Esther 2:2

Bible in Basic English

Then the servants who were waiting on the king said to him, Let search be made for some fair young virgins for the king:

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
The king’s personal attendants suggested, “Let a search be made for beautiful young virgins for the king.

Hebrew Names Version
Then said the king's servants who ministered to him, Let there be beautiful young virgins sought for the king:

King James Version
Then said the king's servants that ministered unto him, Let there be fair young virgins sought for the king:

English Standard Version
Then the king's young men who attended him said, "Let beautiful young virgins be sought out for the king.

New Century Version
Then the king's personal servants suggested, "Let a search be made for beautiful young girls for the king.

New English Translation
The king's servants who attended him said, "Let a search be conducted in the king's behalf for attractive young women.

Amplified Bible
Then the king's attendants, who served him, said, "Let beautiful young virgins be sought for the king.

New American Standard Bible
Then the king's attendants, who served him, said, "Let beautiful young virgins be sought for the king.

World English Bible
Then said the king's servants who ministered to him, Let there be beautiful young virgins sought for the king:

Geneva Bible (1587)
And the Kings seruants that ministred vnto him, sayd, Let them seeke for the King beautifull yong virgins,

Legacy Standard Bible
Then the young men of the king, who attended to him, said, "Let young virgins, beautiful in appearance, be sought for the king.

Berean Standard Bible
Then the king's attendants proposed, "Let a search be made for beautiful young virgins for the king,

Contemporary English Version
Then the king's personal servants said: Your Majesty, a search must be made to find you some beautiful young women.

Complete Jewish Bible
The king's servants attending him said, "A search should be made for young, good-looking virgins.

Darby Translation
Then said the king's servants that attended upon him, Let there be maidens, virgins of beautiful countenance, sought for the king;

Easy-to-Read Version
Then the king's personal servants had a suggestion. They said, "Search for beautiful young virgins for the king.

George Lamsa Translation
Then the kings servants and his ministers said to him, Let there be beautiful young virgins sought for the king;

Good News Translation
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?

Lexham English Bible
And the king's servants attending him said, "Let them seek attractive young virgins for the king.

Literal Translation
And the king's servants who served him said, Let beautiful young virgins be sought for the king.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Then sayde the kynges seruauntes: Let there be fayre yonge virgins soughte for the kynge,

American Standard Version
Then said the king's servants that ministered unto him, Let there be fair young virgins sought for the king:

Bishop's Bible (1568)
Then sayde the kinges seruauntes that ministred vnto hym: Let there be faire young virgins sought for the king,

JPS Old Testament (1917)
Then said the king's servants that ministered unto him: 'Let there be sought for the king young virgins fair to look on;

King James Version (1611)
Then saide the kings seruants, that ministred vnto him, Let there bee faire yong virgins sought for the king:

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
Then the servants of the king said, Let there be sought for the king chaste and beautiful young virgins.

English Revised Version
Then said the king's servants that ministered unto him, Let there be fair young virgins sought for the king:

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And the children and the mynystris of the kyng seiden to `the kyng, Damyselis, virgyns `and faire, be souyt to the kyng; and `men ben sent,

Update Bible Version
Then the king's attendants that ministered to him said, Let there be fair young virgins sought for the king:

Webster's Bible Translation
Then said the king's servants that ministered to him, Let there be fair young virgins sought for the king:

New King James Version
Then the king's servants who attended him said: "Let beautiful young virgins be sought for the king;

New Living Translation
So his personal attendants suggested, "Let us search the empire to find beautiful young virgins for the king.

New Life Bible
Then the king's servants who served him said, "Let beautiful young women be found for the king.

New Revised Standard
Then the king's servants who attended him said, "Let beautiful young virgins be sought out for the king.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Then said the young men of the king, who waited upon him, - Let them seek out for the king young virgins, of pleasing appearance;

Douay-Rheims Bible
And the king’s servants and his officers said: Let young women be sought for the king, virgins and beautiful,

Revised Standard Version
Then the king's servants who attended him said, "Let beautiful young virgins be sought out for the king.

