what Vashti had done and what had been decreed against her.
2 Te dongah amah aka bong manghai tueihyoeih loh, “Manghai ham hula, oila a mueimae aka then tlap pa sih.
Then the king’s servants who waited upon him said, ‘Let beautiful young virgins be sought for the king,
3 Manghai loh a ram kah paeng tom ah hlangtawt khueh saeh lamtah a mueimae aka then hula, oila boeih te Shushan kah rhalmah im la coi saeh. Amih te huta aka ngaithuen manghai imkhoem Hegai kut hmui kah huta im ah thentui pae saeh.
and let the king appoint commissioners to all the provinces of his kingdom to gather them all to Susa the royal residence. Let them be brought into the women’s quarters under the custody of Hegai, the king’s eunuch, who has charge of the women. Then give them what is needed to make them beautiful,
4 Te vaengah manghai mik ah aka then hula te tah Vashti yueng la manghai saeh,” a ti nah. Te ol tah manghai mik ah khaw a cop dongah te tlam te a saii.
and let the girl who pleases the king be queen instead of Vashti.’ The proposal pleased the king so he put it into action.
5 Shushan rhalmah im ah Judah hlang om tih a ming te Benjamin hlang, Kish capa, Shimei koca, Jair capa Mordekai ni.
In Susa the royal residence lived a Jew named Mordecai. He was son of Jair, son of Shimei, son of Kish, a Benjamite.
6 Anih te khaw Babylon manghai Nebukhanezar loh Judah manghai Jekoniah a poelyoe vaengah Jerusalem lamloh vangsawn la a poelyoe van.
(Kish had been carried away from Jerusalem with the exiles who were deported with Jeconiah king of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon took captive.)
7 Te vaengah Mordekai loh a panoe canu Esther Hadassah te a poeh. Esther te a manu a napa om voel pawh. Hula tah a sakthen suisak neh a mueimae khaw then. A manu a napa a duek vaengah ni anih te Mordekai loh amah taengah a canu la a loh.
Mordecai had adopted Hadassah, that is, Esther, his uncle’s daughter, since she had neither father nor mother. The girl was shapely and beautiful; and after her father and mother died, Mordecai raised her as if she was his own daughter.
8 Manghai ol neh a olkhan te a yaak sak vaengah tah hula rhoek te Shushan rhalmah im kah Hegai kut dongla muep a coi. Te dongah Esther khaw manghai im kah huta aka ngaithuen Hegai kut dongla a khuen.
When the king’s command and decree were known, many girls were gathered together to Susa the capital under the custody of Hegai. Esther was also taken into the king’s palace and placed under the custody of Hegai, who had charge of the women.
9 Hula te a mik ah cop. Te dongah a mikhmuh ah sitlohnah a dang tih a thentui khaw a let sak. Anih ham a maehvae te khaw a paek. Anih te sawt hamla manghai im lamloh tanu parhih a paek. Te phoeiah Esther neh a tanu rhoek te huta im then la puen.
The girl pleased him and gained his favour, so that he quickly gave her the cosmetics she needed to enhance her beauty and her allowance of food and the seven maids selected from the king’s household. He also transferred her and her maids to the best place in the harem.
10 Mordekai loh thui pawt ham a taengah a uen dongah Esther loh a pilnam neh a pacaboeina kawng te thui pawh.
Esther had not revealed her people nor her family background because Mordecai had ordered her not to.
11 Te vaengah Mordekai tah Esther kah sadingnah neh anih te metla a saii ming hamla huta im kah vongtung hmai ah a hnin, hnin puet cet.
Every day Mordecai would to walk in front of the courtyard of the harem and ask after Esther’s health and what was happening to her.
12 Hula, hula te manghai Ahasuerus taengla kun ham aitlaeng loh a pha hlan vaengah tah anih te huta kah a longim bangla hla hlai nit a thok hil om pueng. Te dongah khohnin a cum vaengah hla rhuk te murrah situi neh, hla rhuk tah huta kah thentui botui neh yuhnah a khueh.
