"*** ESTHER 01 ***" 
"King Darius dies and his son Xerxes becomes king of the Persian empire Darius , king of Persia reigned 35 years and died. His son Xerxes then became king and reigned from his royal throne in the city of Susa in Babylonia . 2He ruled over 127 nations stretching from India to Ethiopia . King Xerxes gives two great feasts In the third year of his reign , Xerxes gave a great feast for all of his nobles and officials and displayed the vast wealth of his kingdom for180 days ."
"When these days were completed he gave a second feast , lasting seven days , for all the men who lived in the city of Susa . This was held in the enclosed garden of the king s palace . The palace garden described This garden had hangings of white and blue linen , attached with white and purple cords to silver rings on marble pillars . There were couches of gold and silver on a mosaic pavement of marble , porphyry , mother- of-pearl and other costly stone . Unlimited wine served Abundant wine was served in goblets of gold in keeping with the king s liberality . By the command of the king"
"each guest was permitted to drink as much as he desired , for the king instructed the wine servers to serve each man whatever he wished . Queen Vashti also gave a banquet for all the women , inside the royal palace . Xerxes commands Queen Vashti to come and display her beauty On the seventh day of the feast , when Xerxes the king was merry with wine , he commanded that Queen Vashti be broughtbefore him wearing her royal crown . He wished to display her beauty to his guests , for she was lovely to behold . Queen Vashti disobeys the king But Queen Vashti refused to come . At this the king"
"burned with anger . In anger the king consults his advisers regarding the queen As was customary in matters of law , the king consulted with his wise men . He said to them , According to law , what is to be done to Queen Vashti? For she has not obeyed the command of the king . Memucan replied , Queen Vashti has not only wronged the king , she has wronged all the peoples of King Xerxes . For the queen s conduct will become known to all women and they will look with contempt upon the authority of theirhusbands . There will be no end of disrespect and discord . Memucan advises Vashti be replaced"
"as queen so that all women will respect their husbands Therefore if it pleases the king , let him issue a royal decree which cannot be repealed , to the effect that Vashti is never again to enter the presence of the king , and that the king is to give her royal position to another woman whois better than she . When the king s decree is proclaimed throughout his vast empire , all the women will respect their husbands from theleast to the greatest . This advice pleases the king and he issues a decree The king and his nobles were pleased with this advice , so the king did as Memucan advised . He"
"sent a decree to all parts of the empire , to every nation in their own language , and also proclaimed that every man was to be ruler over his own household . The Persian empire (striped regions)." 
"*** ESTHER 02 ***" 
"The king searches his realm for beautiful virgins In time , when the anger of the king had abated , his attendants advised him saying , Let the king appoint men to search throughout his realm for beautiful virgins and bring them here to Susa . Let them be placed under the care of the kings eunuch Hegai who is in charge of the harem , and let beauty treatments be given . Then let"
"the girl who most pleases the king be made queen in place of Vashti . This advice appealed to the king so he followed it . Esther, a beautiful Jewish virgin among those selected Now there was in Susa an exiled Jew named Mordecai , of the tribe of Benjamin . Mordecai had a cousin named Esther whom he had raised as his own daughter when herfather and mother died . This girl was beautiful in form and face . Therefore Esther along with many other virgins was taken to the king s palace and placed under the care of Hegai the eunuch . Esther pleases Hegai the harem eunuch Esther pleased Hegai , so"
"he provided her with beauty treatments , special food , and assigned her seven maids . Then he moved her and her maids into the best place in the harem . Esther does not reveal her nationality Esther did not reveal her Jewish nationality for Mordecai had forbidden her to do so . Each day Mordecai would walk in the courtyard of the harem to find out how Esther was faring . Esther given twelve months of beauty treatments Before a virgin s turn came to be a bride to King Xerxes , she had to complete twelve months of beauty treatments with perfumes andcosmetics . Then dressed in finery of her own"
"choosing , she would leave the harem and spend the nightin the king s bed-chamber . In the morning she would return to a second harem , to the care of Shaashgaz the king s eunuch in charge of the concubines .  12She would not return again to the king unless he was pleased with her and summonedher by name . Esthers time comes to go into the king In the tenth month of the seventh year of Xerxes , it came Esther s time to go into the king . She wore what Hegai the eunuch advised . Esther wins the kings favour and is made queen Now Esther won the king s favour more than any of the other virgins"
". So Xerxes set a royal crown upon her head and made her queen inplace of Vashti . Then he gave a great feast and proclaimed a holiday throughout the empire and distributedgifts. Esther continues to follow Mordecais instructions Esther still kept secret her nationality and continued to follow Mordecai s instructions as she had done when he was raising her." 
"*** ESTHER 03 ***" 
"Typical Persian city. Mordecai reveals a plot to assassinate the king During the time Mordecai sat at the king s gate, two of the king s officers who guarded the doorway became angry and plotted to assassinate the King"
"Xerxes . Mordecai heard of the plot and told Esther , who reported it to the king , giving credit to Mordecai and the two men were hanged on agallows . Haman, a royal official made Grand Vizier After these events , Xerxes honoured a royal official named Haman , and set his seat higher than that of all the other officials .  Mordecai refuses to bow to Haman The royal officials who sat in the king s gate would bow and pay honour to Haman for so the king had commanded . But Mordecai would not bow down or pay him honour . The other royal officials in the king s gate said to Mordecai , Why do"
"you disobey the kings command? Day after day they spoke to Mordecai but he refused to comply . Haman is angry with Mordecai the Jew When Haman saw that Mordecai refused to bow down or pay him honour , his anger burned toward him . Haman plans to exterminate all Jews When he learned that Mordecai was a Jew , Haman scorned the idea of killing onlyMordecai , instead he plotted to destroy all the Jews throughout the whole empire of Xerxes . Haman casts a lot to select a date So in the first month of the twelfth year of Xerxes , Haman cast a lot to select a time to carry out his plan . The lot"
"fell for the thirteenth day of the twelfth month . Haman asks Xerxes to issue a decree to destroy all Jews Haman then said to the king , There are a certain people scattered among the nations of your empire whose customs are different from those of all other people , and who do not obey the king s laws . It is not in the king s best interest to tolerate them . If it pleases the king , let a decree be issued to destroy them . I will put 10 ,000 talents of silver into the royal treasury to pay the men who carry out this decree . Xerxes gives Haman authority to issue the decree in his name The"
"king took his signet ring from his finger and gave it to Haman and said , Keep your silver . Do with this people as you please . Haman then summoned the royal secretaries and commanded them to write out a decree in the language of each nation . It was written in the name of King Xerxes and sealed with hissignet ring . The decree is sent out The decree was sent out by couriers to all of the king s governors throughout the empire . It contained orders to kill and annihilate all Jews , young and old , women and children on a single day, the thirteenth day of the twelfth monthand to plunder"
"their goods . Then the king and Haman sat down to drink , but the city of Susa was bewildered . Mordecai and the Jews mourn When Mordecai learned what had been done , he tore his clothes and put on sackcloth and ashes and went out into the city wailing loudly and bitterly . But he went only as far as the king s gate , for no one clothed in sackcloth was permitted to enter . Also in every land to which the decree of the king was sent , there was great mourning among the Jews , with fasting , and weeping and wailing . Many lay in sackcloth and ashes . Persian street scene."