Esther Devotionals
One for each chapter. Want to test what you read? Take the Esther quizzes.
- Esther 1: Splendor That Cannot Command
Esther opens in a palace built to impress. King Xerxes rules 127 provinces and spends 180 days displaying the riches and splendor of his kingdom, followed by a week of feasting…
- Esther 2: Pieces Set in Place
Esther's story starts with loss and pressure. She is an orphan, raised by her cousin Mordecai as his own daughter, among the Jews carried off into exile (2:5-7). When the king's…
- Esther 3: Who Decides the Lot
Haman is promoted above all the princes, and everyone at the king's gate bows to him except Mordecai (3:1-2). Not content to punish one man, Haman decides to destroy all of…
- Esther 4: Placed for a Purpose
Haman's decree reaches every province, and the Jews respond with fasting, weeping, and sackcloth (4:1-3). Mordecai urges Esther to plead with the king. She reminds him that anyone…
- Esther 5: Favor at the Threshold
On the third day of the fast, Esther puts on her royal robes and stands in the inner court, where the law says she may die. The moment the king sees her, she finds favor in his…
- Esther 6: A Sleepless Night for a King
Everything turns on a king who cannot sleep. On the very night Haman's gallows stands ready, Xerxes orders the royal chronicles read to him, and there they find the record of…
- Esther 7: Caught in His Own Trap
At the second banquet, Esther finally makes her request. She asks the king for her own life and the lives of her people, because they have been sold to be destroyed (7:3-4). When…
- Esther 8: Light After the Decree
Haman is dead, but his decree still stands. Esther falls at the king's feet weeping and begs him to undo it (8:3-6). The king cannot. A law written in his name and sealed with his…
- Esther 9: Sorrow Turned to Feasting
Esther 9 is hard to read. On the day Haman had chosen for the Jews' destruction, the plan is overturned, and the Jews strike those who hated them (9:1-5). In Susa they kill five…
- Esther 10: Greatness Used for Others
Esther closes with three short verses. Xerxes imposes tribute to the farthest shores (10:1), but the last word goes to Mordecai, whose great deeds are recorded in the chronicles…