Queen Esther in the Bible
A song about how she saved her people
This is the story of Queen Esther in the Bible.
This beautiful song book for piano & voice tells the riveting story of the attempted genocide of the Jews in ancient Persia, and the brave young queen who risked her life to change the king's mind and save her people.
Looking for a "drama" for your church choir? Perhaps something akin to a musical or light opera, but way less labor-intensive? Maybe your ladies want to sing a Bible story that's not about a guy!
Or perhaps you have a student who just loves a good Bible story, told with drama!
This book is a 57-page musical retelling of the story of Esther, a true-life Jewish hero in her day.
Scroll down the page a ways, and you can read all of the lyrics!
A new "Easy Piano" version
This story never grows old. As the foreword to the book relates:
Unlike all the other music on this website, "Esther: For Such a Time as This" is for sale. But I'd like you to see and try out the first three pages of the new Easy Piano edition for free:
Download a free printable sample of the Easy Piano arrangement, a PDF of the first 3 pages
This music could be sung and acted out for Purim, or for any gathering of Bible story-telling.
It is a nearly complete summary of the Book of Esther, with many verses, a repeating chorus that comes back around, and a total of 57 pages.
Listen to the short video below to hear the flavor of this Purim music.
Here is the dramatic beginning for Esther:
Compare the "Easy Piano Edition" of page 1, noting that there are also GUITAR CHORDS, to make things easy for the guitar player in your group!
The lyrics for Esther: For Such a Time as This
Esther, Mordecai, Ahasuerus,
Living in the land of Persia,
Chosen to be queen for such a time as this,
Esther saved the lives of her people.
Long ago there lived a king, and his wife, the fairest queen.
Summoned to a feast of men, Queen Vashti scorned his rude demand;
So the king sent her away! Defiance of the king must never pay, pay,
Defiance of the king must never pay!
Now, the king, a lonely man, wished to have a queen again,
So his wise men quickly planned a contest: " Fairest in the land!"
And of all the maids disarming, Esther was the one he found most charming, charming,
Esther was the one he found most charming.
Secretly she was a Jew, no one in the palace knew,
Like the other Jews, an exile far from home in Israel;
Now, that Serpent, Dread & Sly, saw a way for ev'ry Jew to die, die.
Saw a way for ev'ry Jew to die.
Esther's cousin Mordecai's enemy wished him to die;
Haman! Proud & cruel man, & yet he was the king's right hand.
He expected ev'ry man to bow before him, all throughout the land,
land, to bow before him all throughout the land.
Ev'ry person in the town trembled at his slightest frown,
All except for one, a Jew, and Haman's hatred spread & grew!
He thought, "Not just Mordecai... Ev'ry Jew throughout the land will
die! Die! Ev'ry Jew throughout the land will die!"
Esther, Mordecai, Ahasuerus,
Living in the land of Persia,
Chosen to be queen for such a time as this,
Esther saved the lives of her people.
Flattering the king one day, Haman said that he would pay
to rid the kingdom of a people who were nothing but great trouble.
Foolishly, the king agreed, and with his ring he sealed the death decree, -cree;
With his ring he sealed the death decree!
Letters post and couriers cry, "Jews both young and old will die!
In the twelfth month, thirteenth day: Be ready, each one for the fray!"
Haman and the king sat down to drink, while horror filled all the
town, town; They drank while horror filled all the town.
All the Jews and Mordecai cried aloud a bitter cry,
Tore their clothes & wept & mourned, to hear the evil tidings borne.
Esther did not know the news about the terror coming to the Jews,
Jews; about the terror coming to the Jews!
Esther, Mordecai, Ahasuerus,
Living in the land of Persia,
Chosen to be queen for such a time as this,
Esther saved the lives of her people.
Mordecai said, "Beg the king, plead with him to stop this thing!"
Esther said, "Without a call, I may not enter in his hall!
Only if the king should bare his golden scepter will my life be spared,
spared; If he bares his scepter I'll be spared."
"If you think that you'll survive, in the palace stay alive,
From another help will come, but you and yours will be undone;
Who knows whether you were not to the kingdom for this moment
brought, brought; To the kingdom for this moment brought."
