6. Long ago, in the land of Persia, in
the city of Shushan, there lived a
very rich King whose name was
Ahasuerus. He was a jovial King
who spent most of his time in the
palace giving parties. One day, he
invited his Queen, Vashti, to come
to a banquet at the palace.
Vashti refused. King Ahasuerus
became very angry and sent her
away from his Kingdom forever.
7.
8. Chapter 2
Ahasuerus held a contest to
choose a Queen. He called all the
maidens in the country to appear
before him. A man named
Mordecai brought his young cousin
Esther to the palace to enter the
contest.
12. One day, when Mordecai came to
visit Esther, he heard two of the
palace guards plotting to
overthrow Ahasuerus. Mordecai
told Esther, and Esther told the
King. The King's officers arrested
the two men. The story of how
Mordecai saved the King's life
was written down in the Royal
Diary.
13. Chapter 3
The chief minister in the King's
palace was a very wicked man
whose name was HAMAN. All the
people in Shushan bowed down
before HAMAN except for
Mordecai, who refused, because
Jewish people worship only God.
This made HAMAN very angry, and
he decided he would get rid of
Mordecai and the rest of the
Jews.
14. HAMAN asked his magicians to
select a day to get rid of the
Jewish people. They used purim,
or lots which were magic
numbers, to select just the right
day. They chose the 13th day of
the Jewish month Adar.
15. HAMAN told Ahasuerus that “a
certain people” did not obey the
King's laws and should be gotten
rid of. The King agreed to issue a
Royal Order to destroy that
“certain people.” HAMAN took care
of it.
16.
17. Chapter 4
Of course, HAMAN meant the Jewish
people. When Mordecai heard that
he and his people were in danger,
he went to see his cousin Esther,
the Queen. He begged Esther to try
to change the King's mind.
18. Esther was afraid. She knew that
no one was allowed to visit the
King without permission, but she
realized that she alone could
save the Jewish people. She
agreed to go. Mordecai told her
to pray for courage. For three
days, Esther did not eat or sleep.
19. Chapter 5
On the third day, Esther went to
the palace. When the King saw his
lovely Queen, he stretched out
his golden scepter and invited
her to come in. Esther
approached the throne. The King
asked her what she wanted.
Because she did not wish to make
the King angry, she did not tell
him her real reason for coming.
20. Chapter 6
The night before the banquet, the
King had trouble falling asleep. He
called his servants and asked
them to read aloud from the
Royal Diary. He heard how
Mordecai the Jew had saved his
life. He asked if Mordecai had been
rewarded for his bravery and was
told that he had not.
21. Just then, HAMAN came to see the
King. Ahasuerus asked HAMAN how
he would reward a brave and
good man. HAMAN, thinking that the
King wished to honor him,
suggested that the person be
dressed in the King's royal robes
and crown and led on the King's
horses through the streets of
Shushan. The King liked this idea,
and ordered HAMAN to carry out
22.
23. Chapter 7
That night, the King and HAMAN
came to Esther’s banquet. The King
saw that Esther looked very
unhappy. Because he loved her, he
promised her that she could have
anything she wanted from his
whole kingdom.
24. Esther told the King that a
wicked man was planning to get
rid of her and the rest of her
people, the Jews. The King became
very angry and demanded to
know who the wicked man was.
Esther pointed to HAMAN. The King
ordered that HAMAN be gotten rid
of immediately.
26. Chapter 8
The King appointed Mordecai to
take HAMAN’s place as chief vizier
and dressed him in royal robes
of blue and white, with a great
golden crown.
27. Chapter 9
The Jews were very happy to be
saved. On the 14th day of Adar,
they celebrated with great feasts
and banquets. They sent gifts of
food to their friends and to
people who are poor.
28. Mordecai told the Jews that
each year, on the same day, they
should celebrate to remember
how they were saved from
HAMAN’s evil plot. The holiday
became known as Purim, after
the lots that HAMAN had used.
