Latest / Abide Meditation App / Fall Asleep with Bible Stories Book of Esther (Holy Bible Audio) - Abide Meditation App

Transcript

Fall Asleep with Bible Stories Book of Esther (Holy Bible Audio) - Abide Meditation App · Abide Meditation App

• 0:16
  Speaker 1: Abide Meditation has everything you need for a peaceful night's sleep.
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: Download Abide from the app Store today. Esther chapter one.
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: This is what happened during the time of Xerxes. The
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: Xerxes who ruled over one hundred and twenty seven provinces
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: stretching from India to cush At that time, King Xerxes
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: reigned from his royal throne in the Citadel of Susa,
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: and in the third year of his reign, he gave
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: a banquet for all his nobles and officials. The military
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: leaders of Persia and media, the princes and the nobles
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: of the provinces were present. For a full one hundred
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: and eighty days. He displayed the vast wealth of his
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: kingdom and the splendor and glory of his majesty. When
• 1:13
  Speaker 1: these days were over, the king gave a banquet lasting
• 1:17
  Speaker 1: seven days in the enclosed garden of the King's Palace
• 1:20
  Speaker 1: for all the people, from the least to the greatest,
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: who were in the Citadel of Susa. The garden had
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: hangings of white and blue linen fastened with cords of
• 1:31
  Speaker 1: white linen and purple material to silver rings on marble pillars.
• 1:36
  Speaker 1: There were couches of gold and silver on a mosaic
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: pavement of poor fiery marble, mother of pearl, and other
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: costly stones. Wine was served in goblets of gold, each
• 1:48
  Speaker 1: one different from the other, and the royal wine was abundant.
• 1:52
  Speaker 1: In keeping with the King's liberality. By the king's command,
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: each guest was allowed to drink with no restrictions, where
• 2:00
  Speaker 1: the king instructed all the wine stewards to serve each
• 2:04
  Speaker 1: man what he wished. Queen Vashtei also gave a banquet
• 2:08
  Speaker 1: for the women in the royal palace of King Xerxes.
• 2:12
  Speaker 1: On the seventh day, when King Xerxes was in high
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: spirits from wine, he commanded the seven eunuchs who served
• 2:19
  Speaker 1: him Meheuman, Bistha, Harbona, Bigtha, Abagtha, Zithhar and Carcas to
• 2:26
  Speaker 1: bring before him Queen Vashtai, wearing her royal crown, in
• 2:31
  Speaker 1: order to display her beauty to the people and nobles,
• 2:34
  Speaker 1: for she was lovely to look at. But when the
• 2:37
  Speaker 1: attendants delivered the king's command, Queen Vashtaei refused to come.
• 2:42
  Speaker 1: Then the king became furious and burned with anger. Since
• 2:47
  Speaker 1: it was customary for the king to consult experts in
• 2:49
  Speaker 1: matters of law and justice. He spoke with the wise
• 2:53
  Speaker 1: men who understood the times and were the closest to
• 2:56
  Speaker 1: the king, Karshina, shethar Admetha, Tarshish, Mary's Marcina and Mamukin,
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: the seven nobles of Persia and Media, who had special
• 3:07
  Speaker 1: access to the king and were the highest in the
• 3:10
  Speaker 1: kingdom according to law. What must be done to Queen Vashtei,
• 3:14
  Speaker 1: he asked, she has not obeyed the command of King
• 3:18
  Speaker 1: Xerxes that the eunuchs have taken to her. Then Mamukin replied,
• 3:22
  Speaker 1: in the presence of the King and the nobles, Queen
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: Voshtei has done wrong, not only against the king, but
• 3:29
  Speaker 1: also against all the nobles and the peoples of all
• 3:33
  Speaker 1: the provinces of King Xerxes. For the queen's conduct will
• 3:37
  Speaker 1: become known to all the women, and so they will
• 3:40
  Speaker 1: despise their husbands and say King Xerxes commanded Queen voshte
• 3:45
  Speaker 1: to be brought before him, but she would not come.
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: This very day. The Persian and Median women and the nobility,
• 3:52
  Speaker 1: who have heard about the queen's conduct will respond to
• 3:55
  Speaker 1: all the King's nobles in the same way. There will
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: be no end of disrespect and discord. Therefore, if it
• 4:05
  Speaker 1: pleases the King, let him issue a royal decree, and
• 4:09
  Speaker 1: let it be written in the laws of Persia and
• 4:11
  Speaker 1: Media which cannot be repealed, that Vashtee is never again
• 4:16
  Speaker 1: to enter the presence of King's Eerxes. Also, let the
• 4:20
  Speaker 1: King give her royal position to some one else who
• 4:23
  Speaker 1: is better than she. Then, when the King's edict is
• 4:27
  Speaker 1: proclaimed throughout all his vast realm, all the women will
• 4:31
  Speaker 1: respect their husbands from the least to the greatest. The
• 4:36
  Speaker 1: king and his nobles were pleased with this advice, so
• 4:39
  Speaker 1: the king did as Mimukan proposed. He sent dispatches to
• 4:43
  Speaker 1: all parts of the kingdom, to each province in its
• 4:46
  Speaker 1: own script, and to each people in their own language,
• 4:50
  Speaker 1: proclaiming that every man should be ruler over his own
• 4:54
  Speaker 1: household using his native tongue. Esther chapter two Later, when
• 5:02
  Speaker 1: King Xerxes fury had subsided, he remembered Voshdai and what
• 5:07
  Speaker 1: she had done and what he had decreed about her.
• 5:11
  Speaker 1: Then the king's personal attendants proposed, let a search be
• 5:14
  Speaker 1: made for beautiful young virgins for the king. Let the
• 5:18
  Speaker 1: king appoint commissioners in every province of his realm. To
• 5:21
  Speaker 1: bring all these beautiful young women to the harem at
• 5:25
  Speaker 1: the Citadel of Susa. Let them be placed under the
• 5:28
  Speaker 1: care of Hagai, the King's eunuch, who is in charge
• 5:32
  Speaker 1: of the women, and let beauty treatments be given to them.
• 5:35
  Speaker 1: Then let the young woman who pleases the king be
• 5:38
  Speaker 1: queen instead of Vashtai. This advice appealed to the king,
• 5:43
  Speaker 1: and he followed it. Now there was in the Citadel
• 5:46
  Speaker 1: of Susa a Jew of the tribe of Benjamin, named Mordechai,
• 5:50
  Speaker 1: son of jer the son of SHIMIAI, the son of Kish,
• 5:54
  Speaker 1: who had been carried into exile from Jerusalem by Nebekonezzar,
• 5:58
  Speaker 1: king of Babylon, among them those taken captive with Jehoyacin,
• 6:02
  Speaker 1: King of Judah. Mordechai had a cousin named Hadassa, whom
• 6:06
  Speaker 1: he had brought up because she had neither father nor mother.
• 6:10
  Speaker 1: This young woman, who was also known as Esther, had
• 6:13
  Speaker 1: a lovely figure and was beautiful. Mordechai had taken her
• 6:18
  Speaker 1: as his own daughter when her father and mother died.
• 6:22
  Speaker 1: When the king's order and edict had been proclaimed, many
• 6:26
  Speaker 1: young women were brought to the citadel of Susa and
• 6:29
  Speaker 1: put under the care of Hagai. Esther also was taken
• 6:33
  Speaker 1: to the King's palace and entrusted to Hagai, who had
• 6:36
  Speaker 1: charge of the harem. She pleased him and won his
• 6:40
  Speaker 1: favor immediately. He provided her with beauty treatments and special food.
• 6:46
  Speaker 1: He assigned to her seven female attendants selected from the
• 6:49
  Speaker 1: King's palace, and moved her and her attendants into the
• 6:53
  Speaker 1: best place in the harem. Esther had not revealed her
• 6:57
  Speaker 1: nationality and family background because Mordecai had forbidden her to
• 7:01
  Speaker 1: do so. Every day he walked back and forth near
• 7:05
  Speaker 1: the courtyard of the heram to find out how Esther
• 7:08
  Speaker 1: was and what was happening to her. Before a young
• 7:11
  Speaker 1: woman's turn came to go into King Xerxes, she had
• 7:15
  Speaker 1: to complete twelve months of beauty treatments prescribed for the women,
• 7:20
  Speaker 1: six months with oil of myrr and six with perfumes
• 7:24
  Speaker 1: and cosmetics. And this is how she would go to
• 7:27
  Speaker 1: the king. Anything she wanted was given her to take
• 7:31
  Speaker 1: with her from the harem to the King's palace. In
• 7:34
  Speaker 1: the evening she would go there and in the morning
• 7:38
  Speaker 1: returned to another part of the harem. To the care
• 7:40
  Speaker 1: of Seyashkas, the king's eunuch, who was in charge of
• 7:44
  Speaker 1: the concubines. She would not return to the king unless
• 7:47
  Speaker 1: he was pleased with her and summoned her by name.
• 7:51
  Speaker 1: When the turn came for Esther, the young woman Mordecai
• 7:55
  Speaker 1: had adopted the daughter of his uncle Abahil, to go
• 7:58
  Speaker 1: to the king, asked for nothing other than what Hagui,
• 8:02
  Speaker 1: the king's eunuch, who was in charge of the harem, suggested,
• 8:06
  Speaker 1: and Ester won the favor of everyone who saw her.
