Children's bible to read. children's bible

Children's bible online

On this page, the children's Bible will be placed online, but not the whole Bible, but for now part of it is the five books of Moshe (Moses). This children's bible is presented in children's stories in the form of weekly sections. The weekly sections are 54 stories to read for each week. Each such section is called the Weekly Torah portion.

What age audience is this children's bible designed for - not only children but also adults can read this edition.

What is special about this edition?

Weekly sections of the Torah for children are calculated, of course, first of all for children from 8 to 14 years old. But the publication will be interesting and useful for adults as well. The peculiarity of this edition is that there is no numbering of verses in it. The goal is to simplify the text for children's perception, highlighting only the most important. But, although the text in this children's Torah is shortened and simplified, nevertheless, this edition for children is the most detailed, where all important events are kept in detail. Children have every right to read the Torah in detail.

children's bible download

Children's bible download in PDF formats.

So far, only the first two books of Moshe, Bereishit and Shemot, have been presented.

1. Bereishit - Children's Torah download >>
2. Shemot - Children's Torah download >>

Weekly sections of the Children's Torah

Children's Bible. Old Testament

Children's Bible. New Testament

I would like to suggest that people begin their acquaintance with the Word of God by reading or listening to the "Children's Bible", since the narration in it is conducted in a simple, interesting and concise form, which makes acquaintance with the Bible the most accessible for both children and people who want to know the Word of God only recently.

"Children's Bible" is familiar to many people, and this may be our opportunity to offer them an introduction to the Bible in video format, which may be convenient for many.