Young's Literal Translation
and servants of the king, his ministers, say, `Let them seek for the king young women, virgins, of good appearance,

New American Standard Bible (1995)
Then the king's attendants, who served him, said, "Let beautiful young virgins be sought for the king.

Contextual Overview

¹ After these things, when the king's feelings were calmer, the thought of Vashti and what she had done and the order he had made against her, came back to his mind. ² Then the servants who were waiting on the king said to him, Let search be made for some fair young virgins for the king: ³ Let the king give authority to certain men in all the divisions of his kingdom, to get together all the fair young virgins and send them to Shushan, the king's town, to the women's house, under the care of Hegai, the king's servant, the keeper of the women: and let the things needed for making them clean be given to them; ⁴ And let the girl who is pleasing to the king be queen in place of Vashti. And the king was pleased with this suggestion; and he did so. ⁵ Now there was a certain Jew in Shushan named Mordecai, the son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish, a Benjamite; ⁶ Who had been taken away from Jerusalem among those who had been made prisoner with Jeconiah, king of Judah, when Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, had taken him away. ⁷ And he had been a father to Hadassah, that is Esther, the daughter of his father's brother: for she had no father or mother, and she was very beautiful; and when her father and mother were dead, Mordecai took her for his daughter. ⁸ So when the order made by the king was publicly given out, and a number of girls had been placed in the care of Hegai in the king's house in Shushan, Esther was taken into the king's house and put in the care of Hegai, the keeper of the women. ⁹ And he was pleased with the girl and was kind to her; and he quickly gave her what was needed for making her clean, and the things which were hers by right, and seven servant-girls who were to be hers from the king's house: and he had her and her servant-girls moved to the best place in the women's part of the house. ¹⁰ Esther had not said what family or people she came from, for Mordecai had given her orders not to do so.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

king's servants: Esther 1:10, Esther 1:14, Esther 6:14

Let there be: Genesis 12:14, 1 Kings 1:2

Reciprocal: Genesis 12:15 - princes 1 Kings 1:3 - So 1 Kings 12:14 - the counsel

Cross-References

Genesis 1:31
And God saw everything which he had made and it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

Genesis 2:8
And the Lord God made a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had made.

Genesis 2:11
The name of the first is Pishon, which goes round about all the land of Havilah where there is gold.

Exodus 23:12
For six days do your work, and on the seventh day keep the Sabbath; so that your ox and your ass may have rest, together with the son of your servant and the man from a strange land living among you.

Exodus 31:17
It is a sign between me and the children of Israel for ever; because in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he took his rest and had pleasure in it.

Deuteronomy 5:14
But the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God; on that day do no work, you or your son or your daughter, or your man-servant or your woman-servant, or your ox or your ass or any of your cattle, or the man from a strange country who is living among you; so that your man-servant and your woman-servant may have rest as well as you.

Isaiah 58:13
If you keep the Sabbath with care, not doing your business on my holy day; and if the Sabbath seems to you a delight, and the new moon of the Lord a thing to be honoured; and if you give respect to him by not doing your business, or going after your pleasure, or saying unholy words;

John 5:17
But his answer was: My Father is still working even now, and so I am working.

Hebrews 4:4
For in one place he has said of the seventh day, And God had rest from all his works on the seventh day;

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Then said the king's servants that ministered unto him,.... Fearing that, if Vashti should be restored, vengeance would be taken on them; or however to remove the grief and melancholy of the king, they gave the following advice:

let there be fair young virgins sought for the king; that he might enjoy them, and choose one of them, the most agreeable to him, and put her in the room of Vashti.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Esther 2:2. Let there be fair young virgins sought for the king — This was the usual way in which the harem or seraglio was furnished: the finest women in the land, whether of high or low birth, were sought out, and brought to the harem. They all became the king's concubines: but one was raised, as chief wife or sultana, to the throne; and her issue was specially entitled to inherit.