Esther

QUEEN
ESTHER
For such a time as this!
1. If you could have lived during any other time
period in history, when would it have been and
why?
2. If you could have been born in any other place in
the present, where would it have been and why?
3. Why has the Lord sent you to the earth at this time
and placed you in your circumstances?
(Approximately 70 years before Ezra and Nahum’s
day), King Ahasuerus deposed of his wife, Queen
Vashti, and chose a Jewish girl named Esther to be
his new queen. Esther’s cousin and guardian,
Mordecai, offended Haman, a leader in the Persian
kingdom, by not bowing to him. Haman received
permission from the king to destroy all of the Jews
in the kingdom. After fasting along with the Jews,
Esther risked her life by approaching the king to
intervene in the Jews’ behalf. She exposed
Haman’s treachery and saved the Jews from their
enemies.
Feast of Purim
 Celebrated by Jews in the  When the name of

Spring – National holiday in Mordecai is read, they
Israel
cheer
 Purim means lottery, since
 They dress up in
the day the Jews were to
be killed was chosen by lots costume
 The children are read the  They eat Hamantashen
story of Esther – a 3 cornered pasty
 When the name of Haman symbolizing Haman’s
is read, the children boo hat
and hiss
Esther Chapter 2
5 ¶Now in Shushan the palace there was a certain Jew,

whose name was Mordecai, a Benjamite;
6 Who had been carried away from Jerusalem with the
captivity… whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had
carried away.
7 And he brought up Hadassah, that is, Esther, his uncle’s
daughter: for she had neither father nor mother, and the maid
was fair and beautiful; whom Mordecai, when her father and
mother were dead, took for his own daughter.
Chapter 3
1 After these things did king Ahasuerus promote Haman, and
advanced him, and set his seat above all the princes that were with
him.
2 And all the king’s servants, that were in the king’s gate, bowed,
and reverenced Haman: for the king had so commanded concerning
him. But Mordecai bowed not, nor did him reverence.
3 Then the king’s servants, which were in the king’s gate, said unto
Mordecai, Why transgressest thou the king’s commandment?
4 Now it came to pass, when they spoke daily unto him, and he
hearkened not unto them, that they told Haman, to see whether
Mordecai’s matters would stand: for he had told them that he was a
Jew.
5 And when Haman saw that Mordecai bowed not, nor did him
reverence, then was Haman full of wrath.
6 And he thought scorn to lay hands on Mordecai alone; for they had
shewed him the people of Mordecai: wherefore Haman sought to
destroy all the Jews that were throughout the whole kingdom of
Ahasuerus, even the people of Mordecai.
8 ¶And Haman said unto king Ahasuerus, There is a certain
people scattered abroad and dispersed among the people in all
the provinces of thy kingdom; and their laws are diverse from all
people; neither keep they the king’s laws: therefore it is not for
the king’s profit to suffer them.
9 If it please the king, let it be written that they may be
destroyed: and I will pay ten thousand talents of silver to the
hands of those that have the charge of the business, to bring it
into the king’s treasuries.
13 And the letters were sent by posts into all the king’s
provinces, to destroy, to kill, and to cause to perish, all Jews,
both young and old, little children and women, in one day,
even upon the thirteenth day of the twelfth month.
Chapter 4
1 When Mordecai perceived all that was done, Mordecai rent his
clothes, and put on sackcloth with ashes, and went out into the
midst of the city, and cried with a loud and a bitter cry;
2 And came even before the king’s gate: for none might enter
into the king’s gate clothed with sackcloth.
3 And in every province, whithersoever the king’s commandment
and his decree came, there was great mourning among the
Jews, and fasting, and weeping, and wailing; and many lay in
sackcloth and ashes.
4 ¶So Esther’s maids and her chamberlains came and told it her.
Then was the queen exceedingly grieved; and she sent raiment
to clothe Mordecai, and to take away his sackcloth from him: but
he received it not.
5 Then called Esther for Hatach, one of the king’s chamberlains,
whom he had appointed to attend upon her, and gave him a
commandment to Mordecai, to know what it was, and why it was.
6 So Hatach went forth to Mordecai unto the street of the city,
which was before the king’s gate.
7 And Mordecai told him of all that had happened unto him, and
of the sum of the money that Haman had promised to pay to the
king’s treasuries for the Jews, to destroy them.
9 And Hatach came and told Esther the words of Mordecai.