"Gather all the Jews to pray, and to fast both night and day.
So will I go to the king, and plead that he will change this thing."
Esther answered Mordecai, "I will go, and if I die, I die.
I will go and if I die, I die."
Esther, Mordecai, Ahasuerus,
Living in the land of Persia,
Chosen to be queen for such a time as this,
Esther saved the lives of her people.
While the king was on his throne, someone entered all alone.
In her royal robes so fine, Queen Esther stood and seemed to shine,
Winning favor in his sight! The king held out the golden scepter
bright, bright; He held out the golden scepter bright!
Then Ahasuerus spoke, as his admiration woke,
"What is your request of me? To freely grant it I agree!"
Esther said, "A feast I've made; please let the king and Haman come
today, -day, Let the king and Haman come today."
All his fav'rite foods were laid at the feast Queen Esther made,
As the king and Haman ate, her fears she still did not relate,
Honored by the queen so high, proud Haman thought "Who is as great
as I, I?" Proud Haman thought "Who is as great as I?"
Still Queen Esther did not name Haman's plan, nor speak of blame.
When he'd relished ev'ry dish, the king said, "Esther, name your wish!"
She replied, "Yet one more day! Come to another feast and I will say,
say; Come to another feast and I will say!"
Esther, Mordecai, Ahasuerus,
Living in the land of Persia,
Chosen to be queen for such a time as this,
Esther saved the lives of her people.
Exit Haman, smiling wide, till he saw who stood outside!
Mordecai, who would not bow, whom wicked Haman could not cow!
Then, because of Mordecai, all Haman's bliss was nothing in his eyes,
eyes, All Haman's bliss was nothing in his eyes.
Haman's neighbors and his wife saw he had no joy in life.
"What's the problem?" Zeresh cried. "The king won't care for Mordecai!"
Build a gallows* very high, and then tomorrow, hang that Mordecai,
high! Then tomorrow, hang that Mordecai!"
* Or, "pole that's very high"
On that night, the sleepless king said, "The Book of Records bring!"
All great deeds that had occurred were read, with one he had not heard:*
Mordecai the Jew, it seemed, stopped two assassins murdering the king, king,
Stopped two assassins murdering the king!
*from Esther 2:22, we know that Esther had told the king, but apparently he wasn't listening!
"What a story!" cried the king, "Why was I not told this thing?
And what honor has been shown to thank the man, & make him known?"
"Nothing, Sire," his servant said, "No glory has been placed upon his
head, head, No glory has been placed upon his head!"
Esther, Mordecai, Ahasuerus,
Living in the land of Persia,
Chosen to be queen for such a time as this,
Esther saved the lives of her people.
At that moment entered in Haman with an eager grin...
Wishing to hang Mordecai, he came prepared to tell a lie!
But the king cried, "Just the man! Come, Haman, give me input for myplan, plan!
Come, Haman, give me input for my plan!"
"What should be done to raise high one the king would magnify?"
Haman thought, "And who but I would Xerxes choose to lift up high?"
"Sire, I have a happy thought, a way to honor greatness as you ought, ought...
A way to honor greatness as you ought."
Haman said, "A noble lord going forth shall speak this word:
'Here is how His Majesty will honor him whom he esteems!'
With the king's own robe and crown, upon his horse, he'll be led through the town, town...
Upon his horse he'll be led through the town!"
"Haman! Take my robe and crown, go at once into the town!
You shall be that noble man, the one who executes the plan.
Find the Jew named Mordecai! Parade him through the town to magnify, -fy...
Parade him through the town to magnify!"
Esther, Mordecai, Ahasuerus,
Living in the land of Persia,
Chosen to be queen for such a time as this,
Esther saved the lives of her people.
Out the door rushed Haman then, filled with horror and chagrin,
Mordecai he must endorse, & place upon the king's own horse!
Shouting from the city heights, "Thus to the man in whom the king delights, -lights...
Thus to the man in whom the king delights!"
Afterward, he hurried home, wailing loud a plaintive moan,
Zeresh and his wise men said, "If you don't stop, you're good as dead!"