• 8:11
  Speaker 1: She was taken to King Xerxes in the royal residence
• 8:14
  Speaker 1: in the tenth month, the month of Tibeth, in the
• 8:17
  Speaker 1: seventh year of his reign. Now the king was attracted
• 8:20
  Speaker 1: to Esther more than to any of the other women,
• 8:24
  Speaker 1: and she won his favor and approval more than any
• 8:28
  Speaker 1: of the other virgins, So he set a royal crown
• 8:32
  Speaker 1: on her head and made her queen instead of Voshtei,
• 8:37
  Speaker 1: and the king gave a great banquet Ester's banquet for
• 8:41
  Speaker 1: all his nobles and officials. He proclaimed a holiday throughout
• 8:45
  Speaker 1: the provinces and distributed gifts with royal liberality. When the
• 8:51
  Speaker 1: virgins were assembled a second time, Mordecai was sitting at
• 8:54
  Speaker 1: the king's gate, but Ester had kept secret her family
• 8:58
  Speaker 1: background and nationale, just as Mordechai had told her to do,
• 9:03
  Speaker 1: for she continued to follow Mordechai's instructions as she had
• 9:07
  Speaker 1: done when he was bringing her up. During the time
• 9:11
  Speaker 1: Mordechai was sitting at the king's gate, Bigthena and Tearesh,
• 9:15
  Speaker 1: two of the king's officers who guarded the doorway, became
• 9:19
  Speaker 1: angry and conspired to assassinate King Xerxes. But Mordechai found
• 9:24
  Speaker 1: out about the plot and told Queen Esther, who in
• 9:27
  Speaker 1: turn reported it to the king, giving credit to Mordecai,
• 9:32
  Speaker 1: and when the report was investigated and found to be true,
• 9:35
  Speaker 1: the two officials were impaled on polls. All this was
• 9:39
  Speaker 1: recorded in the Book of the Annals in the Presence
• 9:42
  Speaker 1: of the King Esther, chapter three. After these events, King
• 9:50
  Speaker 1: Xerxes honored Hayman, son of Hammadepha the Agagite, elevating him
• 9:56
  Speaker 1: and giving him a seat of honor higher than that
• 9:59
  Speaker 1: of all the other other nobles. All the royal officials
• 10:03
  Speaker 1: at the king's gate knelt down and paid honor to Haman,
• 10:06
  Speaker 1: for the king had commanded this concerning him, but Mordechai
• 10:10
  Speaker 1: would not kneel down or pay him honor. Then the
• 10:14
  Speaker 1: royal officials at the king's gate asked Mordecai, why do
• 10:17
  Speaker 1: you disobey the King's command? Day after day they spoke
• 10:21
  Speaker 1: to him, but he refused to comply. Therefore, they told
• 10:26
  Speaker 1: Hayman about it to see whether Mordechai's behavior could be tolerated,
• 10:30
  Speaker 1: for he had told them he was a Jew. When
• 10:33
  Speaker 1: Hayman saw that Mordechai would not kneel down or pay
• 10:36
  Speaker 1: him honor, he was enraged. Yet, having learned who Mordechai's
• 10:41
  Speaker 1: people were, he scorned the idea of killing only Mordechai. Instead,
• 10:47
  Speaker 1: Hayman looked for a way to destroy all Mordechai's people,
• 10:51
  Speaker 1: the Jews throughout the whole Kingdom of Xerxes. In the
• 10:56
  Speaker 1: twelfth year of King Xerxes, in the first month, the
• 10:59
  Speaker 1: month of Nisson, the pure that is, the lot was
• 11:03
  Speaker 1: cast in the presence of Haman to select a day
• 11:06
  Speaker 1: and month, and the lot fell on the twelfth month,
• 11:10
  Speaker 1: the month of Adar. Then Hayman said to King's Erxes,
• 11:14
  Speaker 1: there is a certain people dispersed among the peoples in
• 11:17
  Speaker 1: all the provinces of your kingdom, who keep themselves separate.
• 11:21
  Speaker 1: Their customs are different from those of all other people,
• 11:25
  Speaker 1: and they do not obey the King's laws. It is
• 11:28
  Speaker 1: not in the King's best interest to tolerate them. If
• 11:33
  Speaker 1: it pleases the King, let a decree be issued to
• 11:36
  Speaker 1: destroy them, and I will give ten thousand talents of
• 11:39
  Speaker 1: silver to the King's administrators for the royal treasury. So
• 11:44
  Speaker 1: the king took his signet ring from his finger and
• 11:47
  Speaker 1: gave it to Haman, son of Hamadetha, the Agagite, the
• 11:51
  Speaker 1: enemy of the Jews. Keep the money, the king said
• 11:54
  Speaker 1: to Haman, and do with the people as you please. Then,
• 11:58
  Speaker 1: on the thirteenth day of the first month, the royal
• 12:01
  Speaker 1: secretaries were summoned. They wrote out, in the script of
• 12:05
  Speaker 1: each province and in the language of each people, all
• 12:08
  Speaker 1: Hayman's orders to the King's satraps, the governors of the
• 12:12
  Speaker 1: various provinces, and the nobles of the various peoples. These
• 12:16
  Speaker 1: were written in the name of King Xerxes himself and
• 12:19
  Speaker 1: sealed with his own ring. Despatches were sent by couriers
• 12:23
  Speaker 1: to all the king's provinces with the order to destroy, kill,
• 12:28
  Speaker 1: and annihilate all the Jews, young and old, women and
• 12:32
  Speaker 1: children on a single day, the thirteenth day of the
• 12:36
  Speaker 1: twelfth month, the month of Adar, and to plunder their goods.
• 12:41
  Speaker 1: A copy of the text of the edict was said
• 12:43
  Speaker 1: to be issued as law in every province and made
• 12:46
  Speaker 1: known to the people of every nationality, so they would
• 12:50
  Speaker 1: be ready for that day. The couriers went out, spurred
• 12:54
  Speaker 1: on by the king's command, and the edict was issued
• 12:57
  Speaker 1: in the citadel of Susa. The King and Hayman sat
• 13:01
  Speaker 1: down to drink, but the city of Susa was bewildered.
• 13:08
  Speaker 1: Ester chapter four. When Mordechai learned of all that had
• 13:13
  Speaker 1: been done, he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and ashes,
• 13:18
  Speaker 1: and went out into the city, wailing loudly and bitterly.
• 13:22
  Speaker 1: But he went only as far as the King's gate,
• 13:25
  Speaker 1: because no one clothed in sackcloth was allowed to enter it.
• 13:29
  Speaker 1: In every province to which the edict and order of
• 13:32
  Speaker 1: the king came, there was great mourning among the Jews,
• 13:36
  Speaker 1: with fasting, weeping, and wailing. Many lay in sackcloth and ashes.
• 13:43
  Speaker 1: When Esther's eunuchs and female attendants came and told her
• 13:46
  Speaker 1: about Mordecai, she was in great distress. She sent clothes
• 13:50
  Speaker 1: for him to put on instead of his sackcloth, but
• 13:53
  Speaker 1: he would not accept them. Then Esther summoned Hathek, one
• 13:58
  Speaker 1: of the king's eunuchs signed to attend her, and ordered
• 14:02
  Speaker 1: him to find out what was troubling Mordecai and why.
• 14:06
  Speaker 1: So Hathok went out to Mordecai in the open square
• 14:09
  Speaker 1: of the city in front of the King's gate. Mordecai
• 14:12
  Speaker 1: told him everything that had happened to him, including the
• 14:16
  Speaker 1: exact amount of money Hayman had promised to pay into
• 14:19
  Speaker 1: the royal treasury for the destruction of the Jews. He
• 14:23
  Speaker 1: also gave him a copy of the text of the
• 14:26
  Speaker 1: Edict for their annihilation, which had been published in Susa,
• 14:30
  Speaker 1: to show to Esther and explain it to her, and
• 14:33
  Speaker 1: he told him to instruct her to go into the
• 14:36
  Speaker 1: King's presence to beg for mercy and plead with him
• 14:40
  Speaker 1: for her people. Hathok went back and reported to Esther
• 14:44
  Speaker 1: what Mordecai had said. Then she instructed him to say
• 14:48
  Speaker 1: to Mordecai, all the King's officials and the people of
• 14:51
  Speaker 1: the royal provinces know that for any man or woman
• 14:55
  Speaker 1: who approaches the king in the inner court without being summoned.
• 15:00
  Speaker 1: The king has but one law, that they be put
• 15:03
  Speaker 1: to death unless the king extends the gold scepter to
• 15:07
  Speaker 1: them and spares their lives. But thirty days have passed
• 15:11
  Speaker 1: since I was called to go to the king. When
• 15:15
  Speaker 1: Esther's words were reported to Mordecai, he sent back this answer,
• 15:19
  Speaker 1: do not think that because you are in the king's house,
• 15:23
  Speaker 1: you alone of all the Jews, will escape. For if
• 15:27
  Speaker 1: you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for
• 15:31
  Speaker 1: the Jews will arise from another place, but you and
• 15:35
  Speaker 1: your father's family will perish. And who knows but that
• 15:39
  Speaker 1: you have come to your royal position for such a
• 15:42
  Speaker 1: time as this. Then Esther sent this reply to Mordecai,
• 15:48
  Speaker 1: go gather together all the Jews who are in Susa
• 15:52
  Speaker 1: and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for
• 15:56
  Speaker 1: three days night or day, and my attendants will fast
• 16:01
  Speaker 1: as you do. When this is done, I will go
• 16:05
  Speaker 1: to the king, even though it is against the law.
• 16:08
  Speaker 1: And if I perish, I perish. So Mordecai went away
• 16:14
  Speaker 1: and carried out all of Ester's instructions. Esther chapter five
• 16:23
  Speaker 1: on the third day, Esther put on her royal robes
• 16:26
  Speaker 1: and stood in the inner court of the palace in
• 16:29
  Speaker 1: front of the king's hall. The King was sitting on
• 16:33
  Speaker 1: his royal throne in the hall facing the entrance. When
• 16:37
  Speaker 1: he saw Queen ester standing in the court. He was
• 16:40
  Speaker 1: pleased with her and held out to her the gold
• 16:43
  Speaker 1: scepter that was in his hand. So Esther approached and
• 16:47
  Speaker 1: touched the tip of the scepter. Then the king asked,
• 16:51
  Speaker 1: what is it, Queen Esther, what is your request? Even
• 16:56
  Speaker 1: up to half the kingdom, It will be given you
• 17:00
  Speaker 1: if it pleases the king, replied, Esther. Let the King,
• 17:04
  Speaker 1: together with Haman, come to day to a banquet I
• 17:07
  Speaker 1: have prepared for him. Bring Hayman at once, the king said,
• 17:12
  Speaker 1: so that we may do what Ester asks. So the
• 17:16
  Speaker 1: King and Haman went to the banquet Esther had prepared.
