God Saves His People

After Haman was gone, the king gave Esther all of Haman's houses and stuff. He gave Mordecai his special ring and made him very important.

But there was still a big problem. Remember Haman's mean law that said to hurt all the Jewish people? That law was still there! In Persian rules, once the king made a law, it couldn't be erased—not even by the king!

Esther bravely went to the king again. 'Please help us!' she begged. 'Haman's law is still going to hurt my people!'

The king thought hard. 'I can't erase the old law,' he said. 'But I CAN make a NEW law!' He let Mordecai write a new law that said the Jewish people could protect themselves and fight back against anyone who tried to hurt them.

Fast horses carried the new law to every city and town. When the Jewish people heard it, they were SO happy! They had parties and celebrations! Even some people who weren't Jewish decided to follow God because they saw how amazing He was!

Mordecai wore beautiful royal robes—blue and white and purple—with a big gold crown. Everyone respected him.

When the scary day finally came—the thirteenth day of the twelfth month—the Jewish people were ready! Instead of being hurt, they were able to protect themselves. God helped them be safe! Their enemies couldn't hurt them anymore.

The next day, they had a huge celebration! They were so thankful to be safe! They ate yummy food, gave presents to each other, and helped poor people.

Mordecai said, 'We should remember this day forever! Every year, we'll celebrate on this day. We'll remember how God turned our sadness into joy and our crying into celebrating!'

They called the holiday 'Purim' because of the 'Pur' (the dice) that Haman had rolled to pick the day.

Even though God's name isn't written in this whole story, we can see Him working everywhere! He protected Esther when she went to the king. He made the king unable to sleep so he would remember Mordecai. He turned everything around so the bad guy's plan didn't work!

God always takes care of His people, even when we can't see Him. He had a special plan for Esther—to be queen at exactly the right time to save everyone. And His plan worked perfectly!