Ester ta ningi omunyekadhi
1 Konima yethimbo, ondjahi yomukwaniilwa sho ya adhika ya lota, okwa dhiladhila shoka Vashti e shi ningi neutho ndyoka lya gandjwa omolwe. 2 Gamwe gomomalenga gomukwaniilwa gopothingo oga ti: “Omukwaniilwa na kongelwe aakadhona ya shitika. 3 Nkeyama, oto vulu okulangeka omalenga moshitopolwa kehe shoshilongo e to ga lombwele, ga ete aakadhona aawanawa komuhandjo gwaanyekadhi yoye muka muSusa. Naa tulwe metonatelo lyaHegai, omuthonwantu ngoka ha tonatele aanyekadhi yoye nembonzolo lyawo. 4 Nena oto kutha po omukadhona ngoka we mu hokwa unene, oye a ninge omunyekadhi peha lyaVashti.”
Ondunge ndjika oyo opalele omukwaniilwa, nokwe yi landula.
5 MuSusa omwa li Omujuda edhina lye Mordekai yaJair yaShimei yaKish gwomezimo lyaBenjamin. 6 Nebukadnezzar, omukwaniilwa gwaBabilonia, sho a falele omukwaniilwa gwaJuda Jehoiakin muupika pamwe noonkwatwa dhilwe muJerusalem, mongundu ndjoka omwa li wo Mordekai. 7 Okwa li nomwanagona Ester, edhina lye mOshihebeli oHadassa. Ester okwa li omukadhona o opala e na ondjelo ombwanawa. Aakuluntu ye sho ya si, Mordekai okwe mu kutha po e te mu putudha ongomwana omukadhona.
8 Omukwaniilwa sho a gandja eutho lye, naakadhona oyendji oye etwa muSusa, Ester okwa li mokati kawo. Naye wo a tulwa moshimpwiyu shaHegai, ngoka ha tonatele omuhandjo gwaanyekadhi. 9 Hegai okwa hokwa Ester nokwe mu opalele. Mbalambala okwa tameke embonzolitho lye e te mu pe iikulya ya sheywa. Okwe mu pe wo aayakuli yaheyali aahogololwa nelugo dhingi momuhandjo gwaanyekadhi.
10 Ester ina holola kutya oye Omujuda, oshoka Mordekai okwa li e mu indike oku shi ninga. 11 Esiku nesiku Mordekai okwa li te ende pondje yehale lyomuhandjo gwaanyekadhi, opo a kundane, ngele Ester oku li nawa naashoka she mu ningilwa.
12 Omukadhona manga inaa falwa komukwaniilwa, okwa mbonzolwa oomwedhi omulongo nambali: muule woomwedhi hamano okwa thetwa nomagadhi gomira noomwedhi hamano nomagadhi gokanakamuma niinima yilwe yuutiko. 13 Sho ta zi momuhandjo gwaanyekadhi u uka mombala, ota vulu okuzala ngaashi a hala. 14 Oha yi mo ongulohi, nongula nge kwa shi, ota falwa komuhandjo omukwawo e ta kala moshimpwiyu shaShaashgas, omuthonwantu gwokutonatela aakiintu yopooha. Ita yi we komukwaniilwa, shila omukwaniilwa e mu hokwa e te mu ithana kedhina.
15 Olufo lwaEster olwe ya okuya komukwaniilwa. Ester olyaAbihail, omwanagona gwaMordekai, ngoka e mu taamba a ninge omwana. Ester okwa ziminwa kukehe ngoka e mu tsu keho. Sho a yi, okwa zala ngaashi a lombwelwa kelenga Hegai, ndyoka hali tonatele omuhandjo gwaanyekadhi. 16 Ester okwa falwa komukwaniilwa Kserkses momwedhi omutimulongo, omwedhi Tebet, momumvo omutiheyali gwepangelo lye. 17 Omukwaniilwa okwe mu hokwa unene shi vule aakiintu ayehe, nokwa li e mu opalela shi vule aakadhona ayehe. Omukwaniilwa okwe mu zaleke uulenga womunyekadhi komutse gwe e te mu ningi omunyekadhi peha lyaVashti. 18 Mokusimaneka Ester, omukwaniilwa okwe mu ningile omatelekela e ta hiya aakwanepangelo noongoloneya ye ayehe. Okwa utha ongondji moshilongo ashihe nokwa gandja omagano gopakwaniilwa.
