12 According to the rules for women, there were twelve months of preparation before the time arrived for each young woman to see the king. She had six months of rubbing treatment with oil from myrrh and six months with fragrant oils and cosmetics.
13 So this is how the young woman would go to the king: They gave her anything that she asked to take with her from the women’s house to the palace.
14 In the evening she would go in, and the next morning she would return to the second women’s house under the care of Shaashgaz. He was the king’s eunuch in charge of the secondary wives. She would never go to the king again unless she was called by name.
15 The time came for Esther daughter of Aminadab, Mordecai’s uncle, to go to the king. She didn’t refuse anything that Hegai, the king’s eunuch in charge of the women, told her to take along. Esther kept winning the favor of everyone who saw her.
16 Esther went in to see King Artaxerxes in the twelfth month, the month of Adar, in the seventh year of his rule.
17 The king fell in love with Esther, and she gained more favor than all the other young women. He placed the royal crown on her head.
18 The king sponsored a wine festival for all his political advisors and important officials for seven days. He celebrated Esther’s wedding ceremony and canceled debts for many under his rule.