The girls were prepared for meeting King Ahasuerus for twelve months: six months being treated with oil of myrrh and six months with perfumes and cosmetics. After the twelve months,
13 Te tlam te manghai taengla hula a caeh vaengah tah a thui boeih te a taengah a paek tih anih te huta im lamloh manghai im la a khuen.
each girl went in to the king. She was allowed to take with her whatever she wished from the women’s quarters,
14 Anih te hlaem vaengah kun tih mincang ah tah manghai yula aka ngaithuen imkhoem Shaashgaz kut dongkah huta im a pabae la mael. Anih te manghai loh a ngaih tih a ming neh a khue pawt atah manghai taengla koep kun voel pawh.
and would enter the palace in the evening and return the next morning to another part of the harem under the care of the king’s eunuch Shaashgaz who was in charge of concubines. She would not go to the king again unless he desired her and summoned her by name.
15 Te vaengah Mordekai loh amah canu la a loh a napanoe Abihail canu Esther khaw manghai taengla a caeh ham aitlaeng loh a pha. Tedae huta aka ngaithuen manghai imkhoem Hegai kah a uen voel ah hno a tloe a bih moenih. Te dongah Esther tah anih aka so boeih kah mikhmuh ah mikdaithen aka dang la om.
When it was the turn of Esther (the girl adopted by Mordecai, daughter of his uncle Abihail) to go in to the king, she only took with her those things that Hegai, the king’s eunuch in charge of the women, had advised her to take. Esther was liked by all who saw her.
16 Te dongah a manghai nah kum rhih, a hla rha dongkah Tebeth hla vaengah tah manghai Ahasuerus loh Esther te amah kah manghai im la a loh.
Esther was taken to King Ahasuerus in the royal palace in the tenth month, the month of Tebeth, in the seventh year of his reign.
17 Manghai loh Esther te huta boeih lakah a lungnah dongah mikdaithen khaw a phueih. oila boeih lakah khaw a mikhmuh ah a sitlohnah a dang. Te dongah manghai rhuisam te a lu ah a khuem sak tih anih te Vashti yueng la a manghai sak.
And the king loved her more than all the other women, and she became his favourite and won his affection. He placed the royal diadem on her head and made her queen instead of Vashti.
18 Te phoeiah manghai loh a mangpa rhoek neh a sal boeih ham buhkoknah muep a saii pah. Esther kah buhkoknah neh bihoepnah khaw paeng ah a saii tih manghai kut van la buham a tael.
Then the king gave a great feast to all his officials and courtiers in honour of Esther, and he remitted the taxes of the provinces and distributed gifts with royal liberality.
19 A pabae la oila rhoek a coi vaengah Mordekai te manghai vongka ah ngol.
All the time the virgins were assembled again, Mordecai was sitting as an offical at the king’s gate.
20 Mordekai loh a taengah a uen vanbangla Esther loh a pacaboeina kawng neh a pilnam kawng te thui pawh. Esther tah Mordekai kah olpaek aka ngai la om tih te te a rhoengnah.
Esther had not revealed her people or family background because she still obeyed him as she had when he was bringing her up.
21 Te vaeng tue ah Mordekai te manghai vongka ah a ngol hatah cingkhaa aka ngaithuen manghai kah imkhoem rhoi Bigthan neh Teresh tah a thintoek tih manghai Ahasuerus te kut hlah thil ham a mae rhoi.
In those days while Mordecai was sitting in the king’s gate, two of the royal court attendants, Bigthan and Teresh, who guarded the entrance of the palace, became enraged and attempted to kill King Ahasuerus.
22 Tedae ol te Mordekai loh a ming dongah manghainu Esther taengla puen. Esther loh manghai taengah Mordekai ming neh a thui pah.
But Mordecai learned of the conspiracy and disclosed it to Queen Esther, and she told the king on Mordecai’s behalf.
23 Ol te a cae vaengah phoe tangloeng tih amih rhoi te thing dongah a kuiok sak. Te te manghai mikhmuh kah khokhuen olka cabu dongah a daek.
When the affair was investigated and the facts discovered, the conspirators were both hanged on the gallows. The incident was recorded in the presence of the king in the daily record of events.

< Esther 2 >