LITTLE CHRISTIAN'S - BIBLE STORIES Gods Creation

Do you know who God is? God is the creator of everything! That means He made everything in the whole universe, and that includes you and me and everything that you can see! Long, long ago, God made Heaven and earth. The earth was empty and dark and it didnt have any shape to it. It was just like a big blob in the darkness. So first, God made light, and then there was light and darkness. That was the end of the first day. Then, God made the sky, and He made it so very big that you cant even imagine how far it goes. The sky is infinite, do you know what that word means? The word infinite means that it never ends! That was the end of the second day. Then, God made oceans and land. God took the water and gathered it together in certain places and He put the land in other places, so now that big old blob was starting to take shape. On the land, God made grass, trees, flowers, and all kinds of plants that grow fruits and vegetables. And God thought that it was good. That was the end of the third day. Next, God made two different lights. The sun for the daytime, and the moon for the night. Did you know that the moon is the night light? He made all the stars too, and He put them all up in the sky. Did you know that stars are really angels? Thats right! And that was the end of the fourth day. After that, God made all kinds of fish and birds. He told them all to have babies and fill up the oceans and the earth with more and more fish and birds just like them. And that was the end of the fifth day. Then God made animals of all kinds. Every kind of animal you can think of. Can you think of lots of different kinds of animals? He told them all to have babies and fill up the earth, just like the fish and the birds. Then God made man to rule over all the other things that God made. Guess what God made him out of. Dust from the earth! Its true! And God blessed man, and told him to have babies and they will grow up and have more babies and fill the earth with people. And God saw that everything He made was very good! That was the end of the sixth day.
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At last, God was done with His work. Heaven and Earth and all the living things in it were finished. And the seventh day was a special day and God blessed it, because that was the day that that He rested from all the work that He had done.

Adam and Eve

God planted a very beautiful garden on His brand new earth and it was called the Garden of Eden, and He put the man that He made, into the garden to take care of it. God named him Adam. But, God thought it wasnt good that Adam was alone. So He put Adam to sleep, took a rib out of his side and made a woman with it. Her name was Eve. Now Adam had a helper. God told them that they could eat fruit from any of the trees, except for the one in the middle of the garden and if they even touched it, they would die. This was a very terrible thing, because when God first created man, He created him to live forever and never die. Now, there was a sneaky snake in the garden, that was very bad. Do you know why? Because one of Gods most beautiful angels named satan, thought he was special because of his beauty, and he wanted to be better than God, because hes jealous of Him. You may have heard of another name that satan is called, and that is the devil. So anyway, he became very bad and now he tries to make people do bad things and win their hearts away from God. Now, back to our story. The devil got into this snake in the garden of Eden, and He lied to Eve and told her that if she ate from the tree in the middle of the garden, that she would become very smart, like God. So Eve took fruit from the tree and ate it. Then she gave some of it to Adam. Adam and Eve knew right away that they had done wrong and they hid in the trees. After a while they heard God looking for them. Why are you hiding? God asked. Adam answered, I was afraid because Eve gave me fruit from the tree in the middle of the garden and I ate it. Then God asked Eve, Why did you do that? Eve answered, The snake tricked me. God punished them all for not obeying Him. He said, from now on snakes will crawl on their bellies and eat dust. When women have babies it will hurt and they will obey their husbands. And man will have to work hard to make things grow in the land. Then God made them leave the Garden of Eden and He put angels in His garden to keep it safe.
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Cain and Abel

Adam and Eve had two sons. Their names were Cain and Abel. Cain was a gardener and Abel took care of sheep. One day, Cain gave God a piece of fruit for a present. Abel gave God a present too, he chose the very best of his sheep as his gift, because he loved the Lord so much. God was very happy with Abels present, but He wasnt very pleased with Cains gift. This made Cain very angry, so he killed his brother Abel out in the field when nobody was looking. God knew what happened, because God knows everything, and He asked Cain, Where is Abel? Cain was very sassy to God and said, I dont know, do I look like my brothers keeper? God didnt like that. God said to Cain, I know you killed Abel, and now, to pay for what youve done, whenever you plant something, it wont grow. You will not have a home and you will run from place to place on the earth and hide your face from me. Cain begged God, Please dont punish me so hard, its more than I can take. Anyone that finds me will want to kill me. So God put a mark on Cain to protect him from being killed. Adam and Eve had another son after that, and called his name Seth. 1,056 years after Adam was created, his great, great, great, great, great, great, great-grandson was born, and his name was Noah.

Noahs Ark
As more and more people filled the earth, God saw that many of them were doing bad things. God was sorry that He made man, and this made Him sad in His heart. So God decided that He would make it rain for a long time, flood the earth, and get rid of all of the bad people and all the other living things on the earth, that He made. But there was one man named Noah, who God really loved. Noah was a good man, and he obeyed God. So God told Noah to make an ark which is a very, very big boat. All the people who saw Noah and his family building the ark, laughed at them and said they were crazy. The ark wasnt even near a lake or an ocean. God gave Noah orders of exactly how to do everything, and it took Noah a very long time to build it. When the ark was finished, Noah brought everything on board that God told him to. Noah and his family were the only people on the ark.
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There were eight of them all together. There was Noah, his wife, his three sons, and their wives. Now, most people dont know this, but there werent only two of every kind of animal that God brought to the ark, but the animals that people used in those days to give as gifts to the Lord were called clean animals, and there were seven of each of those. There were only two of each of the unclean animals, but somehow, on that ark there was every kind of animal on earth! That was because after the flood, they could have babies and fill up the earth again, and Gods earth could start fresh with new people and new animals. Noah also had to take enough food for them all. Once everything was loaded onto the ark and the door was closed, it began to rain. And it rained, and rained, and rained. All of the people who laughed at Noah for building the ark, didnt think he was crazy anymore! It rained for forty days and forty nights! The water covered the mountain tops. Anything that wasnt on the ark, died in the Great Flood. Then God made the wind blow and the water started to dry up. Noah sent a dove out of the window of the ark to see if the water was dried up. He did this three times until the dove finally didnt return to the ark. Now Noah knew that the land was dry, because he knew the dove wouldnt come back if she could live on the earth again. After being on the boat for over a year, God told Noah to leave the ark, and let the animals go live on the earth again. Noah gave presents to God and God was happy. God made a promise that He would never send a flood to kill everything on the earth ever again. And now, after it rains, God puts a rainbow in the sky, as a sign of His promise. Did you know thats where rainbows come from? Now, every time you see a rainbow, youll be reminded of Gods promise and the story of Noahs ark. Noahs three sons were named Ham, Shem and Japheth, and everyone in the world came from one of their families. Noah lived for a very long time, he was 950 years old when he died.

The Tower of Babel

After the Great Flood, God told Noahs sons and their wives to have children, and for their children to have children and to fill up the earth with people, just as He told Adam and Eve. So Ham, Shem and Japheth had many children, and at that time, everyone on the earth spoke the same language. Now, Ham had a grandson named Nimrod and he was a hunter. He was not a good man. Nimrod had an idea. Nimrod wanted all the people to stay close together instead of spreading out and filling the earth, as God said. So Nimrod said, Lets build a city and a tower that can reach up to Heaven. Lets become famous! God came down to see the tower. And God thought, If the people do this because they all speak one language, nothing will stop them from doing more bad things. Ill make them speak different languages so they wont understand each other and they wont be able to finish the tower. Then Ill scatter them around the earth. And thats why people in different countries speak different languages. The tower that they were building was then named the tower of Babel because all the people sounded like they were babbling to each other.

Abraham and Lot

Many years later, there lived a good man named Abraham. And God told Abraham, Leave your fathers house and go to a place where I will show you. You will have children and they will have many children and grandchildren and you will all be blessed. So Abraham left, as God told him. He took his wife named Sarah and his brothers son, named Lot, because he had no children of his own, and they took all that they owned along with all the people who wanted to go with them. They went to a place called Canaan. Abraham had a lot of gold, silver, and animals and many people that had followed him to Canaan, and Lot had his own animals and people who had followed, too. After a while, there wasnt enough food and water in Canaan because Abraham and Lot each had so many people and animals to take care of. They even started to fight with each other. So Abraham said to Lot, Theres plenty of land here. Lets move apart a little bit and live in peace.
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Then God made a promise to Abraham. God said, Look all around you as far as you can see. I will give you and your family all this land, forever, and you will have so many children and grand children and great grandchildren, that you wont be able to count them all. Soon after that, there was a war where Lot lived, so Abraham took his friends and saved Lot from danger until there was peace again. Lot and his family lived in the city of Sodom. There was another city nearby called Gomorrah. There were a lot of bad people in Sodom and Gomorrah. One day the Lord visited Abraham! It was Jesus with two of his angels! What would you do if Jesus came to your house to visit you? Well, Abraham and Sarah made a nice meal for them. While they talked, Jesus told Abraham that Sarah would have a son, but they were both very old, and when Sarah overheard what Jesus said, she laughed to herself. Then the Lord asked Abraham, Is anything too hard for the Lord? The Lord and the two angels were getting ready to leave, and they were headed to Sodom and Gomorrah to burn it all down because of all the bad things that people did there. Abraham was afraid because he knew Lot and his family lived there and he knew that they were good people. So Abraham stopped the Lord and asked that if there were 50 good people there, if He would change His mind. And the Lord said yes. Abraham asked again, If there are 45 good people, will you change your mind? And the Lord said, Yes. Again, Abraham asked about 40 people, then 30 people, then 20 people and finally, Abraham asked one last time. Lord, what if there are 10 good people there? And the Lord said, I will not burn it if there are 10. The two angels went to Sodom, and Lot invited them to his house. Before long, the bad people from the city knocked on Lots door and wanted to hurt the angels. The angels told Lot that if he wanted to save his family, to sneak them out of the city because the Lord was going to burn it down. The angels said, Run for your lives and dont look back or you will die too. So Lot did as he was told. And as Lot and his wife and his two daughters were running from the city, Lots wife turned her head and looked back at the city that was burning with fire from Heaven, and she turned into a pillar of salt.

Sarah Will Have a Son

Abraham and Sarah were getting even older now. Sarah was sure that she was too old to have babies, even though God told Abraham that one day he would have so many children, grandchildren and great grandchildren that you wouldnt even be able to count them. When Abraham was 99 years old he saw God again. God promised Abraham that Sarah would still have a baby, and to name him Isaac. The Lord didnt forget Sarah, just as he had promised, and Sarah and Abraham had a son. They named him Isaac, which means laughter, because Sarah laughed when she heard the Lord tell Abraham that they would have a son in their old age. One day, God tested Abraham to see how much Abraham loved God. He told Abraham to give Isaac to God for a present. If Abraham did this, he knew he would never see his son Isaac again. Abraham loved Isaac, but he loved God more. Just as Abraham was about to give Isaac to God, an angel said ... STOP! God saw that Abraham loved God more than his own son, so God let Abraham keep Isaac. Abraham, Isaac and God were all very happy. Abraham was a very old man now. He didnt want Isaac to marry anyone from Canaan, so he told his favorite servant to go back to the place where he grew up and find a wife for Isaac. Abraham told his servant that the Lord would send an angel ahead of him to lead him to the woman that God wanted Isaac to marry. So Abrahams servant went where Abraham told him to go. When he got there, he went to the well where the women of the city go to get water. And he prayed that the woman he asked to get water for him would ask him if she could get water for his camels too, and that she would be the one that God wanted Isaac to marry ... And before he was even finished with his prayer, a girl named Rebekah came out with a pitcher on her shoulder and asked him the very thing he asked for in his prayer! Rebekah and her family agreed that she should go with him. Isaac loved Rebekah the moment he saw her, and they were married.