• 17:20
  Speaker 1: As they were drinking wine, the king again asked Esther, now,
• 17:24
  Speaker 1: what is your petition? It will be given you, and
• 17:28
  Speaker 1: what is your request? Even up to half the kingdom
• 17:32
  Speaker 1: it will be granted. Esther replied, my petition, and my
• 17:38
  Speaker 1: request is this, if the King regards me with favor,
• 17:42
  Speaker 1: and if it pleases the King to grant my petition
• 17:45
  Speaker 1: and fulfill my request. Let the King and Haman come
• 17:48
  Speaker 1: tomorrow to the banquet. I will prepare for them. Then
• 17:52
  Speaker 1: I will answer the King's question. Hayman went out that
• 17:57
  Speaker 1: day happy and in high spirits. But when he saw
• 18:01
  Speaker 1: Mordecai at the King's gate and observed that he neither
• 18:04
  Speaker 1: rose nor showed fear in his presence, he was filled
• 18:09
  Speaker 1: with rage against Mordecai. Nevertheless, Hamon restrained himself and went home,
• 18:16
  Speaker 1: calling together his friends and Zareesch, his wife. Hamon boasted
• 18:21
  Speaker 1: to them about his vast wealth, his many sons, and
• 18:25
  Speaker 1: all the ways the King had honored him, and how
• 18:28
  Speaker 1: he had elevated him above the other nobles and officials.
• 18:33
  Speaker 1: And that's not all, Hamon added, I'm the only person
• 18:36
  Speaker 1: Queen Esther invited to accompany the king to the banquet
• 18:39
  Speaker 1: she gave, and she has invited me along with the
• 18:43
  Speaker 1: king tomorrow. But all this gives me no satisfaction as
• 18:47
  Speaker 1: long as I see that jew Mordecai sitting at the
• 18:50
  Speaker 1: King's gate, his wife's Aresch and all his friends said
• 18:54
  Speaker 1: to him, have a pole set up reaching to a
• 18:57
  Speaker 1: height of fifty cubits us the king in the morning
• 19:01
  Speaker 1: to have Mordecai impaled on it. Then go with the
• 19:04
  Speaker 1: king to the banquet and enjoy yourself. This suggestion delighted Haman,
• 19:10
  Speaker 1: and he had the pole set up esther chapter six.
• 19:18
  Speaker 1: That night, the king could not sleep, so he ordered
• 19:21
  Speaker 1: the Book of the Chronicles, the record of his reign,
• 19:24
  Speaker 1: to be brought in and read to him. It was
• 19:27
  Speaker 1: found recorded there that Mordecai had exposed Bigthana and ti Esh,
• 19:31
  Speaker 1: two of the king's officers who guarded the doorway, who
• 19:35
  Speaker 1: had conspired to assassinate King's erxes. What honor and recognition
• 19:40
  Speaker 1: has Mordecai received for this, the king asked, Nothing has
• 19:44
  Speaker 1: been done for him. His attendants answered, the King said,
• 19:48
  Speaker 1: who is in the court now? Hayman had just entered
• 19:52
  Speaker 1: the outer court of the palace to speak to the
• 19:54
  Speaker 1: King about impaling Mordecai on the pole he had set
• 19:57
  Speaker 1: up for him. His attendance answered, hamon is standing in
• 20:02
  Speaker 1: the court. Bring him in, the king ordered. When Haman entered,
• 20:06
  Speaker 1: the king asked him what should be done for the
• 20:09
  Speaker 1: man the King delights to honor. Now? Haman thought to himself,
• 20:14
  Speaker 1: who is there that the King would rather honor than me?
• 20:19
  Speaker 1: So he answered the king, for the man the King
• 20:22
  Speaker 1: delights to honor, have them bring a royal robe the
• 20:26
  Speaker 1: king has worn, and a horse the King has ridden,
• 20:30
  Speaker 1: one with a royal crest placed on its head. Then
• 20:33
  Speaker 1: let the robe and horse be entrusted to one of
• 20:36
  Speaker 1: the King's most noble princes. Let them robe the man
• 20:40
  Speaker 1: the King delights to honor, and lead him on the
• 20:43
  Speaker 1: horse through the city streets, proclaiming before him, this is
• 20:48
  Speaker 1: what is done for the man the King delights to honor.
• 20:52
  Speaker 1: Go at once, the King commanded Haman, get the robe
• 20:56
  Speaker 1: and the horse, and do just as you have suggested
• 21:00
  Speaker 1: for Mordecai, the Jew who sits at the King's gate.
• 21:04
  Speaker 1: Do not neglect anything you have recommended. So Haman got
• 21:09
  Speaker 1: the robe and the horse. He robed Mordecai and led
• 21:13
  Speaker 1: him on horseback through the city streets, proclaiming before him,
• 21:17
  Speaker 1: this is what is done for the man the King
• 21:20
  Speaker 1: delights to honor. Afterward, Mordecai returned to the King's gate,
• 21:26
  Speaker 1: but Haman rushed home with his head covered in grief,
• 21:29
  Speaker 1: and told Zareesh, his wife, and all his friends everything
• 21:33
  Speaker 1: that had happened to him. His advisers and his wife'saresch
• 21:37
  Speaker 1: said to him, since Mordechai, before whom your downfall has started,
• 21:42
  Speaker 1: is of Jewish origin, you cannot stand against him. You
• 21:47
  Speaker 1: will surely come to Ruin. While they were still talking
• 21:51
  Speaker 1: with him, the king's eunuchs arrived and hurried Hayman away
• 21:54
  Speaker 1: to the banquet Esther had prepared Esther Chapter seven. So
• 22:03
  Speaker 1: the King and Hayman went to Queen Esther's banquet, and
• 22:06
  Speaker 1: as they were drinking wine on the second day, the
• 22:09
  Speaker 1: king again asked Queen Esther, what is your petition? It
• 22:14
  Speaker 1: will be given you. What is your request? Even up
• 22:18
  Speaker 1: to half the kingdom, it will be granted. Then, Queen
• 22:23
  Speaker 1: ester answered, if I have found favor with you, your majesty,
• 22:28
  Speaker 1: and if it pleases you, grant me my life. This
• 22:32
  Speaker 1: is my petition, and spare my people. This is my
• 22:37
  Speaker 1: request for I and my people have been sold to
• 22:41
  Speaker 1: be destroyed, killed and annihilated. If we had merely been
• 22:46
  Speaker 1: sold as male and female slaves, I would have kept quiet,
• 22:50
  Speaker 1: because no such distress would justify disturbing the king. King
• 22:56
  Speaker 1: Xerxes asked Queen Esther, who is he? Where? Where is he?
• 23:00
  Speaker 1: The man who has dared to do such a thing?
• 23:05
  Speaker 1: Ester said, an adversary and enemy, this vile Hayman. Then
• 23:12
  Speaker 1: Hayman was terrified before the King and queen. The King
• 23:15
  Speaker 1: got up in a rage, left his wine and went
• 23:18
  Speaker 1: out into the palace garden. But Hayman, realizing that the
• 23:22
  Speaker 1: king had already decided his fate, stayed behind to beg
• 23:27
  Speaker 1: Queen Esther for his life. Just as the king returned
• 23:31
  Speaker 1: from the palace garden to the banquet hall, Haymon was
• 23:34
  Speaker 1: falling on the couch where Esther was reclining. The king exclaimed,
• 23:40
  Speaker 1: will he even molest the queen while she is with
• 23:43
  Speaker 1: me in the house. As soon as the word left
• 23:47
  Speaker 1: the king's mouth, they covered Hayman's face. Then Harbona, one
• 23:52
  Speaker 1: of the eunuchs attending the king, said, a pole reaching
• 23:56
  Speaker 1: to a height of fifty cubits stands by Hayman's house.
• 24:00
  Speaker 1: He had it set up for Mordecai, who spoke up
• 24:03
  Speaker 1: to help the king. The King said, impale him on it.
• 24:08
  Speaker 1: So they impaled Haman on the pole he had set
• 24:11
  Speaker 1: up for Mordecai. Then the king's fury subsided Esther. Chapter eight.
• 24:21
  Speaker 1: That same day, King Xerxes gave Queen Esther the estate
• 24:25
  Speaker 1: of Haman, the enemy of the Jews, and Mordecai came
• 24:29
  Speaker 1: into the presence of the king, for Esther had told
• 24:32
  Speaker 1: how he was related to her. The king took off
• 24:35
  Speaker 1: his signet ring, which he had reclaimed from Haman, and
• 24:38
  Speaker 1: presented it to Mordecai, and Esther appointed him over Hayman's estate.
• 24:45
  Speaker 1: Ester again pleaded with the king, falling at his feet
• 24:48
  Speaker 1: and weeping. She begged him to put an end to
• 24:52
  Speaker 1: the evil plan of Haman the Agagite, which he had
• 24:55
  Speaker 1: devised against the Jews. Then the king extended the gold
• 24:59
  Speaker 1: scepter to Esther, and she arose and stood before him.
• 25:04
  Speaker 1: If it pleases the King, she said, and if he
• 25:07
  Speaker 1: regards me with favor and thinks it the right thing
• 25:10
  Speaker 1: to do, and if he is pleased with me, let
• 25:14
  Speaker 1: an order be written overruling the despatches that Haman, son
• 25:18
  Speaker 1: of Hamadaetha the Agagite, devised and wrote to destroy the
• 25:22
  Speaker 1: Jews in all the King's provinces. For how can I
• 25:26
  Speaker 1: bear to see disaster fall on my people? How can
• 25:30
  Speaker 1: I bear to see the destruction of my family. King's
• 25:34
  Speaker 1: Eerxes replied to Queen Esther and to Mordecai, the Jew
• 25:38
  Speaker 1: because Haman attacked the Jews. I have given his estate
• 25:42
  Speaker 1: to Esther, and they have impaled him on the pole
• 25:45
  Speaker 1: he set up. Now write another decree in the King's
• 25:49
  Speaker 1: name in behalf of all the Jews, as seems best
• 25:52
  Speaker 1: to you, and seal it with the King's signet ring.
• 25:56
  Speaker 1: For no document written in the King's name and seal
• 25:59
  Speaker 1: it with his ring can be revoked at once. The
• 26:04
  Speaker 1: royal secretaries were summoned on the twenty third day of
• 26:07
  Speaker 1: the third month, the month of Saivan. They rode out
• 26:10
  Speaker 1: all Mordechai's orders to the Jews and to the satraps,
• 26:14
  Speaker 1: governors and nobles of the one hundred and twenty seven
• 26:17
  Speaker 1: provinces stretching from India to Kush. These orders were written
• 26:22
  Speaker 1: in the script of each province and in the language
• 26:25
  Speaker 1: of each people, and also to the Jews in their
• 26:27
  Speaker 1: own script and language. Mordecai wrote in the name of
• 26:31
  Speaker 1: King Xerxes, sealed the despatches with the King's signet ring,
• 26:35
  Speaker 1: and sent them by mounted couriers who rode fast horses
• 26:39
  Speaker 1: especially bred for the king. The King's edict granted the
• 26:44
  Speaker 1: Jews in every city the right to assemble and protect themselves,
• 26:48
  Speaker 1: to destroy, kill, and annihilate the armed men of any
• 26:52
  Speaker 1: nationality or province who might attack them and their women
• 26:56
  Speaker 1: and children, and to plunder the property of their enemies.