Old Testament

1 Creation of the World. Start - 0:09:24
2 Creation of the World. Continued - 0:12:06
3 Creation of the first people - 0:14:24
4 Expulsion of Adam and Eve from Paradise - 0:17:08
5 Cain and Abel - 0:20:40
6 Flood. Noah builds the ark - 0:22:27
7 The beginning of the flood - 0:25:20
8 End of the Flood - 0:27:33
9 Rainbow and the covenant of God with man - 0:29:22
10 Tower of Babel - 0:30:59
11 Abraham - 0:33:02
12 Abraham and Lot - 0:35:50
13 God's promise to Abraham - 0:38:14
14 God's three messengers with Abraham - 0:40:33
15 The destruction of the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah - 0:42:36
16 Abraham sacrifices Isaac - 0:46:10
17 Rebekah - 0:49:02
18 Isaac and Rebekah - 0:52:41
19 Jacob receives his father's blessing - 0:54:43
20 Dream of Jacob - 0:57:14
21 Jacob's meeting with Rachel - 1:00:22
22 Jacob “wrestles” with God – 1:02:35
23 Reconciliation of Jacob and Esau - 1:04:40
24 Joseph - favorite son of Jacob - 1:07:10
25 Joseph's Dreams - 1:09:05
26 The brothers sell Joseph - 1:11:54
27 Joseph - steward in the house of a courtier - 1:14:14
28 Joseph in prison - 1:16:31
29 Joseph interprets Pharaoh's dreams - 1:20:54
30 Joseph - ruler of all Egypt - 1:23:22
31 Seven years of famine - 1:25:51
32 Joseph reveals himself to his brothers - 1:28:44
33 Joseph's meeting with his father - 1:32:20
34 The slavery of the Israelites in Egypt - 1:34:51
35 Baby Moses in a Basket - 1:37:26
36 Pharaoh's daughter finds Moses - 1:38:43
37 Burning thornbush - 1:41:34
38 Moses and Aaron before Pharaoh - 1:44:14
39 Blood of the Passover Lamb - 1:47:28
40 The Lord brings the Israelites out of Egypt - 1:49:47
41 Israelites crossing the Red Sea - 1:52:27
42 The death of the Egyptian army in the Red Sea - 1:54:20
43 Manna from heaven - 1:56:34
44 Moses draws water from the rock - 1:58:26
45 Ten Commandments - 2:00:21
46 Golden Calf - 2:03:53
47 Tabernacle of Meeting - 2:07:08
48 Sacrifices for the construction of the sanctuary - 2:08:49
49 Consecration of the new tabernacle - 2:11:05
50 Spies in Canaan - 2:14:27
51 Punishment Korah, Dathan and Aviron - 2:16:59
52 Copper Serpent - 2:18:52
53 Prophet Balaam and the angel - 2:20:24
54 Joshua - the successor of Moses - 2:22:31
55 Instruction to the children: do not forget the Lord! – 02:24:01
56 Sacrifice - 2:26:11
57 Death of Moses - 2:28:05
58 Rahab saves the scouts - 2:29:51
59 Crossing the Jordan - 2:32:39
60 Capture of Jericho - 2:35:02
61 Battle with the Amorites - 2:37:02
62 Israeli judges - 2:39:02
63 Gideon - 2:42:36
64 Strongman Samson - 2:45:33
65 The death of Samson - 2:47:43
66 Ruth and Naomi - 2:50:35
67 Ruth in the field of Boaz - 2:53:32
68 Anna's Prayer - 2:57:01
69 Anna dedicates Samuel to God - 2:59:57
70 Voice Calling Samuel - 3:01:58
71 Death of the priest Eli - 3:04:26
72 Saul - king of Israel - 3:07:33
73 Shepherd David - the future king - 3:10:24
74 David and Goliath - 3:12:51
75 Jonathan - 3:15:46
76 David before the sleeping Saul - 3:17:36
77 David reigns over all Israel - 3:20:35
78 The ark of the covenant of God in Jerusalem - 3:22:51
79 Psalms of David - 3:26:22
80 Prophet Nathan before David - 3:27:49
81 The death of Absalom - 3:31:06
82 Wise King Solomon - 3:33:35
83 Temple of God - 3:36:01
84 Solomon prays in the temple - 3:38:05
85 Solomon and the Queen of Sheba - 3:40:13
86 Solomon falls away from God - 3:43:24
87 The division of the kingdom - 3:45:24
88 Judah - Southern Kingdom - 3:49:25
89 Israel - Northern Kingdom - 3:52:14
90 Prophet Elijah - 3:55:45
91 Resurrection of the widow's son - 3:57:50
92 Elijah and the prophets of Baal - 4:00:15
93 Miracle with water and miracle with oil - 4:03:45
94 Syrian commander Naaman - 4:06:54
95 Naaman healed - 4:09:11
96 Blinded Conquerors - 4:11:39
97 Coronation of Jehoash - 4:14:36
98 The Pride and Punishment of King Uzziah - 4:17:45
99 Israel backsliding from God - 4:21:24
100 Assyria conquers Israel - 4:24:12
101 Samaritans - 4:26:40
102 Prayer of King Hezekiah - 4:29:07
103 Testament of King Josiah - 4:31:33
104 Prophet Jeremiah - 4:33:48
105 Baruch writes down the prophecies of Jeremiah - 4:36:28
106 King Joachim burns the scroll with the prophecy - 4:38:37
107 Babylon conquers Judah - 4:41:28
108 The destruction of Jerusalem and the temple - 4:44:13
109 Daniel and his three friends - 4:48:07
110 Golden image and three brave men - 4:51:23
111 Daniel interprets the meaning of obscure words - 4:55:20
112 Daniel prays - 4:58:47
113 Daniel in the lions' den - 5:02:00
114 The return of the Jews from captivity - 5:05:07
115 Queen Esther - 5:09:09
116 Queen Esther. Continued - 5:12:05
117 Nehemiah builds the walls of Jerusalem - 5:15:58
118 The people turn to God - 5:18:55
119 Job's suffering - 5:22:56
120 Job after the trials - 5:26:23
121 Psalms - 5:29:12
122 Let's memorize the verses from the Psalter - 5:32:26
123 Proverbs 5:36:20
124 Preacher's Book - 5:39:18
125 Prophets - 5:42:17
126 Prophet Isaiah - 5:45:21
127 "They will beat their swords into plowshares" - 5:48:52
128 And there will be no evil on earth - 5:50:25
129 Prophet Hosea - 5:52:10
130 Prophet Joel - 5:55:32
131 Prophet Jonah - 5:58:37
132 Prophet Micah - 6:02:18
133 Prophecies about the first coming of the Messiah - 6:05:35