Jacob and Esau

Isaac prayed to God because his wife Rebekah couldnt have children. The Lord answered Isaacs prayer and Rebekah was going to have twins. God told Rebekah that her sons would be two very different kinds of people. One would be stronger
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than the other and the younger one would be in charge of the family one day. When the twins were born, the first one had lots of red hair all over him and they named him Esau. The other took hold of Esaus heel as he was being born and they named him Jacob. Do you know why he did that? Because the one who is born first, the oldest son, is usually the one who is the head of the family one day. Its called a birthright. So because of what God told Rebekah about the younger of the twins getting the birthright, when Jacob took hold of Esaus heel, he was kind of saying, Hey, Im supposed to be born first! The boys grew up and Esau became a hunter. Isaac loved him. Jacob didnt like the outdoors, and he was more special to Rebekah. One day Esau came home from hunting and he was very very hungry and tired . . . so hungry and tired that he was ready to faint! Jacob had just made some soup and Esau said to him, I beg you, please give me some soup before I faint. Jacob said to Esau, Ill give you a bowl of soup if you give me your birthright. So Esau agreed because he didnt think that his birthright would help him at that moment. As time passed, Isaac grew old and blind. He called Esau to him and told him to go hunting to get some meat and cook it for him so that he could eat and give Esau a blessing and his birthright before he died. But Rebekah heard this, and she remembered what God told her before the twins were born, so she told Jacob how to trick Isaac into giving Jacob the blessing instead of Esau. The plan worked, and Isaac passed the blessing down to Jacob, the same blessing that God gave to Abraham, and that Abraham passed down to Isaac. So, it happened just as God said, before Esau and Jacob were even born, that the younger one would be in charge of the family. God knows everything. Esau was very angry with Jacob because he didnt want Jacob to be in charge of the family, and because Jacob took away his blessing, but thats what God had in mind all along. Esau planned to kill Jacob, so Rebekah sent Jacob to live with his uncle until Esau wasnt angry any more. While he was on his way, Jacob had a dream about a ladder that reached all the way up to heaven. There were angels climbing up and down the ladder and God was standing above it. God said, I am the Lord God of Abraham and Isaac. This land is a present to you and your children and your grandchildren and all the children in your family after that, and you will all be blessed. When Jacob woke up, he said, God is here! This must be the gate to Heaven.
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When Jacob got to the city where his uncle lived, he came up to a well where people let their sheep drink water. He asked if anyone knew his Uncle Laban. Just then, Labans daughter Rachel, came to the well with the sheep that she took care of. Jacob fell in love with her as soon as he saw her, and helped her get water for the sheep. She took Jacob to meet Laban and Jacob said, I will work for seven years for you if you let me marry Rachel. Laban said, Yes! Rachel had an older sister named Leah. And after Jacob worked for Laban for seven years, there was a wedding. After the wedding, Jacob found out that under the brides veil was Leah, not Rachel! Jacob was tricked! Laban said, In our country, the oldest daughter must marry first. If you stay with Leah for one week, then I will let you marry Rachel too, and you will work for another seven years in exchange for her. Jacob agreed because he loved Rachel so much. So, Jacob worked for Laban another seven long years. Jacob had a big family by now, and God told him to take his family and go back to the land where he was born. On the way, a man told Jacob that his name would no longer be Jacob, but from now on, he would be called Israel. When they were getting close to home, Israel sent some people ahead of him to find out if Esau was still angry with him. But when Israel saw Esau again, Esau wasnt angry anymore and Israel was very happy.

Joseph
Israel had twelve sons. His favorite son was named Joseph. Israel made Joseph a coat of many colors. When Josephs brothers saw that their dad loved Joseph more than the rest of them, they didnt like Joseph anymore. Joseph had a dream, and he told his brothers about it. He said, In my dream we were tying bundles in the field. And my bundle stood up straight, and all of yours bowed to mine! Josephs brothers hated him more now because of his dream. Joseph even had another dream and he told it to Israel and his brothers. He said, In my dream the sun and the moon and eleven stars bowed to me! Josephs dreams were a sign from God that one day he would be very important. One day Israel sent Joseph to check on his brothers, who were taking care of animals in another town. When they saw Joseph they said, Lets kill the little dreamer boy and throw him in a pit and well say that an animal killed him. But Reuben, who was Josephs oldest brother, said, No, dont kill him, just put him in the pit. They took Josephs coat of many colors and threw him into a pit. Reuben
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knew how much his dad loved Joseph and wanted to rescue him later and bring him back to Israel. Then Josephs brothers saw some people who were on their way to Egypt. Without telling Reuben, Josephs other brothers sold him to the people. Then they killed an animal and covered Josephs coat with its blood and took it back to Israel. They lied and said, Look, we found Josephs coat of many colors, but we cant find Joseph. A wild animal must have killed him. Israel was so sad, and nobody could make him feel better. In Egypt, where Joseph was taken, he was sold again to a man named Potiphar who worked for the ruler of Egypt called Pharaoh. Potiphar knew that Joseph was a good man and that God liked him, so he made Joseph the manager of his house. God blessed Potiphars house because Joseph was there. Potiphars wife didnt like Joseph, and she made up lies about him and made Potiphar believe that Joseph was bad. So Joseph was taken to Pharaohs prison. But, the Lord knew that Joseph was good, so He made the prison guard be kind to Joseph. Soon after that, Pharaohs butler and his baker had upset Pharaoh, and they were put into the prison where Joseph was at. One night, the butler and the baker both had dreams that they didnt understand. Joseph told them that God would tell him what the dreams meant. So they told Joseph their dreams. The butler said, In my dream there was a vine with three branches and it grew beautiful grapes. I had Pharaohs cup in my hand, and I pressed the grapes into the cup and gave it to Pharaoh. Joseph told the butler, that in his dream, the three branches stand for three days. And in three days, he will take you out of this prison and youll be his butler again. Joseph said to the butler, Please be kind to me and tell Pharaoh what happened to me. I was sold from my home and there is no good reason for me to be here and in prison. When the baker heard that the butlers dream meant that he would get out of prison, he wanted to tell Joseph about his dream too. The baker said, In my dream I had three white baskets on my head. The top basket had all kinds of bread and cake and pie for Pharaoh, and the birds ate them out of the basket on my head. Joseph told the baker, that in his dream, the three baskets stand for three days too. But in three days, Pharaoh will hang you on a tree and the birds will eat you! These things happened, just as Joseph had said. But, when the butler was set free, he forgot to tell Pharaoh about Joseph. Two years later, the Pharaoh had a dream. He was standing by the river and seven fat cows came out of the river. After that seven skinny cows came out of the river
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and ate up the seven fat cows. The dream woke Pharaoh up, but the same night Pharaoh had another dream. Seven ears of corn grew on one stalk and they were all big and fat. Then a stalk grew with seven skinny ears of corn on it, and they ate up the seven fat ears of corn. When Pharaoh woke up, he was worried about the dreams. He asked all the magicians and wise men of Egypt, but none of them could tell him what his dreams meant. The butler then finally remembered Joseph and that he had told him what his dream meant, so the butler finally told Pharaoh about Joseph. So Pharaoh called for Joseph to be brought to him out of the prison and said, I heard that you can tell me what my dreams mean. Joseph said, It is God that gives the answer of what your dreams mean. So, Pharaoh told Joseph about his dreams and then Joseph said to Pharaoh, God is showing you what He is about to do. Both of your dreams mean the same thing. The seven fat cows and the seven fat ears of corn are seven good years with plenty of food. And the seven skinny cows and the seven skinny ears of corn are seven years when there wont be enough food for people to eat. It will be very terrible, and that is why God showed you twice. You should plan to store up food during the seven good years so that Egypt will have enough food for the seven bad years. Pharaoh said to Joseph, You are a very wise man. You will be in charge of my house and I will listen to all your ideas, and all my people will do what you tell them to do. So Joseph became a very important man in Egypt. During the first seven years while there was plenty of food, Joseph stored up extra food. In the next seven years, when the people of Egypt didnt have enough food, Pharaoh sent them to Joseph. Joseph sold the food that he had stored to the Egyptians. Then other countries sent their people to Joseph because there wasnt enough food anywhere. Back in Josephs home town where Israel and Josephs brothers still lived, Israel told his sons, I heard that they have food in Egypt. Go there and buy some, so that we arent hungry. Ten of Josephs brothers left for Egypt to buy food. Since Joseph was gone, Benjamin, the youngest brother, became Israels favorite. He wouldnt let Benjamin go with his brothers because he remembered what happened to Joseph, and was afraid something might happen to Benjamin. When Joseph saw his 10 brothers, he knew who they were, but they didnt know him. They bowed down before Joseph and he remembered his dreams about their bundles bowing to his and the stars bowing to him. Joseph said, Youre spies and you have come to spy on Egypt! They said, No sir, we came here to buy food. We are all the sons of one man. Our youngest brother is at home with our dad
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and one of our brothers has died. Joseph said to them, One of you will stay here in prison while the others go and get your youngest brother. Bring him back here and that will prove to me that youre telling the truth. If you dont do this, Ill know then, that youre really spies and you will die. So they left their brother Simeon there in prison, and they took food home and told Israel what happened. Israel was very upset. He said, You didnt take care of Joseph and hes gone, you just left Simeon, and now you want to take Benjamin away too! Israel wouldnt allow Benjamin to go. It didnt take long until all the food they brought back from Egypt was gone and they were hungry again. Israel told his sons to go again and buy a little more food. But the brothers said, The man in Egypt said that if we dont bring our youngest brother back with us, that he wont sell any food to us. Israel was sad, but he finally let Benjamin go with his brothers and sent gifts with them for the man in Egypt, and he prayed that they would all come back safely. The brothers returned to Egypt. When Joseph heard they were there, he told his servants to send them to his house. When Joseph met them at his home, they gave him the gifts that their father had sent. Joseph asked them if their dad was in good health. They told Joseph that he was alive and well. Joseph was looking at all his brothers, and then he saw Benjamin. He was so happy to see them all again, and to know that his Dad was alive and well, that he had to leave the room because he started to cry. Just then, Joseph came up with a plan. He told his servant to fill the brothers sacks with as much food as they could carry, and to put each mans money back in their sacks. Then he said, Put my silver cup in the youngest brothers sack. When morning came, the brothers all left, and before they had gone far, Joseph sent his servant after them. His servant caught up with Josephs brothers and said, My masters silver cup has been stolen! The brothers were surprised. We wouldnt do anything like that! If you find it with any one of us, you can kill him, and the rest of us will be servants. But the servant said, Whoever I find with the cup, he will be the servant and nothing will happen to the rest of you. So, all of them opened their sacks from oldest to youngest and lo and behold, there was the cup, in Benjamins sack. They couldnt believe it! They all went back to Josephs house and they bowed to him on the ground. Joseph said, leave Benjamin here, he will be my servant. The rest of you go home to your dad.
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The brothers just couldnt bear the sadness that this news would bring to Israel, and Josephs brother Judah begged to talk with Joseph. He said, Our dad is an old man, and his favorite son has died. Benjamin is his favorite now. When you told us that we couldnt buy food if we didnt bring Benjamin and prove that we werent spies, he didnt want to let Benjamin come with us, because he was afraid of losing him too. But we needed food, so he allowed us to bring him. If we go back without Benjamin, our dad will surely die of sadness. Please let me stay and be your servant instead of Benjamin. All of this was breaking Josephs heart. Joseph couldnt keep his secret any longer. He started to cry and said, I am Joseph your brother! At first, they were all worried because they thought he was mad about them selling him so many years ago. But Joseph said, Dont worry, It was Gods plan that I ended up in Egypt. There will be five more years left without food, and God showed me what to do so that our lives would be saved. Now go and get our dad and come back to live here in Egypt with me. And so they did, and Joseph took care of them all.

