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Saturday, July 12th, 2025
the Week of Proper 9 / Ordinary 14
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Read the Bible

Christian Standard Bible ®

Esther 2:4

Then the young woman who pleases the king will become queen instead of Vashti.” This suggestion pleased the king, and he did accordingly.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Chamberlain;   Marriage;   Persia;   Vashti;  

Dictionaries:

- Holman Bible Dictionary - Esther;   Maid, Maiden;   Morrish Bible Dictionary - Vashti ;  

Encyclopedias:

- International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Maid;   The Jewish Encyclopedia - Esther, Apocryphal Book of;  

Devotionals:

- Every Day Light - Devotion for July 18;  

Parallel Translations

Hebrew Names Version
and let the maiden who pleases the king be queen instead of Vashti. The thing pleased the king; and he did so.
King James Version
And let the maiden which pleaseth the king be queen instead of Vashti. And the thing pleased the king; and he did so.
English Standard Version
And let the young woman who pleases the king be queen instead of Vashti." This pleased the king, and he did so.
New Century Version
Then let the girl who most pleases the king become queen in place of Vashti." The king liked this idea, so he did as they said.
New English Translation
Let the young woman whom the king finds most attractive become queen in place of Vashti." This seemed like a good idea to the king, so he acted accordingly.
Amplified Bible
"Then let the young woman who pleases the king be queen in place of Vashti." This pleased the king, and he did accordingly.
New American Standard Bible
"Then let the young woman who pleases the king be queen in place of Vashti." And the suggestion pleased the king, and he did accordingly.
World English Bible
and let the maiden who pleases the king be queen instead of Vashti. The thing pleased the king; and he did so.
Geneva Bible (1587)
And the mayde that shall please the King, let her reigne in the steade of Vashti. And this pleased the King, and he did so.
Legacy Standard Bible
Then let the young lady who is good in the eyes of the king be queen in place of Vashti." And the word was good in the eyes of the king, and he did so.
Berean Standard Bible
Then let the young woman who pleases the king become queen in place of Vashti." This suggestion pleased the king, and he acted accordingly.
Contemporary English Version
Then let the young woman who pleases you most take Vashti's place as queen. King Xerxes liked these suggestions, and he followed them.
Complete Jewish Bible
Then, the girl who seems best to the king should become queen instead of Vashti." This proposal pleased the king, so he acted accordingly.
Darby Translation
And let the maiden that pleaseth the king be queen instead of Vashti. And the thing pleased the king; and he did so.
Easy-to-Read Version
Then let the one who is pleasing to the king become the new queen in Vashti's place." The king liked this suggestion, so he accepted it.
George Lamsa Translation
And let the maiden who pleases the king be queen instead of Vashti. And the thing pleased the king; and he did so.
Good News Translation
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.
Lexham English Bible
And let the young woman who is pleasing in the king's eyes become queen in place of Vashti. The thing was good in the king's eyes, and he acted accordingly.
Literal Translation
And let the young woman who pleases the king rule instead of Vashti. And the thing pleased the king, and he did so.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
And loke which damsell pleaseth the kynge, let her be quene in Vasthis steade. This pleased the kynge, and he dyd so.
American Standard Version
and let the maiden that pleaseth the king be queen instead of Vashti. And the thing pleased the king; and he did so.
Bible in Basic English
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.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
And that the mayden which pleased the king, should be queene in Uasthis steede. And this pleased the king, and he did so.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
and let the maiden that pleaseth the king be queen instead of Vashti.' And the thing pleased the king; and he did so.
King James Version (1611)
And let the maiden which pleaseth the king, bee Queene in stead of Uasthi. And the thing pleased the king, and he did so.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And let the woman who shall please the king be queen instead of Astin. And the thing pleased the king; and he did so.
English Revised Version
and let the maiden which pleaseth the king be queen instead of Vashti. And the thing pleased the king, and he did so.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And which euer damesele among alle plesith the iyen of the kyng, regne sche for Vasti. The word pleside the kyng; and he comaundide to be don so, as thei counceliden.
Update Bible Version
and let the maiden that pleases the king be queen instead of Vashti. And the thing pleased the king; and he did so.
Webster's Bible Translation
And let the maiden who pleaseth the king be queen instead of Vashti. And the thing pleased the king; and he did so.
New King James Version
Then let the young woman who pleases the king be queen instead of Vashti." This thing pleased the king, and he did so.
New Living Translation
After that, the young woman who most pleases the king will be made queen instead of Vashti." This advice was very appealing to the king, so he put the plan into effect.
New Life Bible
Then let the young lady who pleases the king be queen in place of Vashti." This pleased the king, and he did so.
New Revised Standard
And let the girl who pleases the king be queen instead of Vashti." This pleased the king, and he did so.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
and, the maiden that is pleasing in the eyes of the king, let her be queen instead of Vashti. And the thing seemed good in the eyes of the king, and he did so.
Douay-Rheims Bible
And whosoever among them all shall please the king’s eyes, let her be queen instead of Vasthi. The word pleased the king: and he commanded it should be done as they had suggested.
Revised Standard Version
And let the maiden who pleases the king be queen instead of Vashti." This pleased the king, and he did so.
Young's Literal Translation
and the young woman who is good in the eyes of the king doth reign instead of Vashti;' and the thing is good in the eyes of the king, and he doth so.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
"Then let the young lady who pleases the king be queen in place of Vashti." And the matter pleased the king, and he did accordingly.