Mordekai ta hupitha omukwaniilwa
19 Mordekai okwa adhika a pewa iilonga yontumba kehale lyuuwa, aakadhona sho ya li taa gongelwa olutiyali. 20 Ester okwa li inaa holola manga ezimo nuukwashigwana we, oshoka Mordekai okwa li e mu indike oku shi ninga, naEster okwa vulika kuye, ngaashi a li ha vulika muunona we.
21 Methimbo ndyoka Mordekai a taamba iilonga muuwa, Bigtan naTeresh, yaali yomaalangeli yopomiyelo dhoongulu dhomukwaniilwa, oya geele omukwaniilwa noyu uvanene, ye mu dhipage ofuthi. 22 Mordekai okwe shi koneke e ta yakele ko omunyekadhi Ester, ngoka a lombwele omukwaniilwa shoka Mordekai a dhimbulula. 23 Oshinima osha konakonwa nosha monika mo kutya oshoshili, onkee aalumentu ayehe yaali oya tulwa kohake. Omukwaniilwa okwa nyolitha oshiningwanima shika mondjokonona yoshilongo.
Esther Becomes Queen
1 After a while, King Xerxes got over being angry. But he kept thinking about what Vashti had done and the law that he had written because of her. 2 Then the king's personal servants said:
Your Majesty, a search must be made to find you some beautiful young women. 3 You can select officers in every province to bring them to the place where you keep your wives in the capital city of Susa. Put your servant Hegai in charge of them since that is his job. He can see to it that they are given the proper beauty treatments. 4 Then let the young woman who pleases you most take Vashti's place as queen.
King Xerxes liked these suggestions, and he followed them.
5 At this time a Jew named Mordecai was living in Susa. His father was Jair, and his grandfather Shimei was the son of Kish from the tribe of Benjamin. 6 Kish was one of the people that Nebuchadnezzar had taken from Jerusalem, when he took King Jeconiah of Judah to Babylonia.
7 Mordecai had a very beautiful cousin named Esther, whose Hebrew name was Hadassah. He had raised her as his own daughter, after her father and mother died. 8 When the king ordered the search for beautiful women, many were taken to the king's palace in Susa, and Esther was one of them.
Hegai was put in charge of all the women, 9 and from the first day, Esther was his favorite. He began her beauty treatments at once. He also gave her plenty of food and seven special maids from the king's palace, and they had the best rooms.
10 Mordecai had warned Esther not to tell anyone that she was a Jew, and she obeyed him. 11 He was anxious to see how Esther was getting along and to learn what had happened to her. So each day he would walk back and forth in front of the court where the women lived.
12 The young women were given beauty treatments for one whole year. The first six months their skin was rubbed with olive oil and myrrh, and the last six months it was treated with perfumes and cosmetics. Then each of them spent the night alone with King Xerxes. 13 When a young woman went to the king, she could wear whatever clothes or jewelry she chose from the women's living quarters. 14 In the evening she would go to the king, and the following morning she would go to the place where his wives stayed after being with him. There a man named Shaashgaz was in charge of the king's wives. Only the ones the king wanted and asked for by name could go back to the king.
15-16 Xerxes had been king for seven years when Esther's turn came to go to him during Tebeth, the tenth month of the year. Everyone liked Esther. The king's personal servant Hegai was in charge of the women, and Esther trusted Hegai and asked him what she ought to take with her.
17 Xerxes liked Esther more than he did any of the other young women. None of them pleased him as much as she did, and he immediately fell in love with her and crowned her queen in place of Vashti. 18 In honor of Esther he gave a big dinner for his leaders and officials. Then he declared a holiday everywhere in his kingdom and gave expensive gifts.
Mordecai Saves the King's Life
19 When the young women were brought together again, Esther's cousin Mordecai had become a palace official. 20 He had told Esther never to tell anyone that she was a Jew, and she obeyed him, just as she had always done.
21 Bigthana and Teresh were the two men who guarded King Xerxes' rooms, but they got angry with the king and decided to kill him. 22 Mordecai found out about their plans and asked Queen Esther to tell the king what he had found out. 23 King Xerxes learned that Mordecai's report was true, and he had the two men hanged. Then the king had all of this written down in his record book as he watched.