The Story of Moses

Hundreds of years after Joseph and all of his brothers died, there was a new Pharaoh in Egypt. He was afraid that soon there would be more people from the children of Israel (they were called Hebrews) living in Egypt, than there were Egyptians. He was also afraid that one day the Hebrews would want to take over Egypt. Pharaoh ordered that all the people of Israel be slaves and he made them build fancy cities for him in Egypt. But the harder the Egyptians made the Hebrews work, the more they grew! So Pharaoh thought of another plan to stop the Hebrews from growing. He ordered his people, that every Hebrew baby boy that is born must be thrown into the river to die. There was one Hebrew woman who had a baby boy and she was able to hide him for three months. When she thought she couldnt hide him any more, she made a basket and put the baby in it, and then put the basket in the river. The babys sister hid and watched to see what would happen to him. Soon after, the Pharaohs daughter came down to the river and found the basket with the baby boy in it. She kept the baby and named him Moses. He grew up in Pharaohs house and one day when he became older, he saw an Egyptian beating an Hebrew. When Moses was sure no one was looking, he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. The next day, two Hebrew men asked Moses, Why did you kill the Egyptian yesterday? Moses was afraid that people knew what he did, and Pharaoh heard
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about it. Pharaoh ordered that Moses be killed, but Moses left there quickly and went to live in another place called Midian. There he married a woman named Zipporah, and they had a son. The Hebrews were very sad being slaves in Egypt, and God heard their cries and He remembered the land that he promised to give to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. God wanted to get the Hebrews out of Egypt so they could go to the Promised Land. So God chose Moses to do the job. One day, while Moses was taking care of the animals that belonged to Zipporahs dad, Moses saw a burning bush. When he looked closer, he heard God say, Moses, Moses. And Moses said, Here I am. God told Moses not to come any closer and to take off his shoes because the place where he was standing was holy ground. And God told Moses that He was the God of his father, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and that He knew how sad the Hebrews were, being slaves in Egypt, and that He was sending Moses to Pharaoh, to get His people out of Egypt. Now Moses knew that he was really a Hebrew, and it all made sense why it upset him so much to see that Egyptian beating the Hebrew. God told Moses that the Hebrews would listen to him, and God wanted him to lead the Hebrews three days journey into the wilderness to pray to God. Moses was afraid, but God promised that He would tell him exactly what to do. But Moses was still afraid. So, God told Moses to throw his staff down on the ground, and when he did, it became a snake. Then God told Moses to pick it up, and when he did, it became a staff again. Then God told Moses to put his hand on his chest, and when he did it became covered with sores. Then God told Moses to put his hand back on his chest again, and when he did, the sores disappeared again. Moses was still very nervous. He told God that he couldnt speak very well and was afraid he couldnt do the job. God became angry with Moses and told him that his brother Aaron would go with him, and that God would tell Moses what to do, and Aaron would do the talking. God said, Use the staff to show that I have sent you. But I will make Pharaohs heart stubborn, and he will not let the people go. So, Moses and Aaron went to Egypt and called all the Hebrews, together. Aaron told them everything that God said to Moses and they believed and bowed their heads and thanked God. Then Moses and Aaron went to talk to Pharaoh and told him, The Lord God of Israel said, Let my people go. Pharaoh said, I dont know the Lord, and I wont let the people of Israel go. How dare you take my slaves away from their work! Then Pharaoh ordered that the Hebrews work even harder
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and if they didnt, they were beaten. The Hebrews began to think it was better to just stay where they were. They thought it was all Moses fault that they were working even harder and thought they would end up dying if Moses didnt stop asking Pharaoh to let them go. God told Moses what to do next. Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh again, and Aaron threw the staff on the ground. Once again, God turned it into a snake so Pharaoh could see. So, Pharaoh called his magicians and they threw their staffs on the ground and they all became snakes, but Aarons snake swallowed up the other snakes. This didnt change Pharaohs mind. His heart was still stubborn and he wouldnt let the people go. God told Moses, Go to Pharaoh in the morning, wait for him at the river with the staff in your hand and say to him, God sent me to you, and said, Let my people go, but you would not listen. Now Ill strike the river with my staff and the water through all of Egypt will turn to blood. The fish will die and the river will stink and the Egyptians wont want to drink the water from the river. Moses did as God ordered, and all the water in Egypt turned to blood for seven days. Pharaohs magicians did the same thing. So, Pharaohs heart was still stubborn and he still wouldnt let Gods people go. Then, God told Moses to go to Pharaoh and tell him, God says, Let my people go or I will bring lots of frogs into Egypt. There will be so many that they will jump into your homes and your beds and your ovens and all over the people. Ewwwww! Can you imagine that? But Pharaoh of course, still wouldnt listen. So Moses told Aaron Gods words and Aaron held the staff over the water in the river and the frogs came up out of the river and covered Egypt! Pharaohs magicians made frogs come out too. Now Pharaoh didnt like the frogs, so he called for Moses and Aaron and said to them, Ask the Lord to take the frogs away and Ill let the people go. Moses said, When the frogs go away, then you will know that there is nothing greater than God. So Moses asked God to take the frogs away and the frogs died. They piled them all up and they smelled absolutely terrible! But when Pharaoh saw that there was a little rest from the things that were happening, his heart was stubborn again. Next, God told Moses, Tell Aaron to strike the dust of the land of Egypt with the staff and it will become lice that will crawl on all the Egyptian people and all their animals. So, Aaron struck the dust with his staff, and all of the dust in Egypt became lice and crawled on all the people and animals and they itched very
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badly! Pharaohs magicians tried, but they couldnt make dust turn into lice. The magicians told Pharaoh, it is God that made this happen, we cannot do this thing. But Pharaohs heart was still stubborn. God told Moses then to go to Pharaoh the next morning and warn him that if he didnt let the people go, that He would send swarms of flies on him and the Egyptians. But of course, Pharaoh wouldnt let Gods people go. Then, just as God had told Moses, swarms of flies were all over Pharaohs house and all over Egypt, in the houses and everywhere except where Gods people were. Not one single fly bothered the Hebrews! Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron and said, Okay, pray to your God, but pray to Him here in Egypt. Moses answered Pharaoh, We will go three days into the wilderness to pray to God, just as He told us to. So, Pharaoh asked Moses to ask God to take the flies away, and then he would let Gods people go. Moses said, I will ask God, but dont try and trick God anymore and lie about letting His people go. Moses left and asked God to take the flies away, and God did, and there wasnt one single fly left. But Pharaohs heart was stubborn, and he still wouldnt let Gods people go. God ordered Pharaoh to let his people go, ten times! And each time he wouldnt let them go, God made something terrible happen to Pharaoh and the Egyptians. After the water was turned to blood, He sent the frogs, then the lice, then the flies, then God killed all of the Egyptians animals. After that, God put sores on all the Egyptian people, then He sent hail and fire into Egypt, and then locusts, and then He made it dark for three days straight. But Pharaohs heart was STILL stubborn, and he still wouldnt let Gods people go. God told Moses, I will do one more thing to Pharaoh and the Egyptians, and then he will let my people go and everyone will know that there is a difference between the Egyptians and the Hebrews. So, Moses got all the Hebrews ready to leave Egypt. Then one night, at midnight, the Lord passed through Egypt and killed all of the firstborn in every family of Pharaoh and the Egyptians. And all of the people cried in Egypt because there wasnt a single house where there wasnt one that died. Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron while it was still night time and said, Go, take your people, and travel three days into the wilderness and pray to God. Take your animals and all of your things, and go! The Egyptians were glad because they didnt want any more bad things to happen because of Pharaohs stubborn heart. So the Hebrews left Egypt very quickly. From the time Joseph was in Egypt, until the time Moses led the Hebrews out of Egypt was 430 years, and Moses took Josephs bones up out of Egypt with him.

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God led Moses and His people through the wilderness. He put a cloud in front of them to show them which way He wanted them to go during the daytime and He put fire in front of them to show them which way to go at night. He led them to the Red Sea. And God told Moses that Pharaoh would think they were trapped in Egypt because of the sea. God told Moses, Pharaohs heart will be stubborn once more and hell bring his army and follow you there. And I will show Pharaoh once and for all that I AM the Lord. When the children of Israel saw that Pharaoh and his army were nearby and wanted to take them back as slaves again, they were very afraid. They cried to God. Then they told Moses, it would have been better for us to remain slaves than to die, just as we told you before. And Moses said, Dont be afraid. Stand still and see how God will save you today. And God told Moses to lift his staff over the sea. The water split apart and there was a great path of dry land. The waters were like walls for Gods children on their left and their right for Gods people to cross the Red Sea. God put the cloud behind them as they crossed so Pharaoh and the Egyptians couldnt see them, but they followed the Hebrews into the path through the sea. When the Hebrews were all across, God told Moses to lift his staff over the sea again, and then the waters closed, crashing in on Pharaoh and the Egyptians and not a single one of them lived. And that was how God saved His people from the Egyptians, and they believed in the Lord and his servant Moses.

The Ten Commandments

Moses brought Gods children out of Egypt and they traveled three days into the wilderness, but they couldnt find any water that was clean enough to drink. So, Moses prayed to God, and God led Moses to a tree. When Moses threw that tree into the water, God made the water clean. Then they ran out of food, and the people were upset with Moses again! The Lord knew the people were hungry so every morning, bread from Heaven, called manna, came raining down. Manna is what angels eat! In the evening, there were birds called quail that God sent to them to eat. The Hebrews ate manna like this for 40 years, and they traveled in the wilderness wherever God led Moses to take them. They came to another place where there was no water to drink, and they cried to Moses again. Moses asked them, Why do you blame me, and why do you doubt the Lord? Moses prayed to God and asked, What should I do? The people are ready to kill me because there is no water. And God led Moses to a rock and told him to hit the rock with his staff, and the people watched as water came flowing out of the rock!
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Three months after the Hebrews left Egypt, they were in a place called Sinai, which is the mountain of God. God called Moses up on the mountain and gave him rules to give to the people, called commandments. These are the ten commandments that God gave to Moses. TEN COMMANDMENTS 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. I am the only God, believe in no others. Do not pray to statues. Use my name with respect. Keep the day of rest holy. Obey your mom and dad. Do not kill. Do not take someone else's wife or husband. Do not steal. Do not lie.

10. Do not want things that belong to someone else. God told Moses to come up onto Mount Sinai and He would write the commandments on two blocks of stone so that Moses could use them to teach His people. Moses was on the mountain for forty days and forty nights because God was teaching him other rules too, and explaining everything very clearly to Moses. While Moses was gone, the people got tired of waiting and they told Aaron, Let us make our own God, because we dont even know what happened to Moses, hes been gone so long. They took all their gold jewelry and brought it to Aaron. Then Aaron made a gold calf out of the jewelry and they put it up on a big stand. Then they prayed to it and they had a big party. Oh my, you can bet that God would be angry about that, and Moses too! When Moses came down from the mountain, he heard the people singing. As he came closer to the people, he saw the golden calf that they had made as their new god and was so angry that he threw the blocks of stone with the commandments on them, down on the ground and broke them all to pieces. Then he took the golden
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calf and burned it all up and ground it into powder. He threw the powder into the water and made the Hebrews drink it. Some of the people were sorry for what they did. Then Moses said, Whoever is on the Lords side, come to me. And the people that came to him fought with those that were against God and 3000 people were killed that day. Moses prayed that God would forgive the children of Israel who sinned against Him and were sorry for it. God told Moses to bring two more stone blocks up on the mountain so that the commandments could be written again. He told Moses that He would lead the children of Israel to the Promised Land and that he would make the people that live in Israel now, leave the Promised Land, because they didnt believe in God. Moses was on the mountain, alone with God for another forty days and forty nights. When Moses returned to the people, his face was shining so brightly that the people were afraid to come near him and he had to cover his face while he told them all that the Lord said. The Hebrews left Sinai and began their trip to the Promised Land once again. Whenever they werent happy about something, they started to doubt in God and again they would cry to Moses. Many many times, Moses asked God to forgive them. In fact, this happened ten times! Theres a lot of tens in the Bible arent there? God told Moses to send messengers to spy on the land of Canaan. Did you remember that the name of the Promised Land was Canaan? The land was flowing with milk and honey and many good things. The messengers came back 40 days later and said that the people who lived there were too strong to fight against, and, there were even giants there! Its true! There were really giants in those days! The Hebrews were afraid they couldnt win if they fought for the land. But there were two holy men, named Joshua and Caleb, who believed that God would help the Hebrews through anything, and if they werent afraid, they could win the land. But the people were afraid and they said bad things about Moses and Aaron to each other and still once again they said that theyd rather be back in Egypt, than where they were now. Moses asked God to forgive them, still again. But God was angry and said that all the people who talked bad about Moses and Aaron, would die, and only their children, and Joshua and Caleb would live for 40 years in the wilderness, one year for each day that was spent spying on Canaan, and then they would be allowed to enter the Promised Land.
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Some of the Hebrews believed that it was Moses idea, not Gods, to bring them into the Promised Land of Canaan. Moses brought all the people together that didnt believe that the Lord sent him, and he told them that the Lord would show them. Just then, the earth split open like a big earthquake, and swallowed up all the people who didnt believe! Many things like these happened on the way from Egypt to the land God promised to the Hebrews. For forty years, God tested the Hebrews in the wilderness, to find out who believed in Him, and those who were good, earned the land that God had promised.

Joshua
After Moses days, God put Joshua in charge of bringing the Hebrew people into Israel. There was city called Jericho and this city had walls of stone all around it. The people there were afraid because they knew the children of Israel were going to try and take over the city, so the gates of the city were closed up tight. Joshua sent two messengers to spy on the city and the king of Jericho found out they were there. A woman named Rahab hid the messengers on the roof of her house and when the king came to find them they were out of sight. They were able to get back to Joshua safely and tell him about the city. Joshua gave the people Gods orders and this is what they did. They very quietly marched around the city every day for six days, and on the seventh day they marched around it seven times. Then seven priests blew trumpets and Joshua told them, When you hear the trumpets, shout at the top of your voices as loud as you can. When they did, the sound was so loud that it shook the walls of Jericho, and they fell down flat! The children of Israel destroyed the city and everyone who lived there died, except for Rahab and her family because she was kind to Joshuas messengers. Joshua led the Hebrews into many cities to take them over and give the land to Gods people, as He had promised. In one city, Joshua spoke to God, saying, Sun, stand still over the children of Israel, and darkness, stay over the people we are fighting against. So it was light where Joshua and his people needed light to win against that city and it stayed dark where the enemies were, so they couldnt fight back. There was never another day like it. God wanted all the different families of the children of Israel to live in certain places, and he told Joshua who he wanted to live where. Joshua worked all of his life for God, taking over all the
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cities of Israel, and getting Gods children to the places where He wanted them in His Promised Land.

