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Speaker 1: Life Audio. For more resources to help you in your

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Speaker 1: walk with Christ, please visit us at Bible Study Headquarters

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Speaker 1: dot com. You're listening to the Chapter a Day Audio Bible.

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Speaker 1: I'm John Stangi, and today we're in Esther chapter two

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Speaker 1: and we'll be reading from the New Living Translation. But

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Speaker 1: after Xerxes's anger had subsided, he began thinking about Vashti

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Speaker 1: and what she had done and the decree he had made.

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Speaker 1: So his personal attendant suggested, let us search the empire

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Speaker 1: to find beautiful young virgins for the king. Let the

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Speaker 1: King appoint agents in each province to bring these beautiful

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Speaker 1: young women into the royal harem at the fortress of Susa. Hey, guy,

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Speaker 1: the King's eunuch in charge of the harem will see

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Speaker 1: that they are all given beauty treatments. After that, the

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Speaker 1: young woman who most pleases the king will be made

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Speaker 1: queen instead of Vashti. This advice was very appealing to

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Speaker 1: the king, so he put the plan into effect. At

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Speaker 1: that time, there was a Jewish man in the fortress

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Speaker 1: of Susa whose name was Mordechai, son of Jair. He

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Speaker 1: was from the tribe of Benjamin and was a descendant

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Speaker 1: of Kish and Shimai. His family had been among those who,

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Speaker 1: with King Jehoiachin of Judah, had been exiled from Jerusalem

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Speaker 1: to Babylon by King Nebekinzer. This man had a very

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Speaker 1: beautiful and lovely young cousin, Hadasa, who was also called Esther.

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Speaker 1: When her father and mother died, Mordechai adopted her into

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Speaker 1: his family and raised her as his own daughter. As

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Speaker 1: a result of the King's decree, Esther, along with many

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Speaker 1: other young women, was brought to the king's harem at

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Speaker 1: the fortress of Susa and placed in Hegai care Hagui

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Speaker 1: was very impressed with Esther and treated her kindly. He

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Speaker 1: quickly ordered a special menu for her and provided her

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Speaker 1: with beauty treatments. He also assigned her seven maids, specially

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Speaker 1: chosen from the king's palace, and he moved her and

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Speaker 1: her maids into the best place in the harem. Esther

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Speaker 1: had not told anyone of her nationality and family background

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Speaker 1: because Mordecai had directed her not to do so. Every day,

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Speaker 1: Mordecai would take a walk near the courtyard of the

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Speaker 1: harem to find out about Esther and what was happening

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Speaker 1: to her. Before each young woman was taken to the

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Speaker 1: king's bed. She was given the prescribed twelve months of

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Speaker 1: beauty treatments, six months with oil of merr, followed by

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Speaker 1: six months with special perfumes and ointments. When it was

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Speaker 1: time for her to go to the king's palace, she

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Speaker 1: was given her choice of whatever clothing or jewelry she

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Speaker 1: wanted to take from the harem. That evening, she was

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Speaker 1: taken to the king's private rooms, and the next morning

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Speaker 1: she was brought to the second harem, where the king's

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Speaker 1: wives lived. There she would be under the care of Shashgaz,

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Speaker 1: the king's eunuch in charge of the concubines. She would

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Speaker 1: never go to the king again unless he had especially

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Speaker 1: enjoyed her and requested her by name. Esther was the

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Speaker 1: daughter of Abihail, who was Mordecai's uncle. Mordechai had adopted

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Speaker 1: his younger cousin Esther. When it was Ester's turn to

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Speaker 1: go to the king, she accepted the advice of Hegei,

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Speaker 1: the eunuch in charge of the harem. She asked for

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Speaker 1: nothing except what he suggested, and she was admired by

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Speaker 1: everyone who saw her. Esther was taken to King Xerxes

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Speaker 1: at the royal palace in early winter of the seventh

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Speaker 1: year of his reign, and the king loved Esther more

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Speaker 1: than any of the other young women. He was so

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Speaker 1: delighted with her that he set the royal crown on

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Speaker 1: her head and declared her queen instead of Vashti. To

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Speaker 1: celebrate the occasion, he gave a great banquet in Esther's

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Speaker 1: honor for all his nobles and officials, declaring a public

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Speaker 1: holiday for the provinces, and giving generous gifts to everyone.

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Speaker 1: Even after all the young women had been transferred to

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Speaker 1: the second Harem and Mordecai had become a palace official,

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Speaker 1: Esther continued to keep her family background in nationality a secret.

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Speaker 1: She was still following Mordecai's directions, just as she did

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Speaker 1: when she lived in his home. One day, as Mordecai

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Speaker 1: was on duty at the king's gate, two of the

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Speaker 1: king's eunuchs, big Thana and Terrish, who were guards at

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Speaker 1: the door of the king's private quarters, became angry at

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Speaker 1: King Xerxes and plotted to assassinate him, But Mordecai heard

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Speaker 1: about the plot and gave the information to Queen Esther.

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Speaker 1: She then told the king about it and gave Mordecai

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Speaker 1: credit for the report. When an investigation was made and

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Speaker 1: Mordecai's story was found to be true, the two men

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Speaker 1: were impaled on a sharpened pull. This was all recorded

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Speaker 1: in the book of the History of King Xerxes reign.

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Speaker 1: Let's pray, Lord, we thank you for your word, and

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Speaker 1: we thank you for the privilege of being able to

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Speaker 1: look at it together today. And Lord, as we look

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Speaker 1: at what's been taking place in the life of Esther

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Speaker 1: and how your hand of favor has clearly been upon her,

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Speaker 1: we can see your hand at work in her life.

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Speaker 1: We can see that in this context you were orchestrating something.

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Speaker 1: And again, as we look at this book, this book

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Speaker 1: displays your provisions and your protections on your people, but

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Speaker 1: it also displays your sovereign hand at work to rescue

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Speaker 1: and redeem. And as this story continues, we'll see that

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Speaker 1: process continue to develop. But Lord, we know and your

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Speaker 1: word testifies to the fact that you are the God

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Speaker 1: who redeems, and your redemption has been provided through your

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Speaker 1: son Jesus Christ, who has rescued us from certain death

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Speaker 1: and has granted us life and a part in His

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Speaker 1: kingdom forever. Through faith in him. We're grateful for this reality, Lord,

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Speaker 1: and we're grateful for this portion of scripture that leads

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Speaker 1: us to reminders of that very fact. Thank you, Lord

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Speaker 1: for giving us the privilege to look at your word,

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Speaker 1: and we thank you for your presence with us today.

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Speaker 1: We commit this day to your care and pray this

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Speaker 1: all in Jesus' name. Amen,