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 Later, even after the king's anger had cooled down, he kept thinking about what Vashti had done and about his proclamation against her. 2 So some of the king's advisers who were close to him suggested, “Why don't you make a search to find some beautiful young virgins? 3 You can appoint officials in every province of the empire and have them bring all these beautiful young women to your harem here in Susa, the capital city. Put them in the care of Hegai, the eunuch who is in charge of your women, and let them be given a beauty treatment. 4 Then take the young woman you like best and make her queen in Vashti's place.”
The king thought this was good advice, so he followed it.
5 There in Susa lived a Jew named Mordecai son of Jair; he was from the tribe of Benjamin and was a descendant of Kish and Shimei. 6 When King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon took King Jehoiachin of Judah into exile from Jerusalem, along with a group of captives, Mordecai was among them. 7 He had a cousin, Esther, whose Hebrew name was Hadassah; she was a beautiful young woman, and had a good figure. At the death of her parents, Mordecai had adopted her and brought her up as his own daughter.
8 When the king had issued his new proclamation and many young women were being brought to Susa, Esther was among them. She too was put in the royal palace in the care of Hegai, who had charge of the harem. 9 Hegai liked Esther, and she won his favor. He lost no time in beginning her beauty treatment of massage and special diet. He gave her the best place in the harem and assigned seven young women specially chosen from the royal palace to serve her.
10 Now, on the advice of Mordecai, Esther had kept it secret that she was Jewish. 11 Every day Mordecai would walk back and forth in front of the courtyard of the harem, in order to find out how she was getting along and what was going to happen to her.
12 The regular beauty treatment for the women lasted a year—massages with oil of myrrh for six months and with oil of balsam for six more. After that, each woman would be taken in turn to King Xerxes. 13 When she went from the harem to the palace, she could wear whatever she wanted. 14 She would go there in the evening, and the next morning she would be taken to another harem and put in the care of Shaashgaz, the eunuch in charge of the king's concubines. She would not go to the king again unless he liked her enough to ask for her by name.
15 The time came for Esther to go to the king. Esther—the daughter of Abihail and the cousin of Mordecai, who had adopted her as his daughter; Esther—admired by everyone who saw her. When her turn came, she wore just what Hegai, the eunuch in charge of the harem, advised her to wear. 16 So in Xerxes' seventh year as king, in the tenth month, the month of Tebeth, Esther was brought to King Xerxes in the royal palace. 17 The king liked her more than any of the other women, and more than any of the others she won his favor and affection. He placed the royal crown on her head and made her queen in place of Vashti. 18 Then the king gave a great banquet in Esther's honor and invited all his officials and administrators. He proclaimed a holiday for the whole empire and distributed gifts worthy of a king.
Mordecai Saves the King's Life
19 Meanwhile Mordecai had been appointed by the king to an administrative position. 20 As for Esther, she had still not let it be known that she was Jewish. Mordecai had told her not to tell anyone, and she obeyed him in this, just as she had obeyed him when she was a little girl under his care.
21 During the time that Mordecai held office in the palace, Bigthana and Teresh, two of the palace eunuchs who guarded the entrance to the king's rooms, became hostile to King Xerxes and plotted to assassinate him. 22 Mordecai learned about it and told Queen Esther, who then told the king what Mordecai had found out. 23 There was an investigation, and it was discovered that the report was true, so both men were hanged on the gallows. The king ordered an account of this to be written down in the official records of the empire.