Samson
For many years there wasnt a leader for the children of Israel and a lot of them didnt obey Gods commandments when nobody reminded them. Now Philistine was a city in the Promised Land, with strong armies, but they didnt believe in God. So, when the Hebrews continued to disobey the laws of God, He made them slaves to the Philistines for forty years. One day an angel told an old Israelite woman who didnt have any children, that she would have a son who will be very strong and save Israel from the Philistines. The child was born, and his name was Samson, and he grew up, and the spirit of the Lord was with him. One day a lion tried to attack Samson, and he killed the lion with his bare hands. Some time later, he saw the dead body of the lion and it had a bee hive full of honey in it! Samson married a Philistine girl, and they had a big party for seven days. Samson was talking to thirty Philistine people at the wedding and said, I have a riddle for you. If you can figure it out before the party is over, I will give each of you new clothes, and if you cant, you will each give me new clothes. The people said, Tell us your riddle. So, Samson said, Out of the eater came forth meat, and out of the strong came forth sweetness. After three days, they couldnt figure out the riddle and they told Samsons wife that if she didnt find out the answer to the riddle by the seventh day, that they would burn her and her family and their house with fire! Samsons wife pouted and said to him, If you dont tell me the answer to your riddle, that means you dont love me. Samson didnt even tell his Mom or his Dad, so he surely wouldnt tell her. She cried for the rest of the seven days and finally Samson told her the answer to the riddle. She told the Philistine people the answer, and they told Samson that they figured out the answer to the riddle. Out of the eater (the lion) came forth meat (honey), and out of the strong (the lion) came forth sweetness (honey). What is sweeter than honey? And what is stronger than a lion? Samson said to them, you would never know the answer if you didnt scare my wife. Samson was mad at all of them. He went back to his Mom and Dad and after a while, he went back to see his wife, but her father thought that Samson hated her
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for telling the riddle, so her dad gave her to someone else to marry. Now Samson was very mad! He caught 300 foxes and tied them together, tail to tail, then set their tails on fire! Then the foxes ran through the Philistines cornfields and vineyards and olive trees and caught them all on fire! The Israelite people were upset because Samson was Hebrew and they thought the Philistines would be mean to all the Hebrew slaves, because of what Samson did. So, the Hebrews tied Samson up and were taking him to be punished by the Philistines when Spirit of the Lord came to him and gave him the strength to break the ropes. Then he took a jawbone of a donkey and killed 1000 men with it! After that, Samson was very thirsty and tired but there was no water around. He asked God for water and it started flowing out the jawbone that Samson had just used, and he drank until he got his strength back. God does some cool stuff, doesnt He? Samson loved a woman named Delilah. The Philistines were always trying to destroy Samson, but they were afraid of his strength. One day, the leaders of the Philistines told Delilah that if she could find out how he gets his strength, they would give her a lot of money. Samson tricked her and told her that if he was tied with seven fresh ropes, then he would lose his strength. So the Philistines brought Delilah seven fresh ropes and she tied Samson up with them, but Samson easily broke the ropes. Delilah tried again and again to find out where Samson got his strength. Finally she said, If you dont tell me, that means you dont love me. Samson fell for the same trick again. Samson was so tired of her asking that he finally told her that God gave him his strength in his hair and that if his hair was cut, he would become as weak as a normal man. Delilah knew that he was telling the truth from his heart and she told the Philistines. They brought her money and then she cut Samsons hair while he was asleep. What a dirty trick! Once his hair was cut, Delilah woke him saying, The Philistines are here, Samson! They took him in chains, poked out his eyes, and put him in prison. But thats not the end of this story. Samsons hair began to grow back! The Philistines had a big party because they were so happy that they had taken Samsons strength and they put him in prison. All the important Philistines were there at the party. There were about 3000 people in the building. During the party, they brought Samson in to make fun of him. Samson asked if he could stand by the pillars to lean on them. Samson prayed, Lord please remember me and give me strength just one more time so that I can punish the Philistines for taking my
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eyes, and let me die with the Philistines. He pushed on the two middle pillars that held the building together with all of his might, and the roof fell in and killed Samson and all the Philistine people that were there.

Samuel
Once there was a woman named Hannah, who was very sad because she didnt have any children. She prayed to God and promised Him that if He gave her a son, that she would give him to the Lord to serve Him all his life and that she would never cut his hair. God blessed her with a son, and his name was Samuel. To keep her promise, Samuels mother took him to live with a man named Eli. Eli was a priest, who lived in a place called Shiloh. People went to Shiloh at a special time every year and gave presents to God to show Him how much they loved Him. Gods treasure box, called the ark, was in Shiloh where Samuel and Eli lived. The ark was very special to Eli. It had things in it that were special to God, like Moses staff, and the stone blocks with the ten commandments written on them, and things like that. Eli had two sons, and they did not follow the commandments of God. Samuel became Elis helper. One night Samuel heard a voice say, Samuel. So, Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, Here I am. Eli said, I didnt call you, go back to sleep. Samuel did, and he heard the voice again, say, Samuel. He got up again and went to Eli and said, Here I am. I didnt call you, go back to sleep, said Eli. So Samuel went back to sleep, and it happened again, a third time. Eli knew then, that it was the Lord calling Samuel, so he told Samuel, The next time you hear the voice, say, Speak Lord, your servant is listening. So, Samuel went back to sleep. Soon Samuel heard the voice again, Samuel, Samuel. And Samuel answered, as Eli had told him to, Speak Lord, your servant is listening. And the Lord said to Samuel, I will do something in Israel that will surprise everyone. I will punish Eli, because he knows that his sons have done wrong, and Eli didnt stop them. Samuel told Eli everything the Lord had said, and Eli said, He is the Lord, let him do what seems is good. After that, each time the Lord would speak to Samuel, Samuel would tell about it, and all of Israel knew that Samuel was chosen to be a prophet of the Lord. A prophet is someone who God talks to and gives them messages about things that are going to happen. When Samuel was older, the Philistines went to war with Israel again, because the Hebrews were going back to their old ways of misbehaving and God wasnt happy with them. Israel had lost some of their cities of the Promised Land to the Philistines before and they were was losing a lot of people again in this war. Elis
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two sons went to get the ark and brought it with them to where they were fighting against the Philistines because the people of Israel thought the ark would protect them and help them win. When the Israelites saw the ark, they all shouted with loud voices just like they did in Jericho. Now, the Philistines remembered hearing all the terrible things that happened to the Egyptians when God helped Moses, so they fought really hard and beat Israel and took the ark away from them and Elis two sons were killed. One of the Hebrew soldiers ran back to tell Eli what had happened, and when Eli heard that the ark was stolen, he fell back out of his chair, broke his neck, and died. The Philistines took the ark to a place where they prayed to a statue. God didnt like that. As soon as the ark was put there, the statue fell over and was broken to pieces. The Philistines moved the ark to all different cities and wherever they took it, people who didnt believe in God, got sick and died. They finally figured it out, and gave the ark back to the Israelites. After the Philistines won the war, the Israelites went to Samuel for help. Samuel told them that if they would love the Lord with all their hearts, and stop doing wrong, that God would save them from the Philistines. The people told God they were sorry that they had sinned and promised to be good. The next time the Philistines tried to attack Israel, God helped them and Israel won back all the cities they had lost to the Philistines and there was peace for a while in the Promised Land.

Saul ... 1st King of Israel

Samuel was very wise and always told the people of Israel the right things to do, just as God told him to. When Samuel was old, the people of Israel said they wanted a king because all the other countries had kings. Samuel was sad that the people werent satisfied with the way things were. Samuel prayed, and God told him to listen to His people and do what they wanted, but the real reason they wanted a king was not that they didnt like Samuel any more, but they didnt want God to be their king. God told Samuel to warn the people of Israel that if they choose a king, that he will take their children to work hard for him, and he will take their best animals and their best food, and the best of everything they have, and keep it for himself. The people didnt believe Samuel and still wanted a king. Samuel told God, and God said, Listen to them, and find them a king.
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One day there was a man named Saul looking for his Dads lost donkeys. When he couldnt find them, he went to ask Samuel for help because he knew Samuel was a prophet of God. When Samuel saw Saul, God told Samuel that this was the man that would be the first king of Israel. Samuel told Saul that his dads donkeys had already been found, before Saul ever even asked about them. Then Samuel told Saul that he would be the first king of Israel. Saul didnt believe it. Samuel poured oil on Sauls head to show that God had chosen him to be the captain of His people, and Samuel told Saul three things that would happen so that Saul would believe that it was true. First he told Saul that he would meet two people on his way back home and they would tell him that his dads donkeys had been found. Then he would meet three men who would give him two loaves of bread. And third, he would meet some prophets playing all kinds of instruments and he would feel the Spirit of God, and he would be like a different person, because God would be with him. All of this happened to Saul, just as Samuel told him. When Saul was king, there were wars again in the land of Israel, and after a while, Saul disobeyed Gods commandments. Samuel always told Saul to listen to God and to do exactly what God told him to do. Samuel told Saul that God wanted him to go and fight against some people who were mean to the people of Israel when they first came out of slavery in Egypt. God said to kill them and all that they have. Saul took his army and they killed all the people, but they kept all of the best of their animals alive, and they didnt kill their king either. God was angry because Saul didnt listen to Him. Saul told Samuel that they kept the animals to give to God as a present. Samuel asked Saul, Is it better to give a present, or to obey the words of God? Samuel told Saul, that because he didnt listen to God, that God would be looking for a new king.

