Esther, a Jewish orphan raised by her cousin Mordecai in the Persian Empire, becomes queen. When Haman convinces the king to order the death of all Jews, Esther risks her life by approaching the king uninvited to expose the plot and save her people. Her courage leads to Haman's execution and the origin of Purim.
Chapters
The Jewish people had been captured by King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon and taken away from their home in Judah. Some years later, Babylon was taken over by the Persians. During this time, there was a Jew called Mordecai who lived in the city of Susa. He had a young cousin called Esther. Her parents had died and she was being looked looked after by Mordecai. There was a Persian king called Xerxes who was a proud king and liked to display his wealth. He had a castle, the Citadel, in Susa. It was very impressive with lots of servants. While he was having a banquet, his wife Vashti refused to come and show everyone her crown. This made Xerxes very angry with her. The king's servants suggested the king find a suitable replacement queen. A search began to bring the most beautiful young women from every province for the king to choose a new wife. The girls all went through an entire year of beauty treatments, and then they were presented at the palace for the king to choose from. The king watched as each woman was presented, and when he finally met Esther, he liked her more than any of the other women, and he crowned her queen. Mordecai came often to the palace gate to keep in contact with Esther. There was another man called Haman who held the high highest position in the kingdom, and he wanted everyone to bow down to him. The king had given orders for his officials at the royal gate to honor Haman by kneeling down to him. But Haman was furious with Mordecai because he had refused to bow down to him. When he found out that Mordecai was a Jew, he decided that he would not only kill Mordecai but would kill every Jew in the whole kingdom. He was very angry. Haman organized an audience with the king and prepared a decree to kill all the Jews in the kingdom. He said to the king, "The Jews have customs that are different from everyone else's, and they refuse to obey your laws. We would be better off to get rid of them. Why not give orders for all of them to be killed?" The king agreed, and Haman had letters sent with the king's seal to all the highest officials, governors, and leaders in the land to have all Jewish men, women, and children killed and their property taken on a particular day. Mordecai sent information about the plot to kill all the Jews to Queen Esther, his cousin. He asked her to go to the king and beg him to have pity on her people, the Jews. Esther read Mordecai's message and was afraid because it was against the law to enter the king's presence without being asked. Mordecai sent another message saying, "Don't think that just because you are queen you will be spared. If you don't say something, help will surely come from somewhere else. But maybe you were made queen for a time like this." Esther ordered a message be sent to Mordecai saying, "Bring all the Jews in Susa together and tell them to go without eating for my sake.
Don't eat or drink for 3 days and nights. My servant girls and I will do the same. Then I will go in to see the king, even if it means I must die." And Mordecai did everything Esther told him to do.
3 days later, Esther, dressed in her royal robes, entered the throne room to see the king. She went in uninvited, invited and waited nervously to see if he would raise his scepter to receive her. He was happy to see Esther, and he held out the gold scepter to her and said, "Esther, what brings you here? Just ask, and I will give you as much as half of my kingdom." "Your Majesty, please come with Haman to a banquet I will prepare for you later today." So it was organized that they would all have dinner together two nights in a row. Haman was delighted. He was being seen as the king's favourite, and the queen had honored him, allowing him to join them at their dinner. Queen Esther had other plans. She revealed Haman's evil scheme to kill all the Jews, and the king was very angry. The king had Haman hanged immediately. The king made a new law that not only saved the Jews from being killed, but gave them the right to defend themselves against their enemies. On the appointed day, the Jews pursued their enemies and were victorious. Esther had indeed been made queen for a very special purpose.