Contextual Overview

1Some time later, when King Ahasuerus’s rage had cooled down, he remembered Vashti, what she had done, and what was decided against her. 2The king’s personal attendants suggested, “Let a search be made for beautiful young virgins for the king. 3Let the king appoint commissioners in each province of his kingdom, so that they may gather all the beautiful young virgins to the harem at the fortress of Susa. Put them under the supervision of Hegai, the king’s eunuch, keeper of the women, and give them the required beauty treatments. 4Then the young woman who pleases the king will become queen instead of Vashti.” This suggestion pleased the king, and he did accordingly.5In the fortress of Susa, there was a Jewish man named Mordecai son of Jair, son of Shimei, son of Kish, a Benjaminite. 6He had been taken into exile from Jerusalem with the other captives when King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon took King Jeconiah of Judah into exile. 7Mordecai was the legal guardian of his cousin Hadassah (that is, Esther), because she had no father or mother. The young woman had a beautiful figure and was extremely good-looking. When her father and mother died, Mordecai had adopted her as his own daughter. 8When the king’s command and edict became public knowledge and when many young women were gathered at the fortress of Susa under Hegai’s supervision, Esther was taken to the palace, into the supervision of Hegai, keeper of the women. 9The young woman pleased him and gained his favor so that he accelerated the process of the beauty treatments and the special diet that she received. He assigned seven hand-picked female servants to her from the palace and transferred her and her servants to the harem’s best quarters. 10Esther did not reveal her ethnicity or her family background, because Mordecai had ordered her not to make them known.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

let the maiden: Matthew 20:16, Matthew 22:14

the thing: Esther 1:21, Esther 3:9, Esther 3:10, 2 Samuel 13:4-6, 2 Samuel 16:21-23, 2 Samuel 17:4, Matthew 14:6

Reciprocal: Genesis 45:16 - it pleased Pharaoh well 1 Kings 1:3 - So Esther 2:19 - the virgins Esther 8:5 - I be pleasing

Cross-References

Genesis 1:1
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
Genesis 1:4
God saw that the light was good, and God separated the light from the darkness.
Genesis 1:28
God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it. Rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, and every creature that crawls on the earth.”
Genesis 1:31
God saw all that he had made, and it was very good indeed. Evening came and then morning: the sixth day.
Genesis 2:1
So the heavens and the earth and everything in them were completed.
Genesis 2:2
On the seventh day God had completed his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done.
Genesis 5:1
This is the document containing the family records of Adam. On the day that God created man, he made him in the likeness of God;
Genesis 10:1
These are the family records of Noah’s sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. They also had sons after the flood.
Genesis 11:10
These are the family records of Shem. Shem lived 100 years and fathered Arpachshad two years after the flood.
Genesis 25:12
These are the family records of Abraham’s son Ishmael, whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah’s slave, bore to Abraham.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And let the maiden which pleaseth the king be queen instead of Vashti,.... Have the royal estate, that was taken from Vashti, given to her, the crown royal set on her head, c.

and the thing pleased the king, and he did so appointed officers in all his provinces to seek out the most beautiful virgins, and bring them to his palace; so with the Chinese now, the king never marries with any of his kindred, though ever so remote; but there is sought throughout his kingdom a damsel of twelve or fourteen years, of perfect beauty, good natural parts, and well inclined to virtue; whence, for the most part, the queen is the daughter of some artisan; and in their history e, mention is made of one that was the daughter of a mason.

e Semedo's History of China, part 1. ch. 23.


 
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