David and Goliath

Have you ever heard of king David? Did you know that he was related to Jesus Christ? This is the story of David and many things that happened in his life. The people of Israel wanted a king, so even though God wasnt very happy about it, because God is the only REAL king, he allowed Israel to have one. The first king of Israel was named Saul, and Saul didnt obey all that God told him to do, so God took the kingdom away from him and sent the prophet Samuel to look for another king.
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God sent Samuel to a man named Jesse, who lived in Bethlehem. God said, I have chosen me a king from Jesses sons. Samuel was sure he knew which one of Jesses many sons would be the next king when he first saw them, but Samuel was wrong, because God doesnt care what people look like, He cares whats in their heart. Seven of Jesses sons met Samuel but none of them were the one God wanted to be the next king. Samuel asked Jesse if these were all of his sons. Jesse said, No, theres also David, my youngest, out in the field. David was always out in the field, taking care of the sheep, playing his harp and singing to God. When Samuel met David, God told Samuel that this would be the next king of Israel, so, Samuel told David and the Spirit of God was with him from that day on. David wasnt old enough to rule Israel yet, so he stayed at home and sang to God and played his harp in the fields and took care of the sheep. After a while, Saul was very sad all the time because he didnt have the Spirit of God anymore. His servants told him that he should find someone who could play the harp and that might make him feel better. One of Sauls servants knew that David played the harp so David was brought to Saul. Saul loved David and every time a bad spirit came to Saul and he was sad, David would play his harp for him, and Saul would feel better again. One day the Philistines got their army together again and lined up on top of a mountain to fight against Israel. Davids three oldest brothers were there with Saul, because they were soldiers. So, Davids dad sent David to take food to his brothers and find out how they were doing. When David got there, he saw a great big Philistine soldier shouting to the men of Israel from the top of the mountain. He had a brass helmet on and heavy metal clothes to protect him. He carried a big heavy spear in one hand and a shield in the other. His name was Goliath and he was almost 10 feet tall! The Philistines thought Goliath was a hero. Goliath shouted, Send a man to fight with me and if he kills me, the Philistines will be your slaves, but if I kill him, the people of Israel will be our slaves. Saul and the men of Israel were very much afraid, but David was not. David said, Ill fight this Philistine for the army of God! Saul told David that he was just a boy and couldnt beat Goliath. But David told Saul that one time, when he was tending the sheep, he killed a lion and a bear that were after the sheep. David believed that God would keep him safe, just as He kept him safe from the lion.
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Saul put a helmet and heavy metal clothes on David, but they were so big and clumsy that David took them off and said, I dont need these, God will protect me. So David took his staff, and chose five smooth stones out of the brook. He put the stones in his sack, and took his sling in his hand and headed for the top of the mountain where Goliath stood. Goliath made fun of David and asked, Am I a dog, that you are coming at me with sticks? Come closer and Ill feed you to the birds and the animals to eat. David said, You come at me with a sword, a spear and a shield, but I come to you in the name of God! Today, the Lord will help me take off your head and the rest of the Philistines will be eaten by the birds and the animals. Then everyone on earth will know that God is in Israel! When Goliath came toward David, David took a stone out of his sack, put it in his sling and hurled it at the giant Goliath. The stone sank into Goliaths forehead and he fell to the ground on his face. Then David stepped up on top of Goliath and took Goliaths own sword and killed him with it and then cut off Goliaths head. When the other Philistines saw that their hero was dead, they were terrified. Many of them were killed and the rest of them ran for their lives. Saul put David in charge of the army and all the people of Israel grew to love David. Sauls son Jonathan and David became best friends, and Jonathan loved David very much. They made a promise that they would be best friends forever. But soon Saul became angry because he heard the people of Israel singing that Saul had killed thousands but David had killed tens of thousands! So Sauls bad spirit came back and he wanted to kill David! Jonathan begged Saul not to kill him, because he had done great things for Saul and for Israel, and Saul listened to Jonathan and changed his mind about killing David . . . for a little while. Soon after, there was war again with the Philistines, so David went out with the men of Israel and won again, killing many more of the Philistines, and many more ran away. Saul became angry once again. He was so jealous of David that his bad spirit came back again. David was playing his harp for Saul one day and Saul threw his spear at David because he wanted to kill him, but David got away. David told Jonathan all about it. David was supposed to be at a special dinner at Sauls house the next night, so David and Jonathan came up with a plan. David said, Ill hide in the field and if your dad says good things about me, shoot an arrow a short way and Ill know to stay. But if he wants to kill me still, shoot the arrow very far, and Ill know to run for my life. They planned to meet in a secret place to say good-bye if they
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had to. When David saw Jonathans arrow fly very far, he ran to the place to meet Jonathan. They were both very sad to say good-bye to each other because they swore they would be best friends forever. David went from place to place, hiding from Saul. He took the sword with him that belonged to Goliath and many people who liked David, decided to help him fight against people who didnt believe in God, instead of helping Saul. Saul and his people searched for David over and over again, hoping they could find him and kill him. David and his people lived in a cave, hiding from Saul. Jonathan found David and warned him that Saul was still searching to kill him. One day when Saul and his people were going home from another battle with the Philistines, they rested in the very same cave that David was in, but they didnt know David and his people were there. God told David that He would bring Saul to him and that David could do whatever he thought was best to Saul. Davids people wanted him to kill Saul, but instead, David snuck up on Saul and cut off a piece of his coat. When Saul and his people left the cave, David called out. King Saul! David held up the piece of Sauls coat in his hand and said, I couldve got you! But you are Gods anointed king, so I cannot kill you. Some time later, Saul and his men were searching for David once again. David took one of his people with him down to the camp where Saul and his army were sleeping on the ground. David snuck up on Saul again and this time he took the spear that was next to Sauls pillow, and his jar of water. They left and went to the top of a hill nearby and David called out. King Saul! Holding up the spear and the jar of water, David yelled, I couldve got you! But you are Gods anointed king, so I cannot kill you. Saul cried and said, You are a better man than I am. You have been good to me and I have been bad to you. Now I know that you will be a good king and Israel will be safe in your care. David was the apple of Gods eye. That means that God loved him very, very much. David always talked to God and God always told him what to do, and when to go to battle. Even though Saul was jealous of David, David always remembered that Saul was Gods first anointed king of Israel. When Saul died, people thought David would be glad, but Davids heart was very, very sad. David took his army to Jerusalem and won over the city. He moved there and it became known as the City of David. David brought the ark (Gods treasure box) to Jerusalem and he was so happy that he danced in the street, and all the people were happy with him. Davids wife Michal, was embarrassed because David danced in front of the people. But David was dancing because he was happy for
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God, he wasnt dancing to show off for the people like Michal thought, so God never let Michal have children.

Solomon
David became the king of Israel when Saul died and he fought wars for the Lord for many years. He wrote many Psalms to God. Do you know what a psalm is? Its a song! Theres even a book of Psalms in the Bible that David wrote. David had a son named Solomon, and when David died, Solomon became the king. One night God appeared to Solomon in a dream and told Solomon to ask for anything he wanted. Solomon told God that he wanted wisdom to tell the difference between good and bad, so he could be a good leader for Gods people. God was so happy that Solomon asked for such an unselfish thing instead of asking for a long life or money, that God made him the smartest man ever to live, and he gave him riches too! He told Solomon that if he would follow His Commandments, that he would also have a long life. Many people asked King Solomon what to do when they had problems. One day two women brought a baby boy to king Solomon. One of the women told king Solomon, I had a baby and three days later this woman had a baby too. Her baby died in the middle of the night, so she took my baby, and put her baby in my babys crib so that I would think my baby died. The other woman said, No, my son is the one that is alive! King Solomon said, Bring me a sword. We will cut this child in two and each of you can keep half. The woman who was telling the truth, spoke up and said, Oh please, No, dont kill the baby, give it to her! The other woman said, Yes lets divide it! King Solomon said, The real mother is the one who would rather give up her child than have it cut in half. All of Israel heard about how king Solomon decided who was the babys real mother, and everyone saw that he had the wisdom of God inside of him.

Building the Temple

While David still alive, he wanted to build a house for God, but he couldnt because he was a man of war and God wanted his house built when there was peace in the land. Before David died, God told him that his son would build him a house. When Soloman was king, there was finally peace in the land of Israel, so Solomon built the house for God, called the Temple. There were thousands and
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thousands of people that worked on building the Temple. All of the wood and stone and other things that were used, were made ready before they were brought to where the Temple was being built, so that you couldnt hear the noise of a hammer or axe or any other tool, while they built it. Isnt that neat! The Temple was made with all the best wood and stone and it was all covered in gold. The walls were carved with beautiful pictures of angels and palm trees and flowers, inside the house and outside. A special room was built to put the ark in. All of the lamps and candlesticks and bowls that were in the house, were made of pure gold too. It took Solomon seven years to build the Temple! God was happy with the Temple and He told Solomon that if he kept His Commandments that Solomon and his children and grandchildren would rule in Israel forever. But if he didnt keep the Lords Commandments, the children of Israel would be sent out of the Promised Land and the Temple would be destroyed. After the Temple was built, Solomon built palaces and many cities. Solomon had the finest clothes and food and everything he had was the very best. He didnt have slaves, but he had horsemen and sailors and captains and many people who wanted to serve him. There wasnt a man on earth who was smarter, or had more riches than king Solomon. He spoke 3000 proverbs (wise sayings) and wrote 1005 songs called Psalms. You can read what Solomon wrote in the Bible, in the books of Proverbs and Ecclesiastes. King Solomon had many wives, and a lot of them had different gods. Solomons wives talked him into praying to their gods and the Lord was very upset with him because he didnt obey God like David did. God told Solomon that because he didnt keep His Commandments, that the kingdom would be taken from him and it would be given to one of his servants, but because his dad was David, who God loved so much, God wouldnt take the kingdom away until Solomons son was king. Remember Jacob, whos name was changed to Israel? Israel had twelve sons. And those twelve sons had families, and over hundreds of years, those families grew very large. Each family was called a tribe. When God brought the children of Israel out of Egypt and they went to the Promised Land, each tribe had a different part of the land where God wanted them to live. One of Gods prophets Solomons servant Jeroboam, that he would become king of ten out of the twelve tribes of Israel. This area was called Israel. Solomon heard this and wanted to kill Jeroboam. When Jeroboam found out, he ran away to Egypt until Solomon died. Solomons son Rehoboam became
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the king of the other two tribes. This area was called Judah. There were always problems between the two kings. When they died, there were many other kings in the land of Israel and the land of Judah after that, and most of them disobeyed Gods Commandments. When God saw that the kings didnt obey, he sent some people to urge the people to be good, and they started to preach to Gods people. These people who heard Gods voice and preached to the people are called Prophets of God.

The Prophet Elijah

Once there was a king in Israel named Ahab. Ahab was a bad man, worse than any of the other kings before him. He married a woman named Jezebel and built a place where she could pray to her fake god. Then Ahab prayed to it, too. This made God very angry, so He sent his Prophet Elijah to Ahab. Elijah told Ahab that because he made God so mad, there wouldnt be any rain until Elijah said so. Then God sent Elijah to a brook where he could drink, and God told the birds to bring food to him there. When the brook dried up because there was no rain for so long, God told Elijah to go to a certain city and there was a woman there who would take care of him. When Elijah got to the city, he asked a woman to get him a little water in a jar, and while she was getting it, he asked for some bread, too. She said, I only have enough to make a tiny bit of bread for me and my son, and after that, we will starve. Elijah told her, Dont be afraid. Make a little bread for me and then make some for you and your son. The Lord told me that you will have enough until it rains again. And sure enough, as God told Elijah, the woman and her son had enough. While Elijah was staying with the woman, her son got so sick that he wasnt breathing anymore. So Elijah took the boy upstairs and prayed to God. The boy started breathing again and Elijah took him back downstairs to his mother. The woman was so very happy and she said to Elijah, You are a true Prophet of God. After three long years God told Elijah to go see Ahab, and soon He would send rain to the earth again. In the meantime, Jezebel had all of the Prophets of God killed and Ahab and Jezebel sent people all over Israel to find Elijah. When Ahab met Elijah he said, So youre the one who has caused all this trouble for Israel by keeping it from raining! Elijah said, Its not me who has caused the trouble, but you, because you dont obey God.
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Now, Jezebel had 450 fake prophets of her fake god. So, Elijah told Jezebel and Ahab to get their prophets and all the people together at the top of the mountain, and they could decide who is the REAL God. In the morning, when they were all together, Elijah said, I am the only Prophet of God left, but you have 450 prophets. Let us each have a bull to give as a gift to our God and then each of us will call to our God. The one that answers with fire is the TRUE God! Everyone agreed. The 450 prophets of the fake god called and danced and shouted for their god to answer, but nothing happened. At noon time, Elijah made fun of them saying, Hmmm, maybe your god is sleeping, or . . . maybe hes on vacation! Maybe you should call louder! They called and danced and shouted until night time, and still nothing happened. Then it was the Lord Gods turn. Elijah told the people to come closer as he took twelve stones, one for each of the tribes of Israel and put them in a circle. He put wood inside of the circle and then he put the bull on top. After that, he dug a ditch around the stones and filled it up with lots of water. Then Elijah said, Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, let the people know that you are God in Israel and that I am your Prophet, and I have done all these things because you told me to, and that you want their hearts to believe in you again. Just then a great fire from God came down from Heaven and burned up the bull and the wood and the water and the dust and even the stones! All the people fell on their faces and said, The Lord IS God, He is the REAL God! The people took all the prophets of Jezebels fake gods and killed them, just as she had done to the Prophets of God. Later, Elijah went to the top of the mountain and got down on his knees. He sent his servant to go look toward the sea, but the servant saw nothing. Elijah told him to go seven times, and at the seventh time, a cloud in the shape of a hand came up out of the sea, and there was a great rain! It was the hand of God. Elijah was in good hands! Ahab went back and told Jezebel all that had happened and she was very angry. She wanted to kill Elijah. Elijah ran and hid in the wilderness. He was afraid because he was the only Prophet of God left and now they were trying to kill him, too. He was hungry and tired. He laid down to sleep and an angel of God woke him up and brought him bread and water which gave Elijah strength for forty days and forty nights. While Elijah was hiding in the wilderness, Ahab was still up to no good. He wanted a vineyard that His neighbor Naboth owned, to use as a garden. Ahab
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told Naboth that he would give him a better vineyard, or buy it from him. But Naboth didnt want to trade or sell his vineyard because it once belonged to his dad. When Jezebel saw that Ahab was sad about it, she lied and told people that Naboth was saying bad things about God and the king. The people believed Jezebels lie and they stoned Naboth until he died. When Ahab was on his way to become owner of Naboths vineyard, Elijah got a message from God, telling him to go meet Ahab. When Ahab saw Elijah, he said, My enemy has found me. Elijah said, I have found you because God told me that you have sinned. You will die in the place where Naboth was killed, and Jezebel will be eaten up by dogs, for all the bad things she has done. All of these things happened, just as God told the Prophet Elijah they would. Remember when Elijah was in the wilderness, and he was afraid for his life because he was the only Prophet of God left? Well, God told Elijah that there was a man named Elisha that He had chosen to be the next Prophet of God. Elijah went and found Elisha and they worked together for God. Elisha followed Elijah everywhere he went. One day Elijah told Elisha to stay where he was because God wanted him to go to Jordan. But Elisha said, I will not leave you. When they came to the river in Jordan, Elijah took off his cape and hit the water with it. There were fifty people who stood and watched as the water separated and Elijah and Elisha walked across on dry land. Elijah asked Elisha, What can I do for you before I am taken from you? And Elisha said, I pray, let twice as much of your spirit be with me. Elijah said, You have asked a hard thing, but if you see me when I am taken from you, you will have it. As they walked and talked, suddenly a chariot and horses of fire appeared and God took Elijah up by a whirlwind into Heaven as Elisha watched!

