Esther 2:2

Bishop's Bible

Then sayde the kinges seruauntes that ministred vnto hym: Let there be faire young virgins sought 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:

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:

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 actes, when the displeasure of king Ahasuerus was nowe alayed, he thought vpon Uasthi, & what she had done, & what was decreed against her. ² Then sayde the kinges seruauntes that ministred vnto hym: Let there be faire young virgins sought for the king, ³ And let the king appoynt officers in all the prouinces of his empire, that they should bring together al the faire young virgins vnto Susan the head citie to the womens buylding, vnder the hande of Hegai the kinges chamberlayne that kept the women, to geue them their apparell: ⁴ And that the mayden which pleased the king, should be queene in Uasthis steede. And this pleased the king, and he did so. ⁵ In the citie of Susan there was a certayne Iewe, whose name was Mardocheus, the sonne of Iair, the sonne of Semei, the sonne of Cis, a man of Iemini, ⁶ Which was caryed away from Hierusalem with the captiuitie, when Iekonia the king of Iuda was led away, whom Nabuchodonosor the king of Babylon caryed thence: ⁷ And he norished Hadassa (that is Esther) his vncles daughter: for he had neither father nor mother, and she was a faire and beautifull mayden, whom Mardocheus (when her father & mother were dead) receaued for his owne daughter. ⁸ So when the kinges commaundement and commission was published, and many maydens were brought together into the citie of Susan vnder the hand of Hegai, Esther was brought also vnto the kinges house vnder the hande of Hegai the keper of the women. ⁹ And the mayden pleased hym, and she founde fauour in his sight: and he caused ornamentes to be geuen her speedyly, and such thinges as belonged to her, and appoynted her seuen comely maydens out of the kinges house, & fauoured both her and her gentlewomen singularly in the house of the women. ¹⁰ But Esther shewed not her people and her kinred: for Mardocheus had charged her that she shoulde not tell it.

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 sawe euery thyng that he had made: and beholde, it was exceedyng good. And the euenyng & the mornyng were the sixth day.

Genesis 2:8
And the Lord God planted a garden eastwarde in Eden, and there he put the man whom he had shapen.

Genesis 2:11
The name of ye first is Pison, the same is it that compasseth the whole lande of Hauilah, where there is golde:

Exodus 23:12
Sixe daies thou shalt do thy worke, and in the seuenth day thou shalt rest: that thyne oxe and thyne asse may rest, and the sonne of thy mayde and the straunger may be refreshed.

Exodus 31:17
For it is a signe betweene me and the children of Israel for euer: for in six dayes the Lorde made heauen and earth, and in the seuenth day he rested and was refreshed.

Deuteronomy 5:14
But the seuenth day is the Sabbath of the Lorde thy God: thou shalt not do any worke, thou nor thy sonne, nor thy daughter, nor thy man seruaunt, nor thy mayde, nor thine oxe, nor thine asse, nor any of thy cattell, nor the straunger that is within thy gates: that thy man seruaunt, and thy mayde, may rest as well as thou.

Isaiah 58:13
Yea if thou turne thy feete from the sabbath, so that thou do not the thing whiche pleaseth thy selfe in my holy day, and thou call the pleasaunt, holy, and glorious sabbath of the Lorde, and that thou geue hym the honour, so that thou do not after thyne owne imagination, neither seeke thyne owne wyll, nor speake thyne owne wordes:

John 5:17
And Iesus aunswered them: My father worketh hitherto, and I worke.

Hebrews 4:4
For he spake in a certayne place of the seuenth daye on this wyse: And God dyd rest the seuenth daye from all his workes.

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.