As they spoke, the king's men came, to fetch him to the palace once again, - gain,
To fetch him to the palace once again.
At the banquet one more time, as the three were drinking wine,
Yet again requests the king, "Come, tell me what you want, my queen!"
"If it please you, & seems right, & if I have found favor in your sight, sight,
If I have found favor in your sight..."
Then Queen Esther made this plea, "Let my life be given me!
And my people's lives as well be saved from those who'll come to kill.
We are sold, my race and I, to be destroyed, to perish, and to die, die...
To be destroyed, to perish, and to die!"
Esther, Mordecai, Ahasuerus,
Living in the land of Persia,
Chosen to be queen for such a time as this,
Esther saved the lives of her people.
"Who is he, and where is he, dares presume so wickedly?!"
Esther said, "The adversary HAMAN is our enemy!"
Then the king jumped to his feet, and went into the garden in his heat, heat,
He went into the garden in his heat.
Xerxes exiting in fury, Haman thought he'd better hurry,
Fearfully, he begged the queen to save his life, and intervene!
Then the king returned in time to see him fall down where the queen reclined, - clined,
To see him fall down where the queen reclined.
Cried the king then, "Would he force the queen before me, in the house!"
As he spoke, the servants raced to quickly cover Haman's face.
"Sire, a gallows* very high was made by Haman just for Mordecai, - cai,
Was made by Haman just for Mordecai!"
*or, "Sire, a sharpened pole so high was made by Haman just for Mordecai!"
Said the king, "Hang him on that, since he set himself this trap!"
So was Haman hung up high, the death he'd planned for Mordecai.
Mordecai came with the queen, and Xerxes handed him his signet ring, ring,
Xerxes handed him his signet ring.
Esther, Mordecai, Ahasuerus,
Living in the land of Persia,
Chosen to be queen for such a time as this,
Esther saved the lives of her people.
Haman's plan still not undone, nor the Jews' salvation won,
Esther sought the king again, to beg him to revoke the plan!
Falling at his feet with tears, she told Ahasuerus all her fears, fears,
She told Ahasuerus all her fears.
"If it seems right to the king, please reverse or stop this thing!"
But he said, "The thing that's writ and sealed in my name is set.
Such a law cannot be broke, nor can this law by any be revoked, - voked!
Nor can this law by any be revoked!"
"Write an edict as you choose; send a message to the Jews.
Say, 'By order of the king!' and seal it with my signet ring.
Though the law you can't undo, yet you can counter it with one that's new, new;
You can counter it with one that's new!"
Scribes were summoned, and they came, writing in King Xerxes' name.
"Jews," as Mordecai dictated, "should resist the ones who hated!
And should kill the enemy, and save from death their friends & family, - ly;
And save from death their friends and family!"
Esther, Mordecai, Ahasuerus,
Living in the land of Persia,
Chosen to be queen for such a time as this,
Esther saved the lives of her people.
Now the couriers from the king cry aloud a diff'rent theme;
"Hark! On one day, Jewish men, take arms, your kinsmen to defend!"
Urged on by the king's command, the message spread from Susa through the land, land,
The message spread from Susa through the land.
When the fateful day arrived, few who fought the Jews survived.
On the day, their enemies had thought to conquer them with ease,
Quite the opposite occurred! The Jews destroyed the foes they had endured, - dured,
The Jews destroyed the foes they had endured!
Now is sorrow turned to joy - gladness for each girl and boy!
For the Jews have gained relief; their enemies have come to grief.
Let us all commemorate today; with gifts and feasting celebrate, - brate,
Today with gifts and feasting celebrate!
Esther, Mordecai, Ahasuerus,
Living in the land of Persia,
Chosen to be queen for such a time as this,
Esther saved the lives of her people.
Download a digital copy of the original edition in Dm, $14.00:
or find the paperback version on Amazon.
Or buy a digital copy of the new "Easy Piano" edition in Em, $14.00:
or the Easy Edition paperback on Amazon, in the key of Em.