The Prophet Elisha

After Elijah was swept away by the whirlwind into Heaven, Elisha took Elijahs cape and hit the water of the river in Jordan again. The water separated and he crossed back over the river again on dry land. The people who watched Elijah be taken, greeted Elisha and knew that he had Elijahs spirit now. They greeted him, bowing to the ground. Then they said, Let us go and look for Elijah. Maybe the Spirit of the Lord has taken him and thrown him on some mountain or into some valley. Elisha said, You shouldnt go. They kept asking until Elisha couldnt listen any more, so finally he said, Go! The people looked for three days but couldnt find Elijah. Elisha said, Didnt I tell you that you shouldnt go?
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The people in Jericho came to Elisha for help because there was no clean water in the city and things didnt grow well. Elisha said, bring me a new jar with salt in it. They brought it to him and he sprinkled the salt into the water and said, The Lord says, I have healed the water. And from that day forward, the water was clean. When Elisha left there, some children saw that he didnt have any hair, so they started making fun of him, saying, Baldy, Baldy! God didnt like anybody making fun of His Prophets. Just then two bears came out of the woods and clawed the forty two children! OH MY! Elisha helped many people. Once a woman came to Elisha and said, Before my husband died, he borrowed some money. Now the man who he borrowed it from, wants me to pay it back or he will take my two sons for slaves. Elisha asked what she had in her house. She said, Nothing but a pot of oil. Elisha told her, Go and borrow some empty jars and when you come back home, close your door and pour from your pot of oil into the jars. There was enough oil to fill every jar and there was still more left. She went and told Elisha, and he said, Go, sell the oil and pay the man who your husband borrowed from and you and your sons will live on the rest. There was a man named Naaman who was the captain of the army in the country of Syria. He had sores all over his skin. Naamans wife had a little maid who was from Israel, and she told Naamans wife that Elisha could heal him. The king of Syria sent Naaman to the king of Israel with a letter and some money. The king of Israel thought that the king of Syria wanted him to heal Naaman. But, when Elisha heard about it, he said, Send the man to me and he will know that there is a Prophet of God in Israel. Elisha told Naaman to go and wash in the Jordan river seven times and his skin would be healed. Naaman was angry and went away telling his servants, I thought he would just come out and call on the name of the Lord, then touch me and I would be cured. And arent the rivers in Syria better than all the water in Israel? Naamans servants said to him, if Elisha had told you to do something very hard, wouldnt you have done it in order to get rid of the sores? But this is very easy! So Naaman went and washed in the Jordan river seven times and his skin became like a little childs. Naaman went back and said to Elisha, Now I know there is no God in all the earth, except in Israel! Naaman wanted to give Elisha a gift, but Elisha wouldnt take it. Elisha sent him home and said, Go in peace.

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Now, Elishas servant named Gehazi, followed Naaman and said to himself, My master wouldnt take Naamans gift so I will get it for myself! When Naaman saw Gehazi coming near, he hopped down from his chariot and said, Is everything okay? Gehazi said, Oh yes, but Elisha remembered after you left, that two men who are the sons of Prophets will be coming to stay with him, so he sent me after you to collect your gift. Gehazi hid the gift. When Elisha saw Gehazi, he asked, Where have you been? Nowhere, Gehazi answered. Elisha said to Gehazi, Did you think I didnt know what you were doing? It is never the right time to take a gift for miracles that come from God. Now the sores that Naaman had, will cover your skin and your family, forever. And when Gehazi left Elisha, he had sores all over him. Later in Elishas life, he sent a man to find a captain of the army named Jehu. Elisha told the man to pour oil on Jehus head and exactly what say to him. The man found Jehu and said, The Lord has said, I have made you king over Israel, and you will destroy all of Ahabs people to pay for the lives of all of Gods Prophets that Jezebel had killed. The dogs shall eat Jezebel in the street and there wont be enough of her left to bury. When the man was done telling Jehu what Elisha had told him to, he left quickly. When Jehu told the other captains, they told Jehu that the man must have been crazy. Then Jehu told them that the man said that the message was from the Lord. The captains hurried out and blew their trumpets telling everyone, Jehu is king! Jehu went to the city of Jezreel where Jezebel lived, and both the king of Israel and the king of Judah were there. When Jehu got close to the city, the two kings came out to fight and Jehu killed them both in one day. Jezebel heard that Jehu was on his way so she painted her face and fixed her hair and leaned out of the window, making fun of Jehu. Jehu called up to Jezebels servants, Whoever is on my side, throw her down. So, they threw her down and she was trampled under the hoofs of Jehus horses. Dogs came and ate her flesh and there wasnt enough left of her to bury, just as the Lord had told Elijah.

Job
Once upon a time, there was a man who loved God very much and always turned away from doing bad. His name was Job. Job had seven sons and three daughters. He owned 7000 sheep, 3000 camels, 500 ox, 500 donkeys, lots of servants and many other nice things. One day the angels stood in line, waiting to talk to God, and satan was with them. When it was satans turn to talk, God asked
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him, Where have you been? And satan answered, I have been walking back and forth in the earth. God said, Have you seen Job? There is nobody like him on all the earth, he loves God and turns away from bad. Then satan answered back, Why shouldnt he love God? You have always protected him and blessed him with everything, but if you took away all that he has, for sure he would say bad things about you. God said, We will see. You can take all that Job has, but do not touch him. So, satan left. One day while Jobs children were all eating dinner at their oldest brothers house, a messenger ran to Job and said, The ox were plowing and the donkeys were next to them and some bad people came and took them all and have killed the servants in the field. I am the only one who got away to tell you! Before he finished, another messenger ran up and said, Fire has come from the sky and has burned up all the sheep and the servants with them. I am the only one who got away to tell you! Before he finished, another messenger ran up and said, some bad people just took all the camels and the servants with them. I am the only one who got away to tell you! Before he finished, one more messenger ran up and cried, Your sons and daughters were eating dinner and a great wind came out of the wilderness and hit the house and it fell on your children and the servants, killing them all. I am the only one who got away to tell you! Job was so sad. He tore his clothes and shaved his head and fell to the ground and prayed, The Lord has given, and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. After all that had happened, Job didnt blame God. Again there was a day the angels stood in line, waiting to talk to God, and satan was with them. When it was satans turn to talk, God asked him, Where have you been? And satan answered, I have been walking back and forth in the earth. God said, Have you seen Job? There is nobody like him on all the earth, he loves God and turns away from bad. And satan said, Yes, a man will give everything he has to save his life, but if you take his health, for sure he would say bad things about you. And God said, he is in your hands, but you may not kill him. Then satan went and put sores all over Job, from the top of his head to the bottom of his feet. Jobs wife said to him, Do you still love God? Curse God, and die. But Job said to her. Should we only receive good from the hand of God? Job wouldnt blame God. When Jobs three friends heard all that had happened, they came to cheer him up, but when they saw how much pain he was in, none of them spoke a word for seven
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days. Then Job began to talk, and he asked, Why does God let me live in such pain? I have no peace and terrible things keep happening. The first friend told Job that he was a great man, but believed that God only punishes people who do things wrong. Job answered, My pain is worse than anything that Ive done wrong. The second friend told Job that God is not unfair, and if Job was being punished, he must have done something wrong. Job answered, God has the power to do whatever He wants, and only God knew why these things were happening to him. Job wished that he knew the reason and that God would tell him if he had done anything wrong and forgive him. Then the third friend told Job that maybe he had secretly done something bad, and if he would tell God and stop doing bad, that he would have hope. Job said, Even if I die, I will still trust in God. A man heard Job and his three friends talking and spoke up. He told Jobs friends that they werent cheering him up, but only blaming Job for doing wrong. The man said that God shows himself to people through dreams and pain. He told Job that no matter what, not to lose trust in God. Then God spoke to Job out of a whirlwind. God reminded Job of all the wonderful things He created and all the good things around him. He told Job to forget about his pain and remember his faith in the goodness of God, even though he couldnt understand everything that happens in life. Job told God that he knew that nothing was impossible for God, and that he was sorry if he ever doubted Gods power. Job felt glad that he believed in God, who has such greatness that no man can understand everything He does. God healed Job, and because he never blamed God for anything that happened to him and would never say anything bad about Him, God gave him seven more sons and three more daughters and twice as much of everything that he had before. Job lived to be a very old man being faithful to God. And satan, as always, was wrong.

The Prophet Daniel

There once was a king named Nebuchadnezzar, from Babylon, who took over Israel. Thats a silly name, now isnt it? Nebuchadnezzar had a fake god, but the Lord let him take over Israel because the people there kept disobeying Him. The king gave orders to bring smart children from Israel to Babylon so they could be
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taught the kings customs and how to speak the kings language so that when the children got older, they could be servants in the kings palace. The king chose what they would eat and drink so that after three years they might be big and strong enough to serve the king. One of these children was named Daniel, and Daniel loved God. Daniel had three friends named Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, and the man who was in charge of Daniel was named Melzar. Now, the food and drink that the king wanted the children to eat, was not what God had told Moses that the people of Israel should eat, so Daniel asked Melzar to let him and his three friends eat beans and drink water. After ten days, Daniel and his friends were healthier than all the children who were eating and drinking what the king wanted. God blessed them in their learning and gave Daniel a special way of understanding dreams. After the three years they were ten times smarter than all the magicians. One night, Nebuchadnezzar had a dream. It bothered him very much because he didnt know what it meant. So, he called all his magicians and wise men and they said, Tell us your dream and we will tell you what it means. Nebuchadnezzar answered, You tell me what my dream was, and what it means, and I will give you great gifts, but if you cant tell me, you will die. Nobody could tell the king his dream. Daniel and his friends prayed that God would show him what the kings dream was and what it meant so that they wouldnt die. God showed Daniel, and Daniel thanked God for showing him, then Daniel said to the kings servant, Dont kill the wise men. Take me to the king and I will show the king what his dream means. Daniel began, No wise man can show you what your dream means, but there is a God in Heaven who knows mysteries and God has shown you what will happen someday. In your dream, you saw a big statue with a head made of gold. His chest and arms were made of silver. His belly and thighs were brass. His legs were iron and his feet were part iron and part clay. Then you saw a stone that hit the feet and broke them all to pieces, and after that, the rest of the statue crumbled all together and blew away in the wind. Then the stone turned into a great big mountain and filled the whole earth. Now that Daniel had told the king exactly what his dream was, he went ahead and told him what the dream meant. You are like the head of gold, the strong king. After you, another kingdom will be built, not as strong, like the silver. And after that, there will be a third kingdom, and that is the brass. The fourth kingdom will be as strong as iron. The iron and clay will be a kingdom that will split up
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into other kingdoms. Then God will set up a kingdom that will never end. The king said to Daniel, Your God is the true God, because He told you what my dream was and what it meant. Then Nebuchadnezzar gave Daniel and his friends very special important jobs in Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar quickly forgot about the Lord being the true God and he made a huge gold statue in Babylon. Then he made a law that when the people in his kingdom heard the sound of music, they must bow down and pray to the statue or die in that same hour. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednigo would not pray to the statue, because it wasnt God. Nebuchadnezzar was vary mad and said, I will throw you into a burning fiery furnace! The strongest men in the kings army tied Daniels friends up and turned the fire up seven times hotter than it usually was. It was so hot, that the kings men were burned up when they threw Daniels friends into the fire. When the king looked into the fire, he was surprised to see four people walking in the middle of the fire, with no burns at all! Who do you think the fourth person was? God had sent an angel to save Shadrach, Meshach and Abednigo from being burned. When the king told them to come out of the fire, they didnt even smell like smoke. Nebuchadnezzar made a law that if anyone said anything bad about God, that they would be cut into pieces and their house would be destroyed. When Nebuchadnezzar died, his son, Belshazzar became the king and he had a great big party for his friends in his palace. He used the gold and silver cups and bowls from the Temple in Jerusalem, so that his friends could eat and drink out of them and pray to their fake gods. Of course, this made God very angry. That very same hour, Belshazzar saw a hand writing on the wall in the palace. Belshazzar was scared, and called his smartest men in to tell him what the writing meant, but nobody could read it. So the kings wife told him, I have heard of a man named Daniel who can tell you what the writing means. So the king had Daniel brought to him and asked him what the writing meant. Daniel said, You brought bowls and cups from the Temple of God, and you ate and drank from them and prayed to fake gods. But you didnt pray to God, who has given you life. The hand you saw was sent from God and this is what he wrote. Your kingdom will come to an end. You have not done good, and your kingdom will be given to the Medes and Persians (two other countries). That night, Belshazzar was killed and a Median named Darius took over the kingdom.
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When Darius became king, he chose Daniel to be the most important of all of his princes. They all wanted to get rid of Daniel because he was the kings favorite. They knew that Daniel loved God, so they asked the king to make a new law saying that nobody could pray to anyone but the king for a month or else they should be thrown into the lions den. Then they spied on Daniel and went to tell the king that Daniel prays to God, three times a day. The king had no choice, so he told the princes to take Daniel and throw him into the lions den. But because the king was fond of Daniel, he said to him, God will save you. The king worried all night about Daniel, and early the next morning he hurried to the lions den and called Daniels name. Daniel said, God has sent his angel to shut the lions mouths and I am not hurt. God knows I have done nothing wrong. The king was very glad and had Daniel taken out of the lions den. Then the king had all the princes that spied on Daniel, and their wives and children, thrown into the lions den, and the lions gobbled them all up. Darius made a law that everyone in his kingdom, should pray only to God, because He saved Daniel from the lions and He works miracles and He alone, is the true God, forever.

