Esther

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Chapters in Esther

1. Esther 1: Queen Vashti Refuses the King

   King Xerxes of Persia shows off his wealth with long feasts in Susa. When Queen Vashti refuses his order to appear before his guests, his advisor Memucan warns that wives everywhere will follow her example, so a permanent decree removes her as queen and letters tell every husband to rule his home.

2. Esther 2: Esther Becomes Queen

   Xerxes has his empire searched for a new queen, and Esther, the orphaned cousin raised by the Jew Mordecai, is brought into the palace. She keeps her Jewish identity secret at Mordecai’s instruction, wins the king’s love, and is crowned. Mordecai uncovers a plot to kill the king, which is written in the royal records.

3. Esther 3: Haman’s Plot Against the Jews

   Xerxes promotes Haman the Agagite, but Mordecai refuses to bow to him. Enraged, Haman resolves to destroy all the Jews, has a lot cast to choose the day, and persuades the king to issue a sealed decree for their destruction across the empire, while Susa is thrown into confusion.

4. Esther 4: Mordecai Urges Esther to Act

   Mordecai and the Jews across the empire mourn and fast after Haman’s decree is published. Through the eunuch Hathach, Mordecai urges Queen Esther to plead with the king, warns that her position will not save her, and asks whether she became queen for this crisis. Esther calls a three-day fast before she risks going in.

5. Esther 5: Esther’s First Banquet and Haman’s Gallows

   Queen Esther goes to the king uninvited, wins his favor, and invites him and Haman to a banquet, then to a second one the next day. Haman leaves elated but is enraged when Mordecai will not rise for him, and at the urging of Zeresh his wife and his friends he has a gallows built for Mordecai.

6. Esther 6: The King’s Sleepless Night and Mordecai Honored

   Unable to sleep, King Xerxes hears the royal records read and learns that Mordecai was never rewarded for saving his life. Haman, arriving to request Mordecai’s death, must lead Mordecai through the city in royal honor; his wife and advisers foresee his fall, and he is hurried off to Esther’s banquet.

7. Esther 7: Haman Exposed and Hanged

   At her second banquet Queen Esther pleads with King Xerxes for her own life and her people's, and names Haman as the enemy behind the plot. The furious king finds Haman begging at her couch, and Haman dies on the very gallows he built for Mordecai.

8. Esther 8: The King's Counter-Decree

   King Xerxes gives Esther all of Haman's property and hands his signet ring to Mordecai. Since Haman's decree cannot be revoked, Mordecai writes a new decree letting the Jews defend themselves on the appointed day, and joy spreads as many people of the provinces become Jews.

9. Esther 9: The Jews Delivered and Purim Begun

   On the day set for their destruction the Jews overcome their attackers across the empire, taking no plunder, and Haman's ten sons die. Mordecai and Esther then establish the yearly feast of Purim, named for the lot Haman cast, to remember how sorrow became joy.

10. Esther 10: Mordecai's Greatness

    The book closes with King Xerxes taxing his empire and the record of Mordecai's achievements in the royal chronicles. Mordecai ranks second only to the king, honored by the Jews and working for the good and peace of his people.