The chorus, "Esther, Mordecai, Ahasuerus," (or Achashverosh) comes back around again and again, though not necessarily after the same number of verses. See pages 1, 2, and 3:
Here is what that repeating chorus page looks like in the Easy Piano Edition:
Page 3 begins the verses... first, the tricky Dm arrangement:
In the easy piano edition, there is still a bit of an "eastern" sound, but the notes are so much easier:
And the nice thing, for pianists who need easier arrangements, is that the easy edition piano part does NOT keep changing, as it does in the more advanced arrangement in Dm.
Download a free printable sample of the Easy Piano arrangement, a PDF of the first 3 pages
Esther's beauty was what distinguished her initially, but there was surely more to her than mere beauty to cause Hegai, the keeper of the harem, to single her out for special treatment.
She was probably a brilliant young woman to hatch the plan of stringing the king and his favorite, Haman, along for two days, thus building a pleasant mystery for King Ahasuerus!
He was even so sleepless that first night that he called for the Book of Records to be read to him, and in this way was made aware of her cousin Mordecai's noble deed in saving the king from two assassins - a deed that inspired gratitude in the king and frustrated the plans of Haman, who hated Mordecai so much that he plotted the elimination of all Jews, because Mordecai was a Jew.
Page 5:
What is this about the "Serpent, Dread and Sly" in verse 3, measure 42?
There can be little doubt that since very early times, the human race in general, and the descendants of Abraham in particular, have been the target of planned corruption or destruction.
Corruption? I'm not speaking of "sinfulness," though there is plenty of that, but the defilement of the human genome itself.
Genesis 6, the story of Noah and the flood, talks about "the sons of God" taking for themselves "the daughters of men." Their offspring were "the mighty men of old" - perhaps those demi-gods spoken of in ancient myths. And when God looked on the earth, he saw that Noah was still "perfect" in his generation, apparently a way to say he was still 100% human.
Does this sound crazy to our modern ears? Yes, as Michael Heiser says in his book "The Unseen Realm," we modern Christians say we believe in a supernatural world, but we're mostly embarrassed to talk about it.
Why was an unpolluted human genome necessary? For the Seed - the Messiah! He had to be all human, the seed of the woman.
Genesis 3:15: "And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her Seed; It shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise His heel.”
And he had to be of the Davidic line! Hence, such an effort on Satan's part to eradicate that line, and those people.
And here it is, happening again in the story of Esther. Haman plots the death of EVERY Jew, not just the one he finds so infuriating:
The Easy Piano Edition makes this recurring musical theme much easier to play:
Hear this section in a second video:
After page 11, the return to the chorus ("Esther, Mordecai, Ahasuerus") takes a more lyrical turn. Listen to pages 10 to 12 here:
"Esther, For Such a Time as This" is through-composed. That is, there are no sections where the music repeats, and no tricky "Da capo al coda" sections, etc.
I have placed very few dynamic or articulation markings in "Esther." I leave you, as a fellow musician, to decide where to add volume or tempo changes.
There are no pedal markings in this piece until just before the final page, where a feeling of ritard and a break seem necessary to me. Then, a clean pedal change is suggested. But again, you decide!
Download a free printable sample of the Easy Piano arrangement, a PDF of the first 3 pages
Download a digital copy of the original edition in Dm, $14.00:
or find the paperback version on Amazon.
Or buy a digital copy of the new "Easy Piano" edition in Em, $14.00:
or the Easy Edition paperback on Amazon, in the key of Em.
A link for this music file of 57 pages will be sent to your email by E-junkie.com, after you have purchased it on PayPal. If you have any trouble, let me know through the Contact page here at SingTheBibleStory.com and I will be sure to see you get your music.
I have been delivering sheet music digitally to customers for over 10 years now at my other site, Music-for-Music-Teachers.com (most of the music there is free, just like this site, SingTheBibleStory.com), and the system works very well.
Esther 9 answers the question, What is Purim? Purim's definition is the "casting of lots" - the lots that were cast were known as "purim" (the word is plural).
