Esther

1 - Ahasuerus, king of Persia, gives a feast in the 3rd year of his reign. Queen Vashti is summoned, refuses to come, and is removed as queen

2 - A search is made for a new queen. Hadassah (Esther), a Jew and cousin of Mordecai, is taken with many other women to the harem, and given beauty treatments for a year. She is chosen queen. Mordecai foils a plot to assassinate the king

3 - Haman is promoted to chief vizier. He is an Agagite (1 Samuel 15), and Mordecai won't bow to him. Haman responds by seeking the destruction of all the Jews. With a hefty bribe, the king agrees.

4 - Mordecai sends to Esther to intercede with the king; she resists, for it is death to go to the king uninvited; he presses: "who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?" She agrees to go after 3 days of fasting

5 - Ahasuerus receives her; she asks for he and Haman to come to a banquet, where she asks them to a 2nd banquet; Haman plots to kill Mordecai

6 - Ahasuerus learns of Mordecai saving him - he was not rewarded. Haman comes in seeking Mordecai's death. The king makes Haman honor Mordecai

7 - At the second banquet, Esther asks for her life and her people's lives to be spared from Haman. Haman is hanged on the gallows he made for Mordecai

8 - Mordecai receives Haman's position; Esther receives his house and property. The law to destroy the Jews can't be revoked, but a new law is written that the Jews may defend themselves with lethal force against any who attack them

9 - The day comes, decided by lots or Purim, and the Jews kill over 75,000 in defense, not taking any plunder, that day and the next. Esther's special request is that Haman's 10 sons be killed and the day extended one more day. The feast of Purim established in this event

10 - Mordecai became great, helped the empire and sought the welfare and peace of the Jews