The Bad Man's Mean Plan

After Esther became queen, the king chose a man named Haman to be his most important helper. Haman was very proud and mean.

The king made a rule: 'Everyone must bow down to Haman!' So whenever Haman walked by, everyone would bow way down low.

Everyone except Mordecai.

Mordecai would stand up straight. He wouldn't bow. The other workers asked him, 'Why won't you bow? It's the rule!'

Mordecai said, 'I am a Jew. I only bow to God.'

When Haman saw Mordecai standing while everyone else bowed, he got SO angry! His face turned red. He was furious!

'How dare Mordecai not bow to me!' Haman thought. But then he got an even meaner idea. 'Mordecai is a Jew? Then I'll hurt ALL the Jews! I'll get rid of every single one of them!'

Haman was very wicked. He rolled special dice to pick a day for his terrible plan. The dice said the thirteenth day of the twelfth month—almost a whole year away.

Haman went to the king and told lies. 'There's a group of people in your kingdom who don't obey your rules. They're dangerous! You should make a law to destroy them all!'

The king wasn't paying attention. He gave Haman his special ring. 'Do whatever you think is best,' the king said.

Haman wrote a mean, terrible law. It said that on one day, all the Jewish people everywhere in the kingdom would be killed—even children and babies! The law was sent to every city and town.

People in the city were very confused and upset when they heard about the law. How could this happen to innocent people?

But Haman and the king just sat down and had a party. Haman thought he had won.

What Haman didn't know was that God was watching. And God had a plan to save His people.