Esther 2
1 After these things, when the fury 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 attended upon him, Let there be maidens, virgins of beautiful countenance, sought for the king;
dixeruntque pueri regis ac ministri ejus: Quærantur regi puellæ virgines ac speciosæ,
3 and let the king appoint officers in all the provinces of his kingdom, that they may gather together all the young virgins of beautiful countenance to Shushan the fortress, 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.
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 that 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, jussit fieri.
5 There was in Shushan the fortress a certain Jew, whose name was Mordecai, the son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish, a Benjaminite,
Erat vir Judæus in Susan civitate, vocabulo Mardochæus filius Jair, filii Semei, filii Cis, de stirpe Jemini,
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 Jerusalem eo tempore quo Jechoniam regem Juda 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 maiden was fair and beautiful — and when her father and mother were dead, Mordecai took her 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 ejus ac matre, Mardochæus sibi eam adoptavit in filiam.
8 And it came to pass when the king's commandment and his decree was heard, and when many maidens were gathered together unto Shushan the fortress, unto the custody of Hegai, that Esther also was brought into the king's house, unto the custody of Hegai, keeper of the women.
Cumque percrebruisset regis imperium, et juxta 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 obtained favour before him; and he speedily gave her her things for purification, and her portions, and the seven maidens selected to be given her, out of the king's house; and he removed 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 ejus ornaret atque excoleret.
10 Esther had not made known her people nor her birth; 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 And when every maiden's turn came to go in to king Ahasuerus after that she had been treated for twelve months, according to the manner of the women (for so were the days of their purification accomplished — six months with oil of myrrh, and six months with spices, and with 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 and thus came the maiden in unto 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 morrow she returned into the second house of the women, unto the custody of Shaashgaz, the king's chamberlain, keeper of the concubines. She came in to the king no more, unless the king delighted in her, and she were 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 jussisset ex nomine.
15 And when the turn of Esther, the daughter of Abihail the uncle of Mordecai, who had taken her for his daughter, came to go in to the king, she required nothing but what Hegai the king's chamberlain, keeper of the women, appointed. And Esther obtained grace in the sight of all them that saw 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 royal house, in the tenth month, that 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 ejus.
17 And the king loved Esther above all the women, and she obtained grace and favour in his sight more than all the virgins, and 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 ejus, fecitque eam regnare in loco Vasthi.
18 And the king made a great feast to all his princes and his servants, Esther's feast; and he made a release to the provinces, and gave presents according to the king's bounty.
Et jussit convivium præparari permagnificum cunctis principibus et servis suis pro conjunctione et nuptiis Esther. Et dedit requiem universis provinciis, ac dona largitus est juxta magnificentiam principalem.
19 And when the virgins were gathered together the second time, Mordecai sat in the king's gate.
Cumque secundo quærerentur virgines et congregarentur, Mardochæus manebat ad januam regis:
20 (Esther, as Mordecai had charged her, had not yet made known her birth nor her people; for Esther did what Mordecai told her, like as when she was brought up with him.)
necdum prodiderat Esther patriam et populum suum, juxta mandatum ejus. 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 which kept the threshold, were wroth, and sought to lay hand on the king Ahasuerus.
Eo igitur tempore, quo Mardochæus ad regis januam morabatur, irati sunt Bagathan et Thares duo eunuchi regis, qui janitores erant, et in primo palatii limine præsidebant: volueruntque insurgere in regem, et occidere eum.
22 And the thing became known to Mordecai, and he related it to Esther the queen, and Esther told it to the king 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 the matter was investigated and found out; and 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.