• 27:00
  Speaker 1: The day appointed for the Jews to do this in
• 27:03
  Speaker 1: all the provinces of King Xerxes was the thirteenth day
• 27:07
  Speaker 1: of the twelfth month, the month of Adar. A copy
• 27:12
  Speaker 1: of the text of the edict was to be issued
• 27:14
  Speaker 1: as law in every province and made known to the
• 27:17
  Speaker 1: people of every nationality, so that the Jews would be
• 27:20
  Speaker 1: ready on that day to avenge themselves on their enemies.
• 27:25
  Speaker 1: The couriers riding the royal horses went out, spurred on
• 27:29
  Speaker 1: by the king's command, and the edict was issued in
• 27:32
  Speaker 1: the citadel of Susa. When Mordecai left the king's presence,
• 27:38
  Speaker 1: he was wearing royal garments of blue and white, a
• 27:41
  Speaker 1: large crown of gold, and a purple robe of fine linen.
• 27:45
  Speaker 1: And the city of Susa held a joyous celebration for
• 27:49
  Speaker 1: the Jews. It was a time of happiness and joy,
• 27:53
  Speaker 1: gladness and honor. And every province and in every city
• 27:58
  Speaker 1: to which the edict of the king came, there was
• 28:01
  Speaker 1: joy and gladness among the Jews with feasting and celebrating,
• 28:06
  Speaker 1: and many people of other nationalities became Jews because fear
• 28:11
  Speaker 1: of the Jews had seized them. Esther chapter nine, on
• 28:19
  Speaker 1: the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the month of Adar,
• 28:23
  Speaker 1: the edict commanded by the king was to be carried
• 28:26
  Speaker 1: out on this day. The enemies of the Jews had
• 28:29
  Speaker 1: hoped to overpower them, but now the tables were turned
• 28:33
  Speaker 1: and the Jews got the upper hand over those who
• 28:36
  Speaker 1: hated them. The Jews assembled in their cities in all
• 28:39
  Speaker 1: the provinces of King Xerxes to attack those determined to
• 28:43
  Speaker 1: destroy them. No one could stand against them because the
• 28:48
  Speaker 1: people of all the other nationalities were afraid of them,
• 28:52
  Speaker 1: and all the nobles of the provinces, the satraps, the governors,
• 28:56
  Speaker 1: and the king's administrators helped the Jews because fear of
• 29:00
  Speaker 1: Mordecai had seized them. Mordecai was prominent in the palace.
• 29:05
  Speaker 1: His reputation spread throughout the provinces, and he became more
• 29:09
  Speaker 1: and more powerful. The Jews struck down all their enemies
• 29:14
  Speaker 1: with the sword, killing and destroying them, and they did
• 29:18
  Speaker 1: what they pleased to those who hated them. In the
• 29:21
  Speaker 1: citadel of Susa, the Jews killed and destroyed five hundred men.
• 29:25
  Speaker 1: They also killed Parshandatha, delphon As, Paeitha, poor Atha, Adalia, Eredaetha, Parmashta, Eripsi, Eridai,
• 29:34
  Speaker 1: and Vyzantha, the ten sons of Haman, sons of Hammadaetha,
• 29:39
  Speaker 1: the enemy of the Jews, but they did not lay
• 29:42
  Speaker 1: their hands on the plunder. The number of those killed
• 29:46
  Speaker 1: in the Citadel of Susa was reported to the king
• 29:48
  Speaker 1: that same day. The King said to Queen Esther, the
• 29:52
  Speaker 1: Jews have killed and destroyed five hundred men and the
• 29:56
  Speaker 1: ten sons of Haman in the citadel of Susa. What
• 29:59
  Speaker 1: have they done in the rest of the King's provinces. Now,
• 30:04
  Speaker 1: what is your petition? It will be given you. What
• 30:07
  Speaker 1: is your request, It will also be granted if it
• 30:12
  Speaker 1: pleases the King. Esther answered, give the Jews in Susa
• 30:16
  Speaker 1: permission to carry out this day's edict tomorrow also, and
• 30:21
  Speaker 1: let Haman's ten sons be impaled on polls. So the
• 30:25
  Speaker 1: king commanded that this be done. An edict was issued
• 30:29
  Speaker 1: in Susa, and they impaled the ten sons of Haman.
• 30:33
  Speaker 1: The Jews and Susa came together on the fourteenth day
• 30:36
  Speaker 1: of the month of Adar, and they put to death
• 30:38
  Speaker 1: in Susa three hundred men, but they did not lay
• 30:42
  Speaker 1: their hands on the plunder. Meanwhile, the remainder of the
• 30:46
  Speaker 1: Jews who were in the king's provinces also assembled to
• 30:49
  Speaker 1: protect themselves and get relief from their enemies. They killed
• 30:53
  Speaker 1: seventy five thousand of them, but did not lay their
• 30:57
  Speaker 1: hands on the plunder. This happened on the thirteenth day
• 31:00
  Speaker 1: of the month of Adar, and on the fourteenth day
• 31:03
  Speaker 1: they rested and made it a day of feasting and joy.
• 31:07
  Speaker 1: The Jews in Susa, however, had assembled on the thirteenth
• 31:11
  Speaker 1: and fourteenth, and then on the fifteenth they rested and
• 31:15
  Speaker 1: made it a day of feasting and joy. That is
• 31:18
  Speaker 1: why rural Jews those living in villages observed the fourteenth
• 31:23
  Speaker 1: of the month of Adar as a day of joy
• 31:25
  Speaker 1: and feasting, a day for giving presents to each other.
• 31:29
  Speaker 1: Mordecai recorded these events, and he sent letters to all
• 31:33
  Speaker 1: the Jews throughout the provinces of King Xerxes near and far,
• 31:37
  Speaker 1: to have them celebrate annually the fourteenth and fifteenth days
• 31:41
  Speaker 1: of the month of Adar as the time when the
• 31:44
  Speaker 1: Jews got relief from their enemies, and as the month
• 31:47
  Speaker 1: when their sorrow was turned into joy and their morning
• 31:52
  Speaker 1: into a day of celebration, he wrote them to observe
• 31:55
  Speaker 1: the days as days of feasting and joy, and giving
• 31:59
  Speaker 1: present of food to one another and gifts to the poor.
• 32:04
  Speaker 1: So the Jews agreed to continue the celebration they had
• 32:07
  Speaker 1: begun doing what Mordecai had written to them. For Haman,
• 32:12
  Speaker 1: son of Hamadaetha, the Agagite, the enemy of all the Jews,
• 32:16
  Speaker 1: had plotted against the Jews to destroy them, and had
• 32:20
  Speaker 1: cast the pure that is the lot, for their ruin
• 32:24
  Speaker 1: and destruction. But when the plot came to the king's attention,
• 32:28
  Speaker 1: he issued written orders that the evil scheme Hayman had
• 32:32
  Speaker 1: devised against the Jews should come back on to his
• 32:36
  Speaker 1: own head, and that he and his sons would be
• 32:39
  Speaker 1: impaled on poles. Therefore, these days were called Purim, from
• 32:44
  Speaker 1: the word pure. Because of everything written in this letter,
• 32:48
  Speaker 1: and because of what they had seen and what had
• 32:51
  Speaker 1: happened to them, the Jews took it on themselves to
• 32:55
  Speaker 1: establish the custom that they and their descendants and all
• 32:59
  Speaker 1: who joined them, should without fail observe these two days
• 33:03
  Speaker 1: every year in the way prescribed and at the time appointed.
• 33:08
  Speaker 1: These days should be remembered and observed in every generation,
• 33:11
  Speaker 1: by every family, and in every province and in every city.
• 33:16
  Speaker 1: And these days of Purim should never fail to be
• 33:20
  Speaker 1: celebrated by the Jews, nor should the memory of these
• 33:24
  Speaker 1: days die out among their descendants. So Queen Ester, daughter
• 33:29
  Speaker 1: of Abihail, along with Mordecai the Jew, wrote with full
• 33:34
  Speaker 1: authority to confirm this second letter concerning Purim, and Mordecai
• 33:39
  Speaker 1: sent letters to all the Jews in the one hundred
• 33:42
  Speaker 1: twenty seven provinces of xerxes Kingdom, words of good will
• 33:46
  Speaker 1: and assurance to establish these days of Purim as their
• 33:50
  Speaker 1: designated times, as Mordecai the Jew and Queen Ester had
• 33:54
  Speaker 1: decreed for them, and as they had established for themselves
• 33:58
  Speaker 1: and their descendants in regard to their times of fasting
• 34:02
  Speaker 1: and lamentation. Ester's decree confirmed these regulations about Purim, and
• 34:08
  Speaker 1: it was written down in the Records Ester Chapter ten.
• 34:17
  Speaker 1: King Xerxes imposed tribute throughout the empire to its distant shores,
• 34:22
  Speaker 1: and all his acts of power and might, together with
• 34:25
  Speaker 1: a full account of the greatness of Mordecai, whom the
• 34:28
  Speaker 1: king had promoted, are they not? Written in the Book
• 34:32
  Speaker 1: of the Annals of the Kings of Media and Persia.
• 34:36
  Speaker 1: Mordecai the Jew was second in rank to King Xerxes,
• 34:39
  Speaker 1: pre eminent among the Jews and held in high esteem
• 34:43
  Speaker 1: by his many fellow Jews, because he worked for the
• 34:46
  Speaker 1: good of his people and spoke up for the welfare
• 34:49
  Speaker 1: of all the Jews. Ester Chapter one. This is what
• 34:57
  Speaker 1: happened during the time of Xerxes. These Xerxes, who ruled
• 35:01
  Speaker 1: over one hundred and twenty seven provinces stretching from India
• 35:05
  Speaker 1: to Cush At that time, King Xerxes reigned from his
• 35:09
  Speaker 1: royal throne in the Citadel of Susa, and in the
• 35:13
  Speaker 1: third year of his reign, he gave a banquet for
• 35:15
  Speaker 1: all his nobles and officials. The military leaders of Persia
• 35:20
  Speaker 1: and Media, the princes and the nobles of the provinces
• 35:23
  Speaker 1: were present. For a full one hundred and eighty days.
