Our last session about Daniel’s prayer and time in the lions’ den was set during the first year after the Medo-Persian Empire had defeated the Babylonians. Today’s session skips ahead a few kings to one named Xerxes. His reign is the backdrop for the Book of Esther. Esther is a young Jewish woman who had been orphaned in childhood. As such, her older cousin Mordecai took her in and raised her as his own child (Esther 2:7). Esther found herself in an unlikely situation—married to King Xerxes and crowned as queen of Persia.