King: I am happy to be with thee, my fair Queen. Thou must have a request which thou desirest to make—speak, be not afraid. I will grant it though it be half of my kingdom.
Esther: If I have found favor in thy sight, O King, and if it please the King, let my life be saved and the lives of my people—the Hebrew people. We are to be destroyed, to be slain and to perish.
King: Thy people? The Hebrew people? Who is this and where is he that dareth in his heart to do this thing to thy people?
Esther: The enemy is thy chief counselor, this wicked Haman.
King: Did Haman do this deed? How didst thou know of his plan?
Esther: O King, Mordecai, the Jew, my uncle, hath shown me the letter which Haman hath sent over the country. The Jews are to be killed on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month. I am begging thee for my life and for the lives of my people!
Fig. 6.—Queen Esther pleads for her people