• 35:27
  Speaker 1: He displayed the vast wealth of his kingdom and the
• 35:31
  Speaker 1: splendor and glory of his majesty. When these days were over,
• 35:35
  Speaker 1: the king gave a banquet lasting seven days in the
• 35:39
  Speaker 1: enclosed garden of the King's Palace for all the people
• 35:43
  Speaker 1: from the least to the greatest who were in the
• 35:45
  Speaker 1: citadel of Susa. The garden had hangings of white and
• 35:49
  Speaker 1: blue linen fastened with cords of white linen and purple
• 35:53
  Speaker 1: material to silver rings on marble pillars. There were couches
• 35:57
  Speaker 1: of gold and silver on a mosaic pavement, and of
• 36:00
  Speaker 1: poor fiery marble, mother of pearl and other costly stones.
• 36:06
  Speaker 1: Wine was served in goblets of gold, each one different
• 36:10
  Speaker 1: from the other, and the royal wine was abundant in
• 36:13
  Speaker 1: keeping with the King's liberality. By the king's command, each
• 36:17
  Speaker 1: guest was allowed to drink with no restrictions, where the
• 36:21
  Speaker 1: king instructed all the wine stewards to serve each man
• 36:25
  Speaker 1: what he wished. Queen Vashtei also gave a banquet for
• 36:29
  Speaker 1: the women in the royal palace of King Xerxes. On
• 36:33
  Speaker 1: the seventh day, when King Xerxes was in high spirits
• 36:37
  Speaker 1: from wine, he commanded the seven eunuchs who served him, Meheuman, Biztha,
• 36:42
  Speaker 1: harbona Bigtha, Abagtha, Ziphar and Carcas to bring before him
• 36:48
  Speaker 1: Queen Vashtei, wearing her royal crown, in order to display
• 36:52
  Speaker 1: her beauty to the people and nobles, for she was
• 36:55
  Speaker 1: lovely to look at. But when the attendants delivered the
• 36:59
  Speaker 1: king's command, Queen vashte refused to come. Then the king
• 37:04
  Speaker 1: became furious and burned with anger. Since it was customary
• 37:08
  Speaker 1: for the king to consult experts in matters of law
• 37:11
  Speaker 1: and justice, he spoke with the wise men who understood
• 37:14
  Speaker 1: the times and were the closest to the king, Karshena,
• 37:19
  Speaker 1: shethar Admetha, Tarshish Maris, Marsena and Mamukin, the seven nobles
• 37:26
  Speaker 1: of Persia and Media, who had special access to the
• 37:29
  Speaker 1: King and were the highest in the kingdom according to law.
• 37:33
  Speaker 1: What must be done to Queen Vashtei, he asked, she
• 37:37
  Speaker 1: has not obeyed the command of King Xerxes that the
• 37:40
  Speaker 1: eunuchs have taken to her. Then Mamukin replied, in the
• 37:43
  Speaker 1: presence of the King and the nobles, Queen VASHTEI has
• 37:47
  Speaker 1: done wrong not only against the King, but also against
• 37:51
  Speaker 1: all the nobles and the peoples of all the provinces
• 37:55
  Speaker 1: of King Xerxes. For the queen's conduct will become known
• 37:58
  Speaker 1: to all the women, and so they will despise their
• 38:01
  Speaker 1: husbands and say. King Xerxes commanded Queen voshte to be
• 38:06
  Speaker 1: brought before him, but she would not come this very day.
• 38:10
  Speaker 1: The Persian and Median women and the nobility, who have
• 38:13
  Speaker 1: heard about the queen's conduct will respond to all the
• 38:17
  Speaker 1: King's nobles in the same way. There will be no
• 38:21
  Speaker 1: end of disrespect and discord. Therefore, if it pleases the King,
• 38:27
  Speaker 1: let him issue a royal decree, and let it be
• 38:30
  Speaker 1: written in the laws of Persia and Media which cannot
• 38:33
  Speaker 1: be repealed, that Vashtee is never again to enter the
• 38:37
  Speaker 1: presence of King Xerxes. Also, let the King give her
• 38:42
  Speaker 1: royal position to some one else who is better than she. Then,
• 38:47
  Speaker 1: when the King's edict is proclaimed throughout all his vast realm,
• 38:51
  Speaker 1: all the women will respect their husbands from the least
• 38:55
  Speaker 1: to the greatest. The king and his nobles were pleased
• 38:59
  Speaker 1: with this advice, so the king did as Mamukin proposed.
• 39:03
  Speaker 1: He sent despatches to all parts of the kingdom, to
• 39:06
  Speaker 1: each province in its own script, and to each people
• 39:09
  Speaker 1: in their own language, proclaiming that every man should be
• 39:13
  Speaker 1: ruler over his own household using his native tongue. Ester
• 39:20
  Speaker 1: chapter two later, when King Xerxes Fury had subsided, he
• 39:26
  Speaker 1: remembered Voshtei and what she had done and what he
• 39:29
  Speaker 1: had decreed about her. Then the king's personal attendants proposed,
• 39:34
  Speaker 1: let a search be made for beautiful young virgins for
• 39:37
  Speaker 1: the king. Let the King appoint commissioners in every province
• 39:41
  Speaker 1: of his realm to bring all these beautiful young women
• 39:44
  Speaker 1: to the harem at the Citadel of Susa. Let them
• 39:48
  Speaker 1: be placed under the care of Hagai, the King's eunuch,
• 39:52
  Speaker 1: who is in charge of the women, and let beauty
• 39:54
  Speaker 1: treatments be given to them. Then let the young woman
• 39:58
  Speaker 1: who pleases the king be queen ind stead of Vashtai.
• 40:02
  Speaker 1: This advice appealed to the king, and he followed it.
• 40:05
  Speaker 1: Now there was in the citadel of Susa a Jew
• 40:08
  Speaker 1: of the tribe of Benjamin named Mordechai, son of jer
• 40:12
  Speaker 1: the son of SIMIAI, the son of Kish, who had
• 40:15
  Speaker 1: been carried into exile from Jerusalem by Nebekonezzar, king of Babylon,
• 40:20
  Speaker 1: among those taken captive with jehoyacin King of Judah. Mordechai
• 40:25
  Speaker 1: had a cousin named Hadassa, whom he had brought up
• 40:28
  Speaker 1: because she had neither father nor mother. This young woman,
• 40:32
  Speaker 1: who was also known as Esther, had a lovely figure
• 40:35
  Speaker 1: and was beautiful. Mordechai had taken her as his own
• 40:40
  Speaker 1: daughter when her father and mother died. When the King's
• 40:44
  Speaker 1: order and edict had been proclaimed, many young women were
• 40:47
  Speaker 1: brought to the citadel of Susa and put under the
• 40:50
  Speaker 1: care of Hagai. Ester also was taken to the King's
• 40:54
  Speaker 1: palace and entrusted to Hagai, who had charge of the harem.
• 40:59
  Speaker 1: She pleased him and won his favor immediately. He provided
• 41:04
  Speaker 1: her with beauty treatments and special food. He assigned to
• 41:08
  Speaker 1: her seven female attendants selected from the King's palace, and
• 41:11
  Speaker 1: moved her and her attendants into the best place in
• 41:14
  Speaker 1: the harem. Esther had not revealed her nationality and family
• 41:19
  Speaker 1: background because Mordecai had forbidden her to do so. Every
• 41:23
  Speaker 1: day he walked back and forth near the courtyard of
• 41:26
  Speaker 1: the harem to find out how Esther was and what
• 41:29
  Speaker 1: was happening to her. Before a young woman's turn came
• 41:33
  Speaker 1: to go into King's erxes, she had to complete twelve
• 41:37
  Speaker 1: months of beauty treatments prescribed for the women, six months
• 41:42
  Speaker 1: with oil of mirr and six with perfumes and cosmetics,
• 41:46
  Speaker 1: and this is how she would go to the king.
• 41:49
  Speaker 1: Anything she wanted was given her to take with her
• 41:52
  Speaker 1: from the harem to the king's palace. In the evening,
• 41:56
  Speaker 1: she would go there and in the morning return to
• 41:59
  Speaker 1: another part of the harem, to the care of Seyashkas,
• 42:03
  Speaker 1: the king's eunuch, who was in charge of the concubines.
• 42:06
  Speaker 1: She would not return to the king unless he was
• 42:08
  Speaker 1: pleased with her and summoned her by name. When the
• 42:12
  Speaker 1: turn came for Ester, the young woman Mordecai had adopted,
• 42:16
  Speaker 1: the daughter of his uncle Abahil, to go to the king.
