English 201: Lesson 20 - Esther



Context 1

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Some Jews lived in Babylon.
One of them was a beautiful girl named Esther.
Esther’s father and mother were dead.
She lived with her cousin Mordecai, who was a righteous man.
The king of the land invited many people to come to a big feast.
When the king sent for the queen to come to the feast, she refused to come.
The king was angry and said he would choose a new queen.
The king sent for many young women to come to his house, including Esther.
The king saw that Esther was very beautiful.
He loved her and chose her to be the queen.
Haman was one of the king’s advisers.
He hated the Jews and made the people bow down to him.
Mordecai refused to bow down.
Haman was angry and told the king the Jews did not obey the laws.
Haman wanted to kill the Jews, so he sent letters to the leaders in the kingdom saying all the Jews should be killed.
The Jews heard about the letters and became afraid and sad.
They fasted and prayed for help.
Queen Esther also heard about the letters.
She sent a servant to ask Mordecai what had happened.
Mordecai said Esther would be killed because she was a Jew and she must try to save the Jews.
Esther was afraid.
She could be killed if she went to see the king without being sent for.
But she told the Jews to fast for three days, and she fasted, too.
Then she went to the king.
The king asked Esther what she wanted.
He said she could have anything.
Esther asked the king and Haman to come to a feast.
At the feast, Esther told the king about Haman’s plan to kill the Jews.
She told him she was a Jew and that Haman's plan would kill her, too.
The king was angry and had Haman killed.
The king told Mordecai to write letters all across the kingdom telling the Jews to kill anyone who tried to kill them.
Esther had saved her people.