Bible (KJV) 17: Esther (version 2 Dramatic Reading)

One of the Bible's most gripping narratives unfolds in the Persian Empire, where a young Jewish woman rises from obscurity to become queen, and then must risk everything to save her people from annihilation. When the vain King Ahasuerus banishes his rebellious queen Vashti, he holds a vast beauty pageant to find a replacement. The orphan Hadassah, raised by her cousin Mordecai, is taken to the palace and renamed Esther, 'the hidden one.' She wins the king's heart, but her identity as a Jew remains secret. Then Haman, the king's twisted advisor, convinces Ahasuerus to sign an edict authorizing the genocide of all Jews in the empire. Esther faces an impossible choice: approach the king uninvited, which could mean death, or stay silent while her people are destroyed. What follows is a tale of courage, political intrigue, and improbable deliverance that has inspired readers for millennia.