Chapter 1

The kingdom of King Ahasuerus stretched from India to Ethiopia.

Ahasuerus gave a banquet for all his leading people.
But Queen Vashti refused to join the banquet.

The king therefore decided to replace Vashti as queen.

第 1 章

薛西斯王的管辖范围自印度延伸至雇士。

薛西斯为他所有的首领臣仆设宴。
但是瓦市提皇后拒绝参加宴会。  

君王因此决定撤换瓦市提为王后。

Dear God, please bless all kings and queens in the world

亲爱的神，请祝福世上所有的君王和王后

Chapter 2

A selection process was begun to find a woman to replace Vashti as queen.

Esther was a beautiful Jewish orphan girl who had been brought up by her cousin Mordecai.

After the long selection process was finished,
Esther was chosen to be queen.
No one in the palace knew she was Jewish.

第 2 章

甄选程序开始去找一名女子取代瓦市提为王后。

艾斯德尔是个美丽的犹太孤女，她的堂兄摩尔德开将她抚养成人。  

漫长的甄选过程结束后，
艾斯德尔被选为王后。
在王宫里没人知道她是犹太人。  

Dear God, again I ask you, please bless all kings and queens

亲爱的神，我再次求你，请祝福所有君王和王后

Chapter 3

About this time Haman from the land of Agag was promoted by King Ahasuerus to a top position. All other officials were to bow and prostrate themselves before Haman.

Mordecai refused to bow to Haman. This made Haman very angry.

Haman found out that Mordecai was a Jew.
Haman decided to kill Mordecai and all Jews in the kingdom.

Ahasuerus agreed to Haman's plan
and a decree to this effect was announced:
all Jews were to be killed on the 14th day of the 12th month.

第 3 章

这时候薛西斯王擢升阿加格人哈曼至榜首位置。
所有其他官员要在哈曼面前鞠躬和跪拜。  

摩尔德开拒绝向哈曼鞠躬。  这使哈曼很愤怒。  

哈曼发现摩尔德开是犹太人。
哈曼决定杀死摩尔德开和管辖范围内所有的犹太人。  

薛西斯同意哈曼的计划，
并为此宣告旨意：
所有犹太人要在十二月十四日被杀。  

Dear God, please protect poor people from people like Haman

亲爱的神，请保护穷人免受像哈曼那样的人之害

Chapter 4

When Mordecai heard about Haman's plan,
Mordecai asked Esther to appeal to Ahasuerus for help.

Mordecai and Esther both knew that to approach the king
without an invitation was a crime punishable by death,
unless the king saw fit to welcome an uninvited person.

So they prayed to God to move the heart of Ahasuerus to welcome Esther.

第 4 章  

当摩尔德开听说哈曼的计划时，
摩尔德开请艾斯德尔恳求薛西斯帮助。  

摩尔德开和艾斯德尔都知道未奉召见，
而進見君王是罪应处死，
除非君王认为欢迎未被召见者是恰当的。  

所以他们祈求神感动薛西斯的心去欢迎艾斯德尔。

Dear God, please move the hearts of rulers
to care for their people

亲爱的神，请感动统治者的心去关心他们的人民

Chapter 5

After Esther prayed to God for a long time,
she went to the palace and presented herself to the king.

At first the king was angry that Esther came without being invited,
but then his heart softened and he welcomed her.

When King Ahasuerus saw that Esther was distressed,
he asked her what was wrong. He promised to do anything for her.

Esther asked that there be two special banquets for herself,
the king and Haman.  The king agreed and the banquets were arranged.

Haman meanwhile was making his own arrangements:
a high gallows on which to hang Mordecai.

第 5 章  

艾斯德尔向神祈祷很久后，
她去王宫和突然出现君王面前。  

最初君王愤怒，因艾斯德尔没被召见而来，
但随后他的心软化和他欢迎她。  

当薛西斯王看见艾斯德尔愁苦时，
他问她有什么烦恼。 他答应为她做任何事。  

艾斯德尔要求为她自己、君王和哈曼举行两个特别酒宴。
君王同意并安排酒宴。  

此时哈曼在作他自己的安排：
一台高绞刑架用以绞死摩尔德开。  

Dear God, please move the hearts of rulers
to be kind to their people

亲爱的神，请感动统治者的心，
善待他们的人民

Chapters  6 - 8

On the night between the two banquets, the king could not sleep.
To induce sleep he started reading the history of his kingdom.

He read how some years ago two of his eunuchs planned to assassinate him, but the plot was foiled by Mordecai.

The king asked Haman how to honor a man whom the king wished to honor.

Haman thought the king was talking about himself, Haman, so
he suggested royal clothes, a royal horse and a royal parade.

The king agreed and told Haman to honor Mordecai in this way.
This was a great humiliation for Haman.

And it got even worse for Haman. At the second banquet, Esther told the king that she was Jewish and that Haman planned to kill all Jews.

The result: Haman was hanged on the gallows which he had prepared for Mordecai, and the Jews were not only spared annihilation - they were given places of honor in the kingdom.

The Jews praised God for all his help through Mordecai.

第 6 - 8 章  

在二个宴会之间的晚上，君王不能入睡。
促使睡觉，他开始阅读他的王国历史。  

他读到几年前，他两个太监怎样计划行刺他，但阴谋被摩尔德开制止。  

君王问哈曼如何表扬君王想表扬的人。  

哈曼认为君王在谈论自己哈曼，所以他建议龙袍，一匹御马和皇家游行。  

君王同意和告诉哈曼就这样表扬摩尔德开。 这是哈曼的极大耻辱。  

而对于哈曼它甚至变得更糟。 在第二次酒会，艾斯德尔告诉君王她是犹太人和哈曼计划杀死所有犹太人。  

结果：哈曼被绞死在他为摩尔德开准备的绞刑架上，而犹太人不仅免受灭绝 - 他们在王国获得荣誉的地位。  

犹太人赞扬神，为他借着摩尔德开所给予的一切帮助。  

Dear God, please stop people like Haman
 from committing injustice

亲爱的神，请阻止像哈曼那样的人实施不公正