10 ¶Again Esther spake unto Hatach, and gave him
commandment unto Mordecai;
11 All the king’s servants, and the people of the king’s
provinces, do know, that whosoever, whether man or woman,
shall come unto the king into the inner court, who is not called,
there is one law of his to put him to death, except such to
whom the king shall hold out the golden sceptre, that he may
live: but I have not been called to come in unto the king these
thirty days.
12 And they told to Mordecai Esther’s words.
13 Then Mordecai commanded to answer Esther, Think not
with thyself that thou shalt escape in the king’s house, more
than all the Jews.
14 For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then
shall there enlargement and deliverance arise to the Jews from
another place; but thou and thy father’s house shall be
destroyed: and who knoweth whether thou art come to the
kingdom for such a time as this?
15 ¶Then Esther bade them return Mordecai this answer,
16 Go, gather together all the Jews that are present in
Shushan, and fast ye for me, and neither eat nor drink three
days, night or day: I also and my maidens will fast likewise; and
so will I go in unto the king, which is not according to the law:
and if I perish, I perish.
17 So Mordecai went his way, and did according to all that
Esther had commanded him.
Chapter 5
1 Now it came to pass on the third day, that Esther put on her
royal apparel, and stood in the inner court of the king’s house,
2 And it was so, when the king saw Esther the queen
standing in the court, that she obtained favour in his sight:
7 Then answered Esther, and said, My petition and my

request is;
8 If I have found favour in the sight of the king, and if it
please the king to grant my petition, and to perform my
request, let the king and Haman come to the banquet that I
shall prepare for them, and I will do to morrow as the king
hath said.
9 ¶Then went Haman forth that day joyful and with a glad
heart: but when Haman saw Mordecai in the king’s gate, that
he stood not up, nor moved for him, he was full of indignation
against Mordecai.
Chapter 7
1 So the king and Haman came to banquet with Esther the queen.
2 And the king said again unto Esther on the second day at the
banquet of wine, What is thy petition, queen Esther? and it shall
be granted thee: and what is thy request? and it shall be
performed, even to the half of the kingdom.
3 Then Esther the queen answered and said, If I have found
favour in thy sight, O king, and if it please the king, let my life be
given me at my petition, and my people at my request:
4 For we are sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, to be slain,
and to perish.
5 ¶Then the king Ahasuerus answered and said unto Esther the
queen, Who is he, and where is he, that durst presume in his
heart to do so?
6 And Esther said, The adversary and enemy is this wicked
Haman. Then Haman was afraid before the king and the queen.
9 And Harbonah, one of the chamberlains, said before the
king, Behold also, the gallows fifty cubits high, which Haman
had made for Mordecai, who had spoken good for the king,
standeth in the house of Haman. Then the king said, Hang
him thereon.
10 So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had
prepared for Mordecai. Then was the king’s wrath pacified.
Chapter 8
17 And in every province, and in every city, whithersoever

the king’s commandment and his decree came, the Jews
had joy and gladness, a feast and a good day.
The Rest of the Esther’s Story…
 What principle can we learn from Esther about preparing to do

difficult things?
 When have you or someone you know acted courageously to
do the right thing? How were others blessed because of this
courageous action?
 When have you seen someone use his or her position or
circumstances to bless the lives of others?
 In the particular circumstances the Lord has placed you in,
how can you bless the lives of others?
“The Lord gave you your responsibilities for a reason. There may be
people and hearts only you can reach and touch. Perhaps no one
else could do it in quite the same way” (President Uchtdorf “Lift Where You
Stand,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2008, 56).
QUEEN
ESTHER
“Such a Time as This”

Esther

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QUEEN

 Celebrated by Jews in the  When the name of

5 ¶Now in Shushan the palace there was a certain Jew,

9 And Hatach came and told Esther the words of Mordecai.

7 Then answered Esther, and said, My petition and my

17 And in every province, and in every city, whithersoever

 What principle can we learn from Esther about preparing to do

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