The Bible Story III:

GENESIS

   In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. In six days, God created day and night, oceans and sky, dry land and plants, the sun, moon and stars, fish and birds, and land animals. Finally, God created in His own image a man called Adam and a woman called Eve. God looked at all that He had made. It was very good. Then God rested on the seventh day.

   God prepared the Garden of Eden as a wonderful place for Adam and Eve to live. In it, God planted every tree that was pleasant and good for food. God told them to eat the fruit of all the trees. But God told them not to eat the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil or else they would die.

   One day, a serpent tricked Eve. It lied to her and told her that she would be like God if she ate the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Eve ate some fruit and persuaded Adam to eat some. Then they realized that they had done an evil thing by disobeying God. When they heard God approaching, they were ashamed and afraid. They tried to hide from God but eventually they had to confess that they had sinned.

   God placed a curse on the serpent and made it crawl on its belly in the dust. God increased Eve's pain in childbirth. God caused weeds and thorns to grow so Adam would have to work hard to grow food. God made them leave the garden so they couldn't eat the fruit in the garden anymore. But God made a promise that someday one of Eve's descendants would crush the power of sin.

   After Adam and Eve left the garden, they had two sons, Cain and Abel. When they grew up, Abel raised sheep and cattle while Cain grew plants. One day, Cain and Abel brought offerings to God. God was pleased with Abel's offering because Abel's heart was right but Cain's offering did not please God. God told Cain that he needed to overcome his sin. Instead, Cain gave in to anger and jealousy, and he killed his brother. Then God placed a curse on Cain so the earth would not grow crops for him.

   Adam and Eve had another son, Seth, and other children. Their children married and had more children. People began to fill the earth. But they became very sinful. A man named Lamech boasted that he had killed a young man for no good reason. People became so wicked that God decided to destroy all of the evil people with a great flood.

   Only Noah pleased God. God told Noah to build a large boat called an ark to save his family and the animals from the flood. Noah obeyed God, built the ark and filled it with food. Then God brought two of every kind of animal to the ark. When they were safely inside, God sent forty days of rain. Water covered all the earth, even the tallest mountaintops. But God kept Noah safe in the ark. After the flood, Noah built an altar and thanked God. God promised that there would never be another great flood. He put a rainbow in the sky as a sign of His promise. God also commanded that anyone who committed murder should be executed.

   After the flood, the children of Noah began to fill the earth again. But they disobeyed God and worshipped idols. They built the tower of Babel out of their pride. God confused their languages so they were divided. Then God scattered them over all the earth. But God gave them over to their idolatry.

   God chose one man, Abraham, to start a nation that would worship Him. God called Abraham and his wife Sarah to leave their home and travel to the land of Canaan. God promised Abraham that he would be the father of more people than the stars in the sky and that they would possess the land of Canaan. Abraham didn't have even one child and he didn't own any land but he believed God and that was credited to him as righteousness. God told Abraham to circumcise himself and all of his male descendants as a sign of their covenant.

   Abraham had a son, Ishmael, by Sarah's maid, Hagar. Ishmael is the father of the Arabs. But Ishmael was not the son that God promised. Abraham and Sarah waited more than fifteen years for the birth of their promised son, Isaac.

   Isaac had two sons, Esau and Jacob. God gave Jacob a new name, Israel. Jacob had twelve sons whose families formed the twelve tribes of Israel. Jacob had a favorite son, Joseph. The other brothers were jealous of Joseph. One day, they sold him as a slave to some men on their way to Egypt.

   Joseph served faithfully as a slave and was put in charge of his master's household. When the master's wife enticed him to sin, Joseph refused. So she falsely accused him of wrongdoing and had him thrown into prison. Even in prison, Joseph served faithfully and was soon put in charge of the other prisoners. One day, Joseph was called to interpret a dream for Pharaoh. The dream predicted a seven year long famine. Joseph told Pharaoh how to store up food for it. Joseph was then promoted from prisoner to the second ruler in all of Egypt, next only to Pharaoh.

   When the famine came, Joseph's brothers came to Egypt to buy food. Joseph forgave them and invited them to come and live in Egypt. Joseph realized that God had allowed him to suffer slavery and prison so he could prepare the way for his family to move to Egypt.