Esther 2:16-18

Living Bible

¹⁶ So Esther was taken to the palace of the king in January of the seventh year of his reign. ¹⁷ Well, the king loved Esther more than any of the other girls. He was so delighted with her that he set the royal crown on her head and declared her queen instead of Vashti. ¹⁸ To celebrate the occasion, he threw another big party for all his officials and servants, giving generous gifts to everyone and making grants to the provinces in the form of remission of taxes.