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Queen Esther prays for help

Queen Esther asks God to save her people from Haman.
Contributed by The Glory Story
Story also available on our translated websites: German, Hindi
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King Xerxes was an immensely wealthy and powerful king. – Slide 1
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He ruled over one hundred and twenty lands, stretching from India to Ethiopia. – Slide 2
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In the third year of the king’s reign, he decided to hold a seven-day banquet. – Slide 3
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As the men got drunk, the king summoned his wife to appear in her royal dress. – Slide 4
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The king wanted to show off her beauty, but the queen refused to attend. – Slide 5
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The humiliated king was furious. ‘The queen must go!’ he demanded. – Slide 6
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Living in the land was a Jewish man named Mordecai, who was looking after his beautiful young cousin Esther. – Slide 7
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Everybody thought that Mordecai had adopted Esther and they didn’t know she was a Jewess. – Slide 8
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When the king was choosing a new wife, Esther was included, and it was love at first sight for the king. – Slide 9
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But still no one knew that Esther was Jewish, not even the king. – Slide 10
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Esther was chosen to be Queen and went to live in the King’s palace. – Slide 11
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Mordecai would visit the Queen daily. – Slide 12
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One day Mordecai overheard two of the king’s servants, plotting to assassinate the king. – Slide 13
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Mordecai went to Queen Esther, and told her to warn the king. – Slide 14
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The plot was discovered and the two men were arrested. – Slide 15
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And Mordecai’s action was recorded in the palace records. – Slide 16
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Sometime later the king appointed a new prime minister, a man called Haman. – Slide 17
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Haman ordered everybody to bow before him, which they all did, except Mordecai. He would not bow to anyone but God. – Slide 18
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‘I’ll speak to the king about this,’ said an angry Haman who hated the Jews. – Slide 19
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‘Your majesty, there are people in the land that do not recognise or obey your laws,’ Haman complained. – Slide 20
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‘You must issue a royal decree to destroy them all - men, women and children.’ – Slide 21
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The king told Haman, ‘These people, the Jews, are given to you, do with them whatever seems fit.’ – Slide 22
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And later the king and Haman sat down to drink. – Slide 23
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The Jews in the land were weeping and wearing clothes of sack. – Slide 24
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Queen Esther was deeply distressed to hear the news, She too was Jewish although no-one but her Uncle Mordecai knew this. – Slide 25
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The Queen sent a servant to find Mordecai. – Slide 26
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Mordecai had this message for Esther, ’Haman is going to kill all of the Jews, please use the position God has given you to plead our case before the king.’ – Slide 27
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Queen Esther and the Jews prayed to God to deliver them. Then Esther put on her royal robes to see the King. To enter the King’s presence without being asked was punishable with death. – Slide 28
29
Queen Esther approached the King who raised his sceptre to show his approval. ‘What do you want Queen Esther? I have said that I will give you up to half of my kingdom.’ – Slide 29
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So Esther asked, ‘Could the king and Haman have dinner with me tonight?’ – Slide 30
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In the meantime, Haman was building gallows for Mordecai’s execution. – Slide 31
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At dinner, Esther’s only request was that the king and Haman would have dinner with her again the following evening. – Slide 32
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That night the king couldn’t sleep, so he ordered his servant, ‘Send someone in to read me the palace records.’ – Slide 33
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They read to the king the account of how Mordecai saved the king’s life. – Slide 34
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The next morning the king sent for Haman and asked, ‘What should I do to the man whom I want to honour and exalt?’ – Slide 35
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Haman thought that the king was referring to him and imagined how he would like to be honoured. – Slide 36
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‘The man should wear your royal robes and crown and be put on the King’s horse,’ he proudly replied. ‘Then the most important man in the kings palace should lead him through the city square, proclaiming him as honoured before the people.’ – Slide 37
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‘Go and do all this for Mordecai the Jew,’ the King ordered. – Slide 38
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So Haman had to dress Mordecai in the king’s clothes, and publically proclaim him specially honoured by the king. – Slide 39
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Later, at dinner, Esther told the king that she was a Jewess, and begged him to save her people. – Slide 40
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Then she explained in detail the plan to kill the Jews. – Slide 41
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So the king demanded, ‘Who would dare to do such a thing to the queen?’ – Slide 42
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‘It’s him!’ Esther replied, pointing to Haman. ‘The enemy is sitting at the table with us.’ – Slide 43
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The king was furious.’For this Haman, you will hang.’ – Slide 44
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And so it was, that Haman was hung from the gallows that he prepared for Mordecai. – Slide 45
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Then the king wrote a new royal order, to favour and protect the Jews, and signed it with his own royal seal. – Slide 46
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Mordecai went out dressed in the royal robes, and the whole city came alive with rejoicing and celebration. – Slide 47
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