• 42:20
  Speaker 1: She asked for nothing other than what Hagui, the king's eunuch,
• 42:24
  Speaker 1: who was in charge of the harem, suggested, and Ester
• 42:28
  Speaker 1: won the favor of everyone who saw her. She was
• 42:32
  Speaker 1: taken to King Xerxes in the royal residence in the
• 42:35
  Speaker 1: tenth month, the month of Tibath, in the seventh year
• 42:38
  Speaker 1: of his reign. Now the king was attracted to esther
• 42:42
  Speaker 1: more than to any of the other women, and she
• 42:45
  Speaker 1: won his favor and approval more than any of the
• 42:49
  Speaker 1: other virgins, So he set a royal crown on her
• 42:53
  Speaker 1: head and made her queen instead of Vashtai, and the
• 42:58
  Speaker 1: king gave a great banquet, Ester's Banquet for all his
• 43:02
  Speaker 1: nobles and officials. He proclaimed a holiday throughout the provinces
• 43:07
  Speaker 1: and distributed gifts with royal liberality. When the virgins were
• 43:12
  Speaker 1: assembled a second time, Mordecai was sitting at the King's gate,
• 43:17
  Speaker 1: but Ester had kept secret her family background and nationality,
• 43:21
  Speaker 1: just as Mordecai had told her to do, for she
• 43:24
  Speaker 1: continued to follow Mordecai's instructions as she had done when
• 43:28
  Speaker 1: he was bringing her up. During the time Mordecai was
• 43:32
  Speaker 1: sitting at the King's gate, Bigthena and Tearesh, two of
• 43:36
  Speaker 1: the king's officers who guarded the doorway, became angry and
• 43:40
  Speaker 1: conspired to assassinate King's Erxes. But Mordechai found out about
• 43:45
  Speaker 1: the plot and told Queen Esther, who in turn reported
• 43:49
  Speaker 1: it to the king, giving credit to Mordecai, and when
• 43:53
  Speaker 1: the report was investigated and found to be true, the
• 43:56
  Speaker 1: two officials were impaled on polls. All this was recorded
• 44:00
  Speaker 1: in the Book of the Annals In the Presence of
• 44:02
  Speaker 1: the King Esther, chapter three. After these events, King Xerxes
• 44:12
  Speaker 1: honored Hayman, son of Hammadepha, the Agagite elevating him and
• 44:17
  Speaker 1: giving him a seat of honor higher than that of
• 44:20
  Speaker 1: all the other nobles. All the royal officials at the
• 44:24
  Speaker 1: king's gate knelt down and paid honor to Haman, for
• 44:27
  Speaker 1: the king had commanded this concerning him, but Mordechai would
• 44:32
  Speaker 1: not kneel down or pay him honor. Then the royal
• 44:35
  Speaker 1: officials at the King's gate asked Mordecai, why do you
• 44:38
  Speaker 1: disobey the King's command? Day after day they spoke to him,
• 44:42
  Speaker 1: but he refused to comply. Therefore, they told Hayman about
• 44:47
  Speaker 1: it to see whether Mordechai's behavior could be tolerated, for
• 44:51
  Speaker 1: he had told them he was a Jew. When Haman
• 44:54
  Speaker 1: saw that Mordechai would not kneel down or pay him honor,
• 44:58
  Speaker 1: he was enraged. Yet, having learned who Mordechai's people were,
• 45:03
  Speaker 1: he scorned the idea of killing only Mordechai. Instead, Hayman
• 45:08
  Speaker 1: looked for a way to destroy all Mordechai's people, the
• 45:12
  Speaker 1: Jews throughout the whole Kingdom of Xerxes. In the twelfth
• 45:17
  Speaker 1: year of King Xerxes, in the first month the month
• 45:21
  Speaker 1: of Nisson, the pure, that is, the lot was cast
• 45:24
  Speaker 1: in the presence of Haman to select a day and month,
• 45:28
  Speaker 1: and the lot fell on the twelvemonth, the month of Adar.
• 45:32
  Speaker 1: Then Hayman said to King Xerxes, there is a certain
• 45:35
  Speaker 1: people dispersed among the peoples in all the provinces of
• 45:39
  Speaker 1: your kingdom, who keep themselves separate. Their customs are different
• 45:43
  Speaker 1: from those of all other people, and they do not
• 45:47
  Speaker 1: obey the King's laws. It is not in the King's
• 45:50
  Speaker 1: best interest to tolerate them. If it pleases the King,
• 45:55
  Speaker 1: let a decree be issued to destroy them, and I
• 45:58
  Speaker 1: will give ten thousand talents of silver to the King's
• 46:01
  Speaker 1: administrators for the royal treasury. So the king took his
• 46:06
  Speaker 1: signet ring from his finger and gave it to Haman,
• 46:09
  Speaker 1: son of Hamadepa, the Agagite, the enemy of the Jews.
• 46:13
  Speaker 1: Keep the money, the king said to Haman, and do
• 46:16
  Speaker 1: with the people as you please. Then on the thirteenth
• 46:20
  Speaker 1: day of the first month, the royal secretaries were summoned.
• 46:24
  Speaker 1: They wrote out in the script of each province and
• 46:27
  Speaker 1: in the language of each people, all Hayman's orders to
• 46:30
  Speaker 1: the King's satraps, the governors of the various provinces, and
• 46:34
  Speaker 1: the nobles of the various peoples. These were written in
• 46:37
  Speaker 1: the name of King Xerxes himself and sealed with his
• 46:41
  Speaker 1: own ring. Despatches were sent by couriers to all the
• 46:45
  Speaker 1: king's provinces with the order to destroy, kill, and annihilate
• 46:50
  Speaker 1: all the Jews, young and old, women and children on
• 46:54
  Speaker 1: a single day, the thirteenth day of the twelfth month,
• 46:58
  Speaker 1: the month of Adar, and to plunder their goods. A
• 47:02
  Speaker 1: copy of the text of the edict was said to
• 47:04
  Speaker 1: be issued as law in every province and made known
• 47:08
  Speaker 1: to the people of every nationality, so they would be
• 47:11
  Speaker 1: ready for that day. The couriers went out, spurred on
• 47:15
  Speaker 1: by the king's command, and the edict was issued. In
• 47:18
  Speaker 1: the citadel of Susa, the King and Hayman sat down
• 47:22
  Speaker 1: to drink, but the city of Susa was bewildered. Esther
• 47:30
  Speaker 1: chapter four. When Mordecai learned of all that had been done,
• 47:35
  Speaker 1: he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and ashes, and
• 47:39
  Speaker 1: went out into the city, wailing loudly and bitterly. But
• 47:43
  Speaker 1: he went only as far as the King's gate, because
• 47:46
  Speaker 1: no one clothed in sackcloth was allowed to enter it.
• 47:50
  Speaker 1: In every province to which the edict and order of
• 47:53
  Speaker 1: the king came. There was great mourning among the Jews,
• 47:57
  Speaker 1: with fasting, weeping and wailing. Many lay in sackcloth and ashes.
• 48:03
  Speaker 1: When Esther's eunuchs and female attendants came and told her
• 48:07
  Speaker 1: about Mordecai, she was in great distress. She sent clothes
• 48:11
  Speaker 1: for him to put on instead of his sackcloth, but
• 48:14
  Speaker 1: he would not accept them. Then Esther summoned Hathik, one
• 48:19
  Speaker 1: of the king's eunuchs assigned to attend her, and ordered
• 48:23
  Speaker 1: him to find out what was troubling Mordecai and why.
• 48:27
  Speaker 1: So Hathok went out to Mordecai in the open square
• 48:30
  Speaker 1: of the city in front of the King's gate. Mordecai
• 48:33
  Speaker 1: told him everything that had happened to him, including the
• 48:37
  Speaker 1: exact amount of money Hayman had promised to pay into
• 48:40
  Speaker 1: the royal treasury for the destruction of the Jews. He
• 48:44
  Speaker 1: also gave him a copy of the text of the
• 48:47
  Speaker 1: Edict for their annihilation, which had been published in Susa,
• 48:51
  Speaker 1: to show to Esther and explain it to her, and
• 48:54
  Speaker 1: he told him to instruct her to go into the
• 48:57
  Speaker 1: King's presence to beg for mercy and plead with him
• 49:01
  Speaker 1: for her people. Athok went back and reported to Esther
• 49:05
  Speaker 1: what Mordechai had said. Then she instructed him to say
• 49:08
  Speaker 1: to Mordecai, all the King's officials and the people of
• 49:12
  Speaker 1: the royal provinces know that for any man or woman
• 49:16
  Speaker 1: who approaches the King in the inner court without being summoned,
• 49:20
  Speaker 1: the King has but one law, that they be put
• 49:24
  Speaker 1: to death, unless the King extends the gold scepter to
• 49:28
  Speaker 1: them and spares their lives. But thirty days have passed
• 49:32
  Speaker 1: since I was called to go to the king. When
• 49:35
  Speaker 1: Esther's words were reported to Mordecai, he sent back this answer,
• 49:40
  Speaker 1: do not think that because you are in the King's house,
• 49:44
  Speaker 1: you alone of all the Jews, will escape. For if
• 49:47
  Speaker 1: you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for
• 49:52
  Speaker 1: the Jews will arise from another place. But you and
• 49:56
  Speaker 1: your father's family will perish. And who knows but they
• 50:00
  Speaker 1: you have come to your royal position for such a
• 50:03
  Speaker 1: time as this. Then Esther sent this reply to Mordecai.
• 50:09
  Speaker 1: Go gathered together all the Jews who are in Sousa,
• 50:13
  Speaker 1: and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for
• 50:17
  Speaker 1: three days night or day. I and my attendants will
• 50:21
  Speaker 1: fast as you do when this is done, I will
• 50:25
  Speaker 1: go to the king, even though it is against the law.
• 50:29
  Speaker 1: And if I perish, I perish. So Mordecai went away
• 50:35
  Speaker 1: and carried out all of Esther's instructions Esther Chapter five.
• 50:44
  Speaker 1: On the third day, Esther put on her royal robes
• 50:47
  Speaker 1: and stood in the inner court of the palace in
• 50:50
  Speaker 1: front of the King's hall. The King was sitting on
• 50:54
  Speaker 1: his royal throne in the hall facing the entrance. When
• 50:57
  Speaker 1: he saw Queen ester standing in the court. He was
• 51:01
  Speaker 1: pleased with her and held out to her the gold
• 51:04
  Speaker 1: scepter that was in his hand. So Esther approached and
• 51:08
  Speaker 1: touched the tip of the scepter. Then the King asked,
• 51:12
  Speaker 1: what is it, Queen Esther, what is your request? Even
• 51:16
  Speaker 1: up to half the kingdom, it will be given you
• 51:21
  Speaker 1: if it pleases. The King, replied, Esther. Let the King,
• 51:25
  Speaker 1: together with Hayman, come today to a banquet I have
• 51:28
  Speaker 1: prepared for him. Bring Hayman at once, the King said,
• 51:33
  Speaker 1: so that we may do what Ester asks. So the
• 51:37
  Speaker 1: King and Hayman went to the banquet Esther had prepared.
• 51:41
  Speaker 1: As they were drinking wine, the king again asked, Esther, now,
• 51:45
  Speaker 1: what is your petition? It will be given you. And
• 51:49
  Speaker 1: what is your request? Even up to half the kingdom,
• 51:53
  Speaker 1: it will be granted. Esther replied, my petition, and my
• 51:58
  Speaker 1: request is this. If the King regards me with favor,
• 52:03
  Speaker 1: and if it pleases the King to grant my petition
• 52:05
  Speaker 1: and fulfill my request, let the King and Hamon come
• 52:09
  Speaker 1: tomorrow to the banquet. I will prepare for them. Then
• 52:13
  Speaker 1: I will answer the King's question. Hayman went out that
• 52:18
  Speaker 1: day happy and in high spirits. But when he saw
• 52:22
  Speaker 1: Mordecai at the King's gate and observed that he neither
• 52:25
  Speaker 1: rose nor showed fear in his presence, he was filled
• 52:29
  Speaker 1: with rage against Mordecai. Nevertheless, Hamon restrained himself and went home,
• 52:37
  Speaker 1: calling together his friends and Zareesch, his wife. Hamon boasted
• 52:42
  Speaker 1: to them about his vast wealth, his many sons, and
• 52:46
  Speaker 1: all the ways the King had honored him, and how
• 52:49
  Speaker 1: he had elevated him above the other nobles and officials.
