Esther 2:5,7,17

Esther 2:5,7,17 Now in Shushan the palace there was a certain Jew, whose name was Mordecai, the son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish, a Benjamite; And he brought up Hadassah, that is, Esther, his uncle's daughter: for she had neither father nor mother, and the maid was fair and beautiful; whom Mordecai, when her father and mother were dead, took for his own daughter. And the king loved Esther above all the women, and she obtained grace and favour in his sight more than all the virgins; so that he set the royal crown upon her head, and made her queen instead of Vashti. When King Ahasuerus announced the beauty contest, Esther was selected for the short list because she was so beautiful. But no one knew that she was of the despised Jewish people who had been brought to Babylon as captives. Esther’s mother and father were dead and she had been raised by her older cousin, Mordecai. He told Esther to keep her identity a secret. It wasn’t popular to be a Jew in the Persian capital. But God was at work. Esther might have the king’s heart, but God had Esther’s heart.