Esther Saves Her People — Bible audio story cover art

Esther Saves Her People

Esther 3:1–10:3

Perhaps you were placed here for such a time as this.

Haman, the king's highest official, hates Mordecai because the Jew won't bow to him. His revenge is disproportionate: he persuades Xerxes to authorize the annihilation of every Jew in the Persian Empire. Mordecai sends word to Esther: you must go to the king. The problem: anyone who approaches the king unsummoned can be executed. Esther hasn't been called in thirty days. Mordecai's response becomes one of the most quoted lines in scripture: Who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this? Esther fasts three days, then approaches the throne. She hosts two banquets, exposes Haman's plot, reveals her own Jewish identity, and the decree is reversed. Haman hangs on the gallows he built for Mordecai.