• 52:53
  Speaker 1: And that's not all, Haman added, I'm the only person
• 52:57
  Speaker 1: Queen Esther invited to accompany the king to to the
• 53:00
  Speaker 1: banquet she gave, and she has invited me along with
• 53:03
  Speaker 1: the king tomorrow. But all this gives me no satisfaction
• 53:08
  Speaker 1: as long as I see that jew Mordecai sitting at
• 53:11
  Speaker 1: the king's gate, his wife's Areesh and all his friends
• 53:15
  Speaker 1: said to him, have a pole set up, reaching to
• 53:18
  Speaker 1: a height of fifty cubits, and asked the king in
• 53:21
  Speaker 1: the morning to have Mordecai impaled on it. Then go
• 53:25
  Speaker 1: with the king to the banquet and enjoy yourself. This
• 53:28
  Speaker 1: suggestion delighted Haman, and he had the pole set up
• 53:36
  Speaker 1: esther chapter six. That night, the king could not sleep,
• 53:41
  Speaker 1: so he ordered the Book of the Chronicles, the record
• 53:44
  Speaker 1: of his reign, to be brought in and read to him.
• 53:47
  Speaker 1: It was found recorded there that Mordecai had exposed Bigthana
• 53:51
  Speaker 1: and ti Oresh, two of the king's officers who guarded
• 53:54
  Speaker 1: the doorway, who had conspired to assassinate King's erxes. What
• 53:59
  Speaker 1: honor and recognition has Mordecai received for this, the king asked,
• 54:04
  Speaker 1: nothing has been done for him. His attendants answered, the
• 54:07
  Speaker 1: King said, who is in the court now? Hayman had
• 54:12
  Speaker 1: just entered the outer court of the palace to speak
• 54:14
  Speaker 1: to the King about impaling Mordecai on the pole he
• 54:18
  Speaker 1: had set up for him. His attendants answered, Haymon is
• 54:22
  Speaker 1: standing in the court, bring him in, the king ordered.
• 54:26
  Speaker 1: When Haman entered, the king asked him what should be
• 54:29
  Speaker 1: done for the man the King delights to honor. Now
• 54:33
  Speaker 1: Haman thought to himself, who is there that the King
• 54:37
  Speaker 1: would rather honor than me? So he answered the king,
• 54:42
  Speaker 1: for the man the King delights to honor, have them
• 54:45
  Speaker 1: bring a royal robe the king has worn, and a
• 54:48
  Speaker 1: horse the King has ridden one with a royal crest
• 54:52
  Speaker 1: placed on its head. Then let the robe and horse
• 54:55
  Speaker 1: be entrusted to one of the King's most noble princes.
• 55:00
  Speaker 1: Let them robe the man the King delights to honor,
• 55:03
  Speaker 1: and lead him on the horse through the city streets,
• 55:06
  Speaker 1: proclaiming before him, this is what is done for the
• 55:10
  Speaker 1: man the King delights to honor. Go at once, the
• 55:14
  Speaker 1: King commanded Haman, get the robe and the horse, and
• 55:18
  Speaker 1: do just as you have suggested for Mordecai, the jew
• 55:22
  Speaker 1: who sits at the King's gate. Do not neglect anything
• 55:27
  Speaker 1: you have recommended. So Haman got the robe and the horse.
• 55:31
  Speaker 1: He robed Mordecai and led him on horseback through the
• 55:35
  Speaker 1: city streets, proclaiming before him, this is what is done
• 55:39
  Speaker 1: for the man the King delights to honor. Afterward, Mordecai
• 55:44
  Speaker 1: returned to the king's gate, but Haman rushed home with
• 55:48
  Speaker 1: his head covered in grief, and told Zareesh, his wife
• 55:52
  Speaker 1: and all his friends everything that had happened to him.
• 55:55
  Speaker 1: His advisers and his wife's Saresh said to him, since Mordecai,
• 56:00
  Speaker 1: before whom your downfall has started, is of Jewish origin,
• 56:05
  Speaker 1: you cannot stand against him. You will surely come to Ruin.
• 56:10
  Speaker 1: While they were still talking with him, the king's eunuchs
• 56:13
  Speaker 1: arrived and hurried Hayman away to the banquet Esther had
• 56:17
  Speaker 1: prepared Esther Chapter seven. So the king and Hayman went
• 56:25
  Speaker 1: to Queen Esther's banquet, and as they were drinking wine
• 56:28
  Speaker 1: on the second day, the king again asked Queen Esther,
• 56:33
  Speaker 1: what is your petition? It will be given you. What
• 56:37
  Speaker 1: is your request? Even up to half the kingdom it
• 56:41
  Speaker 1: will be granted. Then, Queen ester answered, if I have
• 56:46
  Speaker 1: found favor with you, your majesty, and if it pleases you,
• 56:51
  Speaker 1: grant me my life. This is my petition, and spare
• 56:55
  Speaker 1: my people. This is my request. For I and my
• 57:00
  Speaker 1: people have been sold to be destroyed, killed and annihilated.
• 57:06
  Speaker 1: If we had merely been sold as male and female slaves.
• 57:10
  Speaker 1: I would have kept quiet, because no such distress would
• 57:13
  Speaker 1: justify disturbing the king. King Xerxes asked Queen Esther, who
• 57:19
  Speaker 1: is he? Where is he the man who has dared
• 57:23
  Speaker 1: to do such a thing? Ester said, an adversary and enemy,
• 57:29
  Speaker 1: this vile Hayman. Then Hayman was terrified before the king
• 57:34
  Speaker 1: and queen. The king got up in a rage, left
• 57:38
  Speaker 1: his wine and went out into the palace garden. But Hayman,
• 57:42
  Speaker 1: realizing that the king had already decided his fate, stayed
• 57:47
  Speaker 1: behind to beg Queen Esther for his life. Just as
• 57:51
  Speaker 1: the king returned from the palace garden to the banquet hall,
• 57:54
  Speaker 1: Haymon was falling on the couch where Esther was reclining.
• 57:59
  Speaker 1: The king exclaimed, will he even molest the queen while
• 58:03
  Speaker 1: she is with me in the house. As soon as
• 58:07
  Speaker 1: the word left the King's mouth, they covered Hayman's face.
• 58:12
  Speaker 1: Then Harbona, one of the eunuchs attending the king, said,
• 58:15
  Speaker 1: a pole reaching to a height of fifty cubits stands
• 58:19
  Speaker 1: by Hayman's house. He had it set up for Mordecai,
• 58:22
  Speaker 1: who spoke up to help the king. The king said,
• 58:27
  Speaker 1: impale him on it. So they impaled Haman on the
• 58:31
  Speaker 1: pole he had set up for Mordecai. Then the king's
• 58:35
  Speaker 1: fury subsided Esther Chapter eight. That same day, King Xerxes
• 58:44
  Speaker 1: gave Queen Esther the estate of Haman, the enemy of
• 58:47
  Speaker 1: the Jews, and Mordecai came into the presence of the king,
• 58:51
  Speaker 1: for Esther had told how he was related to her.
• 58:55
  Speaker 1: The king took off his signet ring, which he had
• 58:58
  Speaker 1: reclaimed from Haman, and present it to Mordecai, and Esther
• 59:02
  Speaker 1: appointed him over Haman's estate. Ester again pleaded with the king,
• 59:08
  Speaker 1: falling at his feet and weeping. She begged him to
• 59:12
  Speaker 1: put an end to the evil plan of Haman the Agagite,
• 59:15
  Speaker 1: which he had devised against the Jews. Then the king
• 59:18
  Speaker 1: extended the gold scepter to Ester, and she arose and
• 59:22
  Speaker 1: stood before him. If it pleases the king, she said,
• 59:27
  Speaker 1: and if he regards me with favor and thinks it
• 59:30
  Speaker 1: the right thing to do, and if he is pleased
• 59:33
  Speaker 1: with me, let an order be written overruling the despatches
• 59:37
  Speaker 1: that Haman, son of Hamadaetha the Agagite, devised and wrote
• 59:42
  Speaker 1: to destroy the Jews in all the King's provinces. For
• 59:46
  Speaker 1: how can I bear to see disaster fall on my people?
• 59:50
  Speaker 1: How can I bear to see the destruction of my family?
• 59:54
  Speaker 1: King Xerxes replied to Queen Esther and to Mordecai the Jew,
• 59:59
  Speaker 1: because Haman attacked the Jews, I have given his estate
• 1:00:03
  Speaker 1: to Esther, and they have impaled him on the poll
• 1:00:06
  Speaker 1: he set up. Now write another decree in the King's
• 1:00:10
  Speaker 1: name in behalf of all the Jews, as seems best
• 1:00:13
  Speaker 1: to you, and seal it with the King's signet ring.
• 1:00:17
  Speaker 1: For no document written in the King's name and sealed
• 1:00:21
  Speaker 1: with his ring can be revoked at once. The royal
• 1:00:25
  Speaker 1: secretaries were summoned on the twenty third day of the
• 1:00:28
  Speaker 1: third month, the month of Saivan. They wrote out all
• 1:00:32
  Speaker 1: Mordechai's orders to the Jews and to the Satraps, governors
• 1:00:36
  Speaker 1: and nobles of the one hundred and twenty seven provinces
• 1:00:39
  Speaker 1: stretching from India to Kush. These orders were written in
• 1:00:43
  Speaker 1: the script of each province and in the language of
• 1:00:46
  Speaker 1: each people, and also to the Jews in their own
• 1:00:48
  Speaker 1: script and language. Mordecai wrote in the name of King
• 1:00:52
  Speaker 1: Xerxes sealed the dispatches with the King's signet ring and
• 1:00:56
  Speaker 1: sent them by mounted couriers who rode fast horses especially
• 1:01:00
  Speaker 1: bred for the king. The King's edict granted the Jews
• 1:01:05
  Speaker 1: in every city the right to assemble and protect themselves,
• 1:01:09
  Speaker 1: to destroy, kill, and annihilate the armed men of any
• 1:01:13
  Speaker 1: nationality or province who might attack them and their women
• 1:01:17
  Speaker 1: and children, and to plunder the property of their enemies.