The Prophet Jonah

Once there was a Prophet of God named Jonah. God told Jonah to go to a place called Nineveh, and tell the people there to stop doing bad things. Jonah didnt listen to God and he got on a ship, trying to run away from God. So God sent a strong wind into the sea. The wind tossed the ship around so much that it was almost broken to pieces. The people on the ship figured out that somehow, the reason for the stormy sea, had something to do with Jonah. He told them that he was trying to hide from God. The people wondered what to do with Jonah. I know this is all my fault, Jonah said, Throw me into the sea, so the storm will stop. The people tried to row to land, but the wind and waves were too strong. They prayed that the Lord wouldnt be mad, and they threw Jonah into the sea. Suddenly the wind stopped and the sea was still. God sent a huge fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of the fish for three days and three nights! Jonah was very scared, and prayed, telling God he was sorry and that he would do what God told him to. So, God forgave Jonah and spoke to the fish. He told the fish to spit Jonah out onto dry land. God told Jonah again to go and tell the people of Nineveh that their country would be destroyed in forty days because they were so bad. The king of Nineveh told all the people to have faith in God
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and to do good. The people in Nineveh were sorry for being bad, so they did what the king said. God forgave them and decided not to destroy them. Jonah was angry with the Lord. He knew that God would forgive the people of Nineveh and it made Jonah mad that he went through all of this trouble. Thats why Jonah tried to run away from God in the first place. Jonah asked God to take his life, because he thought it would be better for him to die than to live. God asked Jonah if he thought it was right to be so angry, but God did not take his life. Jonah built a little shack outside of the city where he could watch and see what would happen in Nineveh. It was very hot so God grew a big plant called a gourd, and it covered the shack and Jonah with shade. Jonah was very happy about the gourd. But the next day, God sent a worm to eat up the gourd. Jonah felt sorry for the gourd, and he was angry again because he wished that it had lived. Then God sent a very hot dry wind. The sun was so hot that Jonah fainted and wished again that he would die. God told Jonah, You felt sorry for the gourd but you didnt give it life or help it grow. It grew in one day and died in one night. The people of Nineveh didnt know right from wrong. I gave them life and asked you to help them grow to be good. Shouldnt I feel sorry for them? Shouldnt I let them live? Jonah had done wrong, not to listen to God and when Jonah was sorry, God forgave him and saved him from the big fish that swallowed him up. Nineveh had done wrong by doing bad things, and when they were sorry, God forgave them too and saved them from being destroyed.

Mary and Elisabeth

Once there was a woman named Elisabeth. She and her husband Zacharias, asked God to give them children, but they never had any. When they grew old, an angel came to give Zacharias a message. He said, Your prayer has been heard. You will have a son and you shall name him John. He will tell many people about God. Zacharias said, How do I know this is true? My wife and I are both old. The angel said, my name is Gabriel and God sent me to tell you this great news. But, because you dont believe my words, you will not be able to speak until the child is born. Then Gabriel was sent to a city named Nazareth to a young woman named Mary, who was Elisabeths cousin. Mary loved a man named Joseph and was going to
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marry him soon. Gabriel told Mary, the Lord is with you, and you are blessed among women. You will have a son and you shall call Him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Highest. And His kingdom will never end. Mary said to Gabriel, how can this be? I am not married yet. Gabriel answered, The Holy Spirit will make this child in you and He will be called the Son of God. Gabriel told Mary, Your cousin Elisabeth, is going to have a baby too. With God, nothing is impossible. Mary said, I am a servant of the Lord. Let it happen to me, just as you have said. Then the angel Gabriel left her. Mary hurried to visit Elisabeth, and when Elisabeth heard Marys voice, the baby moved inside of her and she was filled with the Holy Spirit. Mary said, God has done great things for me. Mary stayed with Elisabeth for three months and then went home. When Elisabeths baby was born, people thought they should name him after his dad, but Elisabeth said, No, his name will be John. Now, Zacharias still could not speak, so he wrote, His name is John. All of a sudden, he could speak again, just as the angel Gabriel had told him. Everyone that heard, was surprised and Zacharias said, Blessed be the Lord God.

Jesus is Born Jesus header

Joseph was a carpenter and he was a good man. One night an angel of the Lord talked to him in a dream and said, Joseph, dont be afraid to make Mary your wife. Her baby has been made in her by the Holy Spirit. She will have a son and shall call his name Jesus. He will save His people from their sins. So Joseph did as the angel told him, and Mary became his wife. There was a law made, that everyone in the world had to go to the city where they grew up, to be counted. Joseph was from the city of David, which is called Bethlehem. It was a long way from Nazareth to the little town of Bethlehem, so Mary rode on a donkey. When they got there, the baby Jesus was born in a stable, because there was no room at the inn. Mary wrapped Him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger. That night, there were shepherds that were taking care of their sheep in a field near Bethlehem. The angel of the Lord said to them, Dont be afraid, I am bringing news of great joy for the whole world. Today in the city of David, a Savior is born, which is Christ the Lord. You will find the baby wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly, with the angel, there were many more angels praising God, saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. When the angels left, the shepherds said to each other, Lets go to Bethlehem and see the Savior. They hurried and found Joseph and Mary. And when they saw the baby Jesus, they told
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people in other countries that the Savior was born, and they thanked God for all the things that they had heard and seen. At the time that Jesus was born, the king of Jerusalem was named Herod. There were wise men that followed a star to Jerusalem and asked Herod where the baby was that was born the King of the people of Israel. They wanted to go and worship him. This bothered Herod because he didnt want anyone else to be king. He called all his people together and asked where the child was. They told him that the Prophet Micah had written that the Savior would be born in Bethlehem. So, Herod sent the wise men to Bethlehem and said, go find the young child and when you have found him, come back and tell me so I can worship Him too. They followed the star again and it lead them until it stood right over where the baby Jesus was. They gave Him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Then God told them not to go back and tell Herod, so they left and went back to their own country. After the wise men left, Joseph saw an angel of the Lord in a dream. The angel said, Take the baby Jesus and Mary and go to Egypt until I tell you it is safe to go back home, because Herod will look for Jesus to destroy Him. Joseph did what the angel told him. When Herod figured out that the wise men werent coming back, he was very mad, and sent his people to kill all the children in Bethlehem that were under two years old. When Herod died, Joseph saw the angel in a dream again. The angel told Joseph to return to Israel, and Joseph and Mary and Jesus went back and lived in Nazareth. As Jesus grew up, he was filled with wisdom. He was Gods son, because Gods Holy Spirit made him, so he was perfect in every way. Every year, Mary and Joseph went to Jerusalem to celebrate when God brought the people of Israel out of Egypt. When Jesus was twelve years old, they went to the feast, and when it was over, Jesus stayed in Jerusalem, but Mary and Joseph didnt know it. They thought Jesus was with the other people who were traveling with them back home. When they found out Jesus wasnt with them, they went back to Jerusalem to find Him. After three days, they found Jesus in the temple, listening to the teachers and asking them questions. Everyone was surprised at how smart he was. Mary asked Jesus, Why have you done this to us? Your dad and I have been so worried about you. And Jesus said to them, Why were you looking for me? Didnt you know that I would be doing my Fathers business? They didnt understand what He said. He went back to Nazareth with them and grew up and God loved Him very much.

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Jesus is Baptized
Jesus cousin John, grew up in the wilderness. His clothes were made of camels hair and he ate wild honey and locusts. John came out of the wilderness and went to the river in Jordan and baptized people in the water. Baptize means to become clean of your sins. John told the people to be sorry for their sins and to ask God to forgive them, because the kingdom of Heaven would soon be here. He told people how to live a good clean life. If someone has two coats, or food, share with someone who doesnt have any. Dont steal or lie and be happy with what you have. Some people thought he had the spirit of Elijah, and some thought he was the Messiah, who Gods Prophets said was the Savior. Some people asked John, Who are you? John answered, I baptize with water, but there is someone mightier than me. I am not even good enough to loosen his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit, and fire. Jesus came to Jordan to be baptized by John and when John saw Him, he knew who He was. John said, You came to be baptized, but I should be baptized by you. When Jesus went up out of the water, the Heavens were opened and he saw the Spirit of God come down and land on Jesus like a dove, and a voice from Heaven said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.

Satan Tries to Trick Jesus

Jesus went up into the wilderness and didnt eat for forty days and forty nights. He was very, very hungry. The devil tried to trick Jesus and said, If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread. But Jesus said, Man shall not live on bread only, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God. Well, that trick didnt work, so the devil tried to trick Jesus again. He took Jesus up into Jerusalem, to the very tip top of the temple and said to Him, If you are the Son of God, jump off from here, because God says his angels will take care of you so you wont hurt yourself. But Jesus said, You shall not test the Lord your God. Well, that didnt work either, so the devil tried one more time. He took Jesus up to the top of a very, very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and how great they are. And the devil said, I will give you all of these things if you will bow down and pray to me. Jesus said to the devil, Go away satan, You shall worship the Lord your God, and you shall serve only Him. The devil thought he could trick Jesus three times, and all three times he lost, so the devil left and angels came and took care of Jesus.

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The Disciples
Jesus was thirty years old when he started telling people about God. The people who followed him everywhere he went, were called disciples. There are twelve and these are their names: Simon Peter James Philip Thomas James Simon Andrew John Bartholomew Matthew Thaddeus Judas

They left their homes and families and everything they owned, to follow Jesus, and they learned everything he taught. They watched Him make sick people well, give sight to the blind, make crippled people walk, and do many other miracles. As Jesus and the twelve disciples traveled around, many crowds would listen to him teach about God and how to live the way God wants us to, being good, obeying his Commandments, and loving and helping other people. Jesus told many stories that helped people understand what is right and what is wrong. These stories are called parables.

The Field and the Weeds

Jesus told this story. The kingdom of God is like a farmer who planted grain in his field, but while he slept, his enemy came and planted weeds in with the grain, and left. When the grain started to grow, the weeds started to grow too. The servants asked the farmer, where did all these weeds come from? The farmer said, my enemy has done this. The servants asked, do you want us to go and pull the weeds out? But the farmer said, No, you might pull up the grain too. Let them both grow together until the grain is ready to be picked, then pull the weeds and tie them in bundles to burn them, but put the grain in my barn. Then Jesus told what the story means. The farmer is the Son of God. The field is the world. The grain seeds are people who love God. The weeds are people who
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listen to the devil. The enemy is the devil. The servants are the angels. And the barn is the kingdom of Heaven. At the end of the world, the people who listen to the devil will be taken and burned in fire. The Son of God will send his angels and they will take the people who love God to live with God in His kingdom of heaven.

The Lost Sheep

Once there was a lot of sinners who came to hear Jesus talk. Some people were surprised that Jesus would be talking to sinners. Jesus said, If you had a hundred sheep and lost one of them, wouldnt you leave the ninety nine and go look for the one that was lost, until you found it? And when you found it, wouldnt you bring it back on your shoulders, and be very happy? And when you got home, wouldnt you call your friends and say to them, come and be happy with me, because I have found my sheep that was lost? Jesus said, The same will happen in heaven, when one sinner is sorry for his sins. And if a woman has ten pieces of silver and loses one piece, wouldnt she light a candle and sweep the house and look for it until she found it? And when she has found it, she would call her friends and say, come and be happy with me, because I have found the silver that I had lost. Then Jesus said, I say to you, the angels will be happy if one sinner asks to be forgiven for their sins.