Verses 20-32 tell the history of Purim:
20 Mordecai recorded these events, and he sent letters to all the Jews throughout the provinces of King Xerxes, near and far,
21 to have them celebrate annually the fourteenth and fifteenth days of the month of Adar
22 as the time when the Jews got relief from their enemies, and as the month when their sorrow was turned into joy and their mourning into a day of celebration. He wrote them to observe the days as days of feasting and joy and giving presents of food to one another and gifts to the poor.
23 So the Jews agreed to continue the celebration they had begun, doing what Mordecai had written to them.
24 For Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, the enemy of all the Jews, had plotted against the Jews to destroy them and had cast the pur (that is, the lot) for their ruin and destruction.
25 But when the plot came to the king’s attention,[a] he issued written orders that the evil scheme Haman had devised against the Jews should come back onto his own head, and that he and his sons should be impaled on poles.
26 (Therefore these days were called Purim, from the word pur.) Because of everything written in this letter and because of what they had seen and what had happened to them,
27 the Jews took it on themselves to establish the custom that they and their descendants and all who join them should without fail observe these two days every year, in the way prescribed and at the time appointed.
28 These days should be remembered and observed in every generation by every family, and in every province and in every city. And these days of Purim should never fail to be celebrated by the Jews—nor should the memory of these days die out among their descendants.
29 So Queen Esther, daughter of Abihail, along with Mordecai the Jew, wrote with full authority to confirm this second letter concerning Purim.
30 And Mordecai sent letters to all the Jews in the 127 provinces of Xerxes’ kingdom—words of goodwill and assurance—
31 to establish these days of Purim at their designated times, as Mordecai the Jew and Queen Esther had decreed for them, and as they had established for themselves and their descendants in regard to their times of fasting and lamentation.
32 Esther’s decree confirmed these regulations about Purim, and it was written down in the records.
An interesting conjecture for which I have no proof, but have heard: Haman, the terrible enemy of the Jews, was an Agagite, of the Amalekites. This was one of the nations God wanted destroyed. Was King Agag Haman's ancestor? Agag was the man whom King Saul failed to kill, disobeying God's command.
In contrast, Mordecai was a descendant of Shimei, a despicable and scornful man whom David spared when he became king. David's mercy did not defy God's will.
If this connection is true, then it is another example of God turning evil into good.
In The Silmarillion by JRR Tolkien, Melkor tried to spoil the beautiful song sung by the Ainur under Eru, the One, with a dark theme unrelated to Eru's original themes. Eru, also known as Iluvatar (Father of All) somehow picked up these darker and even evil themes and wove them into the master song, making the song MORE BEAUTIFUL, and MORE MEANINGFUL.
Download a digital copy of the original edition in Dm, $14.00:
or find the paperback version on Amazon.
Or buy a digital copy of the new "Easy Piano" edition in Em, $14.00:
or the Easy Edition paperback on Amazon, in the key of Em.
Thank you for visiting!
Interested in beginner & easy piano music for your piano, voice, & guitar students? Check out my other website, Music-for-Music-Teachers.com!
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Esther, For Such a Time As This, the Easy Piano Edition
This digital download version in the key of Em, with chord symbols, is greatly simplified.
Your piano students will be able to handle this one!
Also available at Amazon as a paperback.
A perfect read aloud storybook for little boys or girls.
The Adventures of Tonsta highlight the travels of a very young Christian lad with a good heart, who goes about helping folk in trouble.
With a red cap on his head and a sack of tools slung over his shoulder, Tonsta seems to meet people in distress wherever he goes.
Lots of trolls in this book.
Esther: For Such a Time as This
Download this beautiful songbook telling the riveting story of the attempted genocide of the Jews in ancient Persia, and the brave young queen who risked her life to change the king's mind and save her people.
Also available as a paperback at Amazon!
Hi, I'm Dana! (Say that like "Anna".) I'm the owner of Music-for-Music-Teachers.com, and this newer site, SingTheBibleStory.com.
Like some of you, I've been playing the piano since early childhood, and have added a few other instruments along the way, plus an interest in arranging and composing music.
I also happen to love the Lord Jesus Christ, and the Christian worldview that portrays The Great War in the heavens, in which we here on earth are destined to be a part.
You can find out more about the reason for this website at the Home page.