This week's Principal Questions:

1. What specific steps were proposed in verses 3-5 toward the selection of the new queen?
2. What facts does Esther 2:5-7[5]In Shushan the citadel there was a certain Jew whose name [was] Mordecai the son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish, a Benjamite.[6][Kish] had been carried away from Jerusalem with the captives who had been captured with Jeconiah king of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried away.[7]And [Mordecai] had brought up Hadassah, that [is,] Esther, his uncle's daughter, for she had neither father nor mother. The young woman [was] lovely and beautiful. When her father and mother died, Mordecai took her as his own daughter. tell about Mordecai and Esther?
3. Why might Mordecai have wanted Esther's Judaism kept secret?
4. What three responses from Xerxes led to Esther's queenship?
5. What happened after Queen Esther gave Mordecai credit for exposing the plot?

Please comment on anything you'd like to share before we meet on Thursday at Debbie's home. Happy studying!