Hey everyone, this is Mary Demuth and this is Pray Every Day, where I have the joy and the privilege of praying you through the Bible verse by verse.

As I promised, we are going to stay in the Old Testament a little bit longer.

We're going to read the book of Esther next, and then we'll jump back to the New Testament.

I think we'll stay a couple books in the New Testament just to kind of keep that continuity and flow. Sometimes it's nice just to stay camped in a place for a little bit of time.

Okay, so today we're starting with Esther chapter 1 versus 1 through 12. And one of the things I would

encourage you as I read this in the World English Bible is to try to

suspend the romantic notions of this book. It's actually not a love story at all, and it is more

about actually God and his work in the world and his ability to save his people. There's some bad actors in this story,

and it's important that we discern that and not try to wrap it around a romantic fairy tale,

because it is not. So anyway, I just want to kind of have you put that hat on while we're listening,

and here we go, verses 1 through one through 12 now in the days of

a hassaurus this is ahesaurus who reign from India even to Ethiopia over 127 provinces

in those days when king ahasurus sat on throne of his kingdom, which was in Susa, the palace,

in the third year of his reign, he made a feast for all his princes and his servants.

The army of Persia and media, the nobles and princes of the provinces being before him.

He displayed the riches of his glorious kingdom

and the honor of his excellent majesty many days,

even 180 days.

When these days were fulfilled,

the king made a seven-day feast for all the people

who were present in Seuss of the palace,

both great and small in the court of the garden of the king's palace.

...