• 1:01:21
  Speaker 1: The day appointed for the Jews to do this in
• 1:01:24
  Speaker 1: all the provinces of King Xerxes was the thirteenth day
• 1:01:28
  Speaker 1: of the twelfth month, the month of Adar. A copy
• 1:01:33
  Speaker 1: of the text of the edict was to be issued
• 1:01:35
  Speaker 1: as law in every province and made known to the
• 1:01:38
  Speaker 1: people of every nationality, so that the Jews would be
• 1:01:41
  Speaker 1: ready on that day to avenge themselves on their enemies.
• 1:01:46
  Speaker 1: The couriers riding the royal horses went out, spurred on
• 1:01:50
  Speaker 1: by the king's command, and the edict was issued in
• 1:01:53
  Speaker 1: the citadel of Susa. When Mordecai left the king's presence,
• 1:01:58
  Speaker 1: he was wearing royal garments of blue and white, a
• 1:02:02
  Speaker 1: large crown of gold and a purple robe of fine linen,
• 1:02:06
  Speaker 1: and the city of Susa held a joyous celebration for
• 1:02:10
  Speaker 1: the Jews. It was a time of happiness and joy,
• 1:02:14
  Speaker 1: gladness and honor. And every province and in every city
• 1:02:18
  Speaker 1: to which the edict of the king came, there was
• 1:02:22
  Speaker 1: joy and gladness among the Jews, with feasting and celebrating,
• 1:02:27
  Speaker 1: and many people of other nationalities became Jews because fear
• 1:02:32
  Speaker 1: of the Jews had seized them. Esther Chapter nine, on
• 1:02:40
  Speaker 1: the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the month of Adar,
• 1:02:44
  Speaker 1: the edict commanded by the king was to be carried
• 1:02:46
  Speaker 1: out on this day. The enemies of the Jews had
• 1:02:50
  Speaker 1: hoped to overpower them, but now the tables were turned
• 1:02:54
  Speaker 1: and the Jews got the upper hand over those who
• 1:02:57
  Speaker 1: hated them. The Jews assembled in their cities in all
• 1:03:00
  Speaker 1: the provinces of King Xerxes to attack those determined to
• 1:03:04
  Speaker 1: destroy them. No one could stand against them, because the
• 1:03:09
  Speaker 1: people of all the other nationalities were afraid of them,
• 1:03:13
  Speaker 1: and all the nobles of the provinces, the satraps, the governors,
• 1:03:17
  Speaker 1: and the king's administrators helped the Jews because fear of
• 1:03:21
  Speaker 1: Mordecai had seized them. Mordechai was prominent in the palace.
• 1:03:26
  Speaker 1: His reputation spread throughout the provinces, and he became more
• 1:03:30
  Speaker 1: and more powerful. The Jews struck down all their enemies
• 1:03:35
  Speaker 1: with the sword, killing and destroying them, and they did
• 1:03:38
  Speaker 1: what they pleased to those who hated them. In the
• 1:03:42
  Speaker 1: Citadel of Susa, the Jews killed and destroyed five hundred men.
• 1:03:46
  Speaker 1: They also killed Parshandatha, delphon as Peitha, por Atha, Adalia, Eredaetha, Parmashta, Eripsi, Eridai,
• 1:03:55
  Speaker 1: and Vyzantha, the ten sons of Haman, sons of Hamadetha,
• 1:04:00
  Speaker 1: the enemy of the Jews, but they did not lay
• 1:04:03
  Speaker 1: their hands on the plunder. The number of those killed
• 1:04:06
  Speaker 1: in the Citadel of Susa was reported to the King
• 1:04:09
  Speaker 1: that same day. The King said to Queen Esther, the
• 1:04:13
  Speaker 1: Jews have killed and destroyed five hundred men and the
• 1:04:17
  Speaker 1: ten sons of Haman in the Citadel of Susa. What
• 1:04:20
  Speaker 1: have they done in the rest of the King's provinces. Now,
• 1:04:24
  Speaker 1: what is your petition? It will be given you. What
• 1:04:28
  Speaker 1: is your request, It will also be granted if it
• 1:04:32
  Speaker 1: pleases the King. Ester answered, give the Jews in Susa
• 1:04:37
  Speaker 1: permission to carry out this day's edict tomorrow also, and
• 1:04:41
  Speaker 1: let Hayman's ten sons be impaled on poles. So the
• 1:04:46
  Speaker 1: king commanded that this be done. An edict was issued
• 1:04:50
  Speaker 1: in Susa, and they impaled the ten sons of Haman.
• 1:04:53
  Speaker 1: The Jews and Susa came together on the fourteenth day
• 1:04:56
  Speaker 1: of the month of Adar, and they put to death
• 1:04:59
  Speaker 1: in Susa three hundred men, but they did not lay
• 1:05:02
  Speaker 1: their hands on the plunder. Meanwhile, the remainder of the
• 1:05:07
  Speaker 1: Jews who were in the king's provinces also assembled to
• 1:05:10
  Speaker 1: protect themselves and get relief from their enemies. They killed
• 1:05:14
  Speaker 1: seventy five thousand of them, but did not lay their
• 1:05:18
  Speaker 1: hands on the plunder. This happened on the thirteenth day
• 1:05:21
  Speaker 1: of the month of Adar, and on the fourteenth day
• 1:05:24
  Speaker 1: they rested and made it a day of feasting and joy.
• 1:05:28
  Speaker 1: The Jews in Susa, however, had assembled on the thirteenth
• 1:05:32
  Speaker 1: and fourteenth, and then on the fifteenth they rested and
• 1:05:36
  Speaker 1: made it a day of feasting and joy. That is
• 1:05:39
  Speaker 1: why rural Jews, those living in villages, observed the fourteenth
• 1:05:43
  Speaker 1: of the month of Adar as a day of joy
• 1:05:46
  Speaker 1: and feasting, a day for giving presents to each other.
• 1:05:50
  Speaker 1: Mordecai recorded these events, and he sent letters to all
• 1:05:54
  Speaker 1: the Jews throughout the provinces of King Xerxes near and far,
• 1:05:58
  Speaker 1: to have them celebrate annually the fourteenth and fifteenth days
• 1:06:02
  Speaker 1: of the month of Adar as the time when the
• 1:06:04
  Speaker 1: Jews got relief from their enemies, and as the month
• 1:06:08
  Speaker 1: when their sorrow was turned into joy and their mourning
• 1:06:12
  Speaker 1: into a day of celebration. He wrote them to observe
• 1:06:16
  Speaker 1: the days as days of feasting and joy, and giving
• 1:06:20
  Speaker 1: presents of food to one another and gifts to the poor.
• 1:06:25
  Speaker 1: So the Jews agreed to continue the celebration they had
• 1:06:28
  Speaker 1: begun doing what Mordecai had written to them. For Haman,
• 1:06:32
  Speaker 1: son of Hamadaepha, the Agagite, the enemy of all the Jews,
• 1:06:37
  Speaker 1: had plotted against the Jews to destroy them, and had
• 1:06:40
  Speaker 1: cast the pure that is the lot, for their ruin
• 1:06:45
  Speaker 1: and destruction. But when the plot came to the King's attention,
• 1:06:49
  Speaker 1: he issued written orders that the evil scheme Hayman had
• 1:06:52
  Speaker 1: devised against the Jews should come back on to his
• 1:06:56
  Speaker 1: own head, and that he and his sons would be
• 1:07:00
  Speaker 1: impaled on poles. Therefore, these days were called Purim, from
• 1:07:05
  Speaker 1: the word pure. Because of everything written in this letter,
• 1:07:09
  Speaker 1: and because of what they had seen and what had
• 1:07:12
  Speaker 1: happened to them. The Jews took it on themselves to
• 1:07:15
  Speaker 1: establish the custom that they and their descendants and all
• 1:07:20
  Speaker 1: who join them, should without fail observe these two days
• 1:07:24
  Speaker 1: every year in the way prescribed and at the time appointed.
• 1:07:28
  Speaker 1: These days should be remembered and observed in every generation,
• 1:07:32
  Speaker 1: by every family, and in every province, and in every city.
• 1:07:37
  Speaker 1: And these days of Purim should never fail to be
• 1:07:41
  Speaker 1: celebrated by the Jews, nor should the memory of these
• 1:07:44
  Speaker 1: days die out among their descendants. So Queen Esther, daughter
• 1:07:50
  Speaker 1: of Abihail, along with Mordecai the Jew, wrote with full
• 1:07:55
  Speaker 1: authority to confirm this second letter concerning Purim and Mordicai
• 1:08:00
  Speaker 1: Kai sent letters to all the Jews in the one
• 1:08:02
  Speaker 1: hundred twenty seven provinces of Xerxes Kingdom, words of good
• 1:08:07
  Speaker 1: will and assurance to establish these days of Purim as
• 1:08:11
  Speaker 1: their designated times, as Mordecai the Jew and Queen Ester
• 1:08:15
  Speaker 1: had decreed for them, and as they had established for
• 1:08:18
  Speaker 1: themselves and their descendants in regard to their times of
• 1:08:22
  Speaker 1: fasting and lamentation. Ester's decree confirmed these regulations about Purim,
• 1:08:29
  Speaker 1: and it was written down in the records ester chapter ten.
• 1:08:37
  Speaker 1: King Xerxes imposed tribute throughout the empire to its distant shores,
• 1:08:42
  Speaker 1: and all his acts of power and might, together with
• 1:08:46
  Speaker 1: a full account of the greatness of Mordecai, whom the
• 1:08:49
  Speaker 1: king had promoted, Are they not written in the book
• 1:08:52
  Speaker 1: of the Annals of the Kings of Media and Persia.
• 1:08:56
  Speaker 1: Mordecai the Jew was second in rank to King Xerxes,
• 1:09:00
  Speaker 1: pre eminent among the Jews, and held in high esteem
• 1:09:03
  Speaker 1: by his many fellow Jews, because he worked for the
• 1:09:07
  Speaker 1: good of his people and spoke up for the welfare
• 1:09:10
  Speaker 1: of all the Jews.