Forgive
Simon Peter asked Jesus, How many times should I forgive if someone does something bad? Seven times? Jesus said, No, seventy times seven. Then Jesus began to tell a story. The kingdom of heaven is like a king who once had a servant that owed him a hundred dollars. The servant didnt have the money to pay him back, so the king wanted to sell the servant and his wife and children so that he could get his money. The servant begged the king, O please, give me time and I will pay all that I owe you. The king had a good heart, so he didnt sell the servant and his family and told him to forget all about the money he owed. Then the servant went out and found one of his friends that owed him a dollar. He took him by the throat and said, Pay me what you owe me! His friend begged him, O please give me time and I will pay all that I owe you. But the servant would not wait, and he had his friend put into jail until he could pay what he owed. When the king heard what had happened, he said to the servant, I forgot about what you owed me, shouldnt you forget what your friend owed to you? The king was angry and he took the servant and put him into jail until he could pay what he
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owed. Then Jesus told what the story meant. You should forgive people when they do something bad and they are sorry for it, just like God forgives you when you are sorry.

The Lost Son

This is a story that Jesus told about a man who had two sons. The younger said to his dad, Give me the money you have saved for me. So his dad gave the money he had saved to both of his sons, and the younger son went out and wasted all of his money on things he didnt need, and doing wrong. When he had spent it all, he ended up feeding pigs and nobody would give him anything to eat. He said to himself, My dads servants have bread, and I am hungry. I will go back home. When he got home his dad had missed him so much and was so glad that he had come home that he ran to his son and hugged his neck and kissed him. The son said, I have sinned against Heaven and you and I am not good enough to be called your son. But his dad told his servants to bring the best clothes for him and let us be happy and have a feast, because my son was dead and now he is alive again! He was lost, and now he is found! The older brother was in the field and when he came near to the house he could hear music and dancing and he asked the servants what was going on. They told him that his brother has come home and your dad is very happy that he is home, safe and sound. The older brother was mad, and wouldnt go in the house, so his dad came out to talk to him. The older brother said, I have worked for you for many years and have always been good, and you never gave me a party. But as soon as my brother came home, after wasting all his money and doing wrong, you have a great big party. His dad said to him, Son, you are always with me and everything I have is yours. It is right that we should be happy, because your brother was dead and is alive again. He was lost and now he is home. Jesus was telling about how God feels when someone is bad. He is very happy when they figure out that they were wrong and they come to Him and ask to be forgiven, and they are not lost anymore. He will say, Welcome home!

Jesus Feeds the People

Once there was a big crowd of people who had followed Jesus to hear him teach. Jesus loved people and he healed the sick people who were there. When it started to get late, the disciples asked Jesus to send the people away so they could go and buy food. But Jesus said, They dont need to go, give them food to eat. The
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disciples said, But we only have five loaves of bread and two fishes. Jesus told the people to sit down on the grass and he took the bread and the fish and looked up to Heaven. He blessed the bread and broke it into pieces and gave it to his disciples to give to the people. There were five thousand men there, not counting the women and children, and everyone who was there, ate until they were full. They picked up the food that was left over and it filled twelve baskets!

Jesus Walks on Water

Jesus liked to be alone to pray, so he went up into a mountain to talk to His Father. When it got dark, he came down from the mountain, his disciples were all out on a boat in the water and the wind was blowing against them. Jesus went out to them, walking on the water! When they saw him walking on the sea, they were afraid, because they thought it was a spirit. Jesus said to them, Be happy, it is I, dont be afraid. Peter said, Lord, if is you, tell me to come out to you on the water. Jesus said, Come. Peter stepped out of the ship and started to walk on the water toward Jesus, but he remembered the wind and got scared. He started to sink into the water and cried out to Jesus, Lord, save me! Jesus reached out His hand to Peter and caught him and said, You have little faith, why did you doubt? Jesus lesson was that if you believe, you receive. If you trust in God that you can do something, He will help you do it. They went back to the boat and the wind stopped. All who were on the boat said, It is true, you are the Son of God. They sailed to the other side of the sea, and when the people heard that Jesus was there, they brought all their sick people to Him so that they might be made well. And whoever even touched the hem of Jesus clothes, was made perfectly healthy because they had faith, and believed in Jesus.

The Last Supper

Jesus told his disciples that He must go to Jerusalem and go through many things. God told Jesus that He would be hung on a cross and would die, and then He would be brought back to life three days after that. The disciples were very sad. Then, a woman came to Jesus with some lotion that cost a lot of money. She poured it on Jesus head as he ate. When his disciples saw, they said, Why did she waste this lotion. It could have been sold for a lot of money and the money could have been given to the poor. Jesus said, She has done a good thing. You always have the poor with you, but you will not always have me. Then Judas, one of the disciples went to the Jews who wanted to kill Jesus and asked them how much they would pay him if he turned Jesus in to them. They
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promised him thirty pieces of silver. From that moment on, he waited for a chance to hand Jesus over to them. It was the time of year that people celebrated when God brought the people of Israel out of Egypt. It was called Passover. The disciples got the meal ready and Jesus sat down with them. As they ate, Jesus said, One of you will hand me over. They were very upset and each one of them asked, Lord, is it me? Jesus said, The Son of God will die, but it will be sad for the man who hands me over. It would be better if he had never been born. Then Judas asked, Is it me? And Jesus answered, You said it. While they were eating, Jesus took some bread and blessed it and broke it and gave it to the disciples and said, Take and eat. This is my body. After supper, he took a cup of wine and gave thanks and gave it to them and said, Take and drink. This is my blood which is poured out for many, for the forgiveness of sins. I will not drink again until I drink with you in my Fathers kingdom. Then Jesus washed all the disciples feet, to show them that if the Lord takes care of you, you should take care of each other. Then Jesus said to Judas, Do what you have to do quickly. Judas left, and the others thought that Jesus sent him to buy something or to give money to the poor, but Jesus knew that he was going to do. Then Jesus spoke to the others and said, I will be with you for a little while longer, then I must go where you cannot go, so I give you a new Commandment. Love one another as I have loved you. Then all people will know that you are my disciples. Simon Peter asked Jesus, Where are you going? Jesus answered, You cannot follow me now, but you will follow me afterward. Peter said, Lord, I will give up my life for you. Jesus answered him and said, before the rooster crows, you will say you dont even know me, three times. Jesus talked to the disciples more and said, I am going to my Fathers house to make a place for you there. Nobody can be with my Father unless they believe in me. I am in the Father and the Father is in me. If you believe in me and the things I do, you will be able to do these things and even greater things. And whatever you ask in my name, I will do. God will send you His Holy Spirit and he will stay with you forever. He will live in you and teach you all things. He will help you remember everything I have said to you. If I stay, the Holy Spirit will not come to you, but if I go away, I will send Him to you. He will guide you.

Thirty Pieces of Silver

Jesus went to pray in a place called the garden of Gethsemane. He took Peter, James and John with him to watch. Jesus was very sad while he prayed. An angel came to him from Heaven and gave him strength. He prayed even harder
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and his sweat was like great drops of blood falling to the ground. When Jesus got back to Peter, James and John, he found them asleep. Jesus said, Get up, let us go, because the one who will hand me over will be here soon. Before he finished speaking, Judas brought a crowd of Jews with swords and spears. Judas had told them before they got there, that whoever I will kiss, that is Jesus that you are looking for. Right away, Judas said Master, master, and kissed Jesus. They arrested Jesus. All the disciples got scared and ran off, except for Peter who followed far behind. They tried to find reasons to kill Jesus but they couldnt. Then Jews started telling lies about Him. One man asked if he was the Son of God. Jesus said, I am. They didnt believe Jesus was the Son of God. They said He deserved to die for lying. They started spitting on Him and hitting Him and making fun of Him. Peter was waiting to see what would happen, when a woman said, This man was with Jesus. Peter said, I dont know Him. After a little while another person said, You are one of Jesus disciples. Peter said, I dont know the man. Then a while later a third person said, This fellow was with Jesus. Peter said, I dont know what youre talking about. Then suddenly, a rooster crowed, and Peter remembered how Jesus said to him, Before the rooster crows, you will say you dont even know me, three times. Peter went out and cried. When Judas figured out what a bad thing he did, he was sorry for what he had done. He took the thirty pieces of silver back to the Jews who gave it to him and said, I have sinned. I handed over a man who did nothing wrong. They wouldnt listen to him. Judas threw the silver on the ground and went out and hanged himself.

Hung on a Cross
They took Jesus to the governor named Pontius Pilate. Pilate asked Jesus if he was the King of the Jews. Jesus said, You say that I am. The Jews told Pilate all their lies about Jesus, but Pilate couldnt find a reason for Jesus to die. Now, every year at Passover, one prisoner was set free, and the Jews got to choose which one. They told Pilate they wanted him to set Barabbas free. Barabbas was a robber and a murderer. Pilate said, What should I do with Jesus? They said, Nail him to a cross! They whipped Jesus and put a crown of thorns on His head. They hit Him and spit on Him and made fun of Him. A man named Simon carried His cross part of the way to a place called Golgotha. They nailed Jesus to the cross and hung him there with two thieves, one on each side of him. They put a sign on his cross above his head that said, THE KING OF THE JEWS. One
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of the thieves said to Jesus, If you are Christ, save yourself and us. But the other said, Dont you fear God? We deserve this for what weve done, but this man has done no wrong. And he said to Jesus, Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom. And Jesus said to him, Truly I say to you, Today you will be with me in paradise. Darkness fell over the whole land for three hours, then Jesus said with a loud voice, It is finished. Father, into your hands I give my spirit. And Jesus bowed His head and died.

Jesus is Alive
After Jesus died, the soldiers came to take Him down from the cross. They broke the legs of the two thieves, because they were still alive. When they saw that Jesus was dead already, they didnt break his legs, but one of the soldiers took his spear and stabbed his side, and at once, blood and water spilled out of Jesus. A man named Joseph asked Pilate if he could take the body of Jesus away to bury Him. Pilate agreed and Joseph wrapped Jesus in new linen cloth and laid him in a tomb. There was a huge rock that was rolled in front of the opening of the tomb and left. The next day, some Jews remembered that Jesus had said, After three days, I will live again. So they asked Pilate to put guards at the tomb. On the third day, the earth shook, because two angels of God came down from Heaven and rolled the stone away from the door of the tomb and sat down on it. The guards were so afraid that they fainted. A woman that Jesus had healed, named Mary Magdalene, came to see the tomb. When she saw the stone was taken away, she ran and told Simon Peter and John, They have taken the Lord out of the tomb and I dont know where they have taken Him. They ran back to the tomb and John got there first. He saw the linen cloth, but he didnt go in. Then Peter went in and saw the linen cloth and the napkin that was around Jesus head, in a place by itself. The disciples left and Mary stayed outside the tomb, crying. She looked into the tomb and saw the two angels. They asked Mary, Why are you crying? And she said, Because they have taken away my Lord, and I dont know where they have taken him. She turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she didnt know it was Him. Jesus said to her, Woman, why are you crying, who are you looking for? She thought He was the gardener, and said, Sir, if you have taken Him from here, tell me where He is and I will go get Him. Then Jesus said, Mary, and she turned and said, Teacher! Mary went and told the disciples she had seen Jesus alive, but they didnt believe her.
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That night when the disciples were together with the doors locked, because they were afraid of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the middle of them and said, Peace be with you. He showed them His hands where they were nailed to the cross, and his side. The disciples were so glad to see the Lord. Then Jesus said, My Father sent me, now I send you. He breathed on them and said, I give you the Holy Spirit. Thomas wasnt there when Jesus came back, so the other disciples told him, We have seen the Lord. Thomas said, Unless I see the holes in his hands from the nails and touch my finger on them, and push my hand into his side, I will not believe. Eight days later, the disciples were together again with the doors locked and Thomas was with them this time. Jesus came and stood in the middle of them again and said, Peace be with you. Then he said to Thomas, Touch my hands with your finger and push your hand into my side, and believe. Thomas said, You are my Lord and my God. Jesus said to him, Thomas, you have seen me, so you believe. Blessed are those who have not seen and still believe. Jesus talked to His disciples for forty days after He rose from the dead. Jesus told them, soon you will be baptized with the power of the Holy Spirit. Go and tell all nations the things that I have taught you and make disciples of them. Baptize them in the name of the Father and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. I am with you always even until the end of the world. Jesus lifted up His hands and blessed them and God took Jesus, and carried Him up into Heaven.

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