Ezra's Reform I

Zechariah saw a day still far away. Living water would pour out of Jerusalem in two streams. One would flow east. One would flow west. Summer and winter, the water would never stop. And Yahweh would be king over the whole earth. After all the pain and exile, fresh water would rush out of the city...

Many Jews never went back to Judah. They stayed spread out across the Persian lands. They worked. They raised families. They tried to keep the Sabbath far from home. One order from the king could change everything in a single day. The story of Esther shows just how fast that change could come.

In the great city of Susa, the king's men gathered young women from every part of the land. Guards brought Esther to the palace and put her with all the others. Her cousin Mordecai told her one thing before she went in. "Do not tell anyone you are Jewish." So Esther kept her secret and waited...

Zech 14:8