New Testament

When the events described in the New Testament began, that is, almost two thousand years ago, the Jewish people were in a difficult situation. It had not had its own king for hundreds of years. Assyrians, Babylonians, Greeks...and finally the Roman conquerors ruled it. God stopped speaking to the people through the prophets, as in ancient times. The last of them, Malachi, lived in the fifth century before the birth of Jesus. So, the people in their plight awaited the coming of the promised Messiah, who would deliver them from the foreign yoke and turn the hearts of the people to God. But before the Messiah, Jesus Christ, appeared, God began to prepare the people for His coming through the young man John. John's birth was unusual. His father, Zechariah, was a priest. He lived with his wife Elizabeth in the Judean mountains. The spouses were righteous and lived according to all the commandments and ordinances of God. They were already elderly, but they had no children. Once, when Zechariah was in the temple in Jerusalem, and a multitude of people were praying outside the temple, the Angel of the Lord, Gabriel, appeared to him while burning incense. Zechariah was very afraid. The angel said to him: “Don’t be afraid Zacharias, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will give birth to your son, and you will call his name: John; and you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great before the Lord; But Zechariah doubted the words of the Angel and answered: "How will I know this? For I am old, and my wife is advanced in years." The angel reproached the priest Zacharias for unbelief and said: "... and behold, you will be silent and will not be able to speak until the day when this will come true, because you did not believe my words in due time, which will come true in due time." Meanwhile, the people were waiting for Zechariah to come out of the temple and were surprised that he hesitated.
LUKE 1:5-25

It happened as the Angel Gabriel foretold. Less than a year later, Zachariah and Elizabeth had a son. They rejoiced greatly, and their relatives rejoiced with them. In those ancient times, families usually had more children than today. If someone did not have children, like Zechariah and Elizabeth, this was considered a great misfortune. Children were given the names of parents and relatives. "When on the eighth day they came to circumcise the baby according to the law of Israel, they wanted to name him by the name of his father, Zechariah. To this his mother said: "No, but call him John." And they said to her: "There is no one in your family who would be called by this name." And they asked his father by signs what he would like to call him. I am of God. And there was fear on all that dwelled about them; and they told of all this throughout all the hill country of Judea. All who heard it put it in their hearts and said, "What will happen to this child?" And the hand of the Lord was with him. And Zachariah his father was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied, saying: as he proclaimed through the mouths of his holy prophets who were from the beginning ... And you, a child, will be called a prophet of the Most High, for you will go before the face of the Lord to prepare His ways, to give His people knowledge of salvation in the forgiveness of their sins, for by the merciful mercy of our God, to whom we are the East from above, to enlighten those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death, to direct our feet on the path of peace. Very little has been written about the life of the youth John. In the Gospel of Luke, one can only read: "The child grew and became strong in spirit, and was in the wilderness until the day of his appearance to Israel"
LUKE 1:57-80

God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to this sinful world to save mankind from sins and eternal death. With His birth, a new era began on earth. Even our calendar begins with the birth of Jesus Christ. The story of the birth of Jesus is amazing. Just think, He, the Son of the Creator of the world and the universe, had to be born in an animal stable. Soon the king of that country decided to kill Him. But let's start from the beginning. In the small town of Nazareth, in the north of Israel, there lived a girl named Mary. She loved the Lord and had a pure heart. One day, the Angel Gabriel, sent by the Lord, appeared to her and said: "Rejoice, full of grace! The Lord is with you; blessed are you among women." Mary, seeing him, was embarrassed. But the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found grace with the Lord; and behold, you will conceive in the womb and bear a Son, and you will call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father; and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and his kingdom will have no end." Mary was not then married, but was betrothed to a pious believer named Joseph. She asked the Angel: "How will it be when I don't know my husband?" The angel said to her in response: "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore, the Holy One who is being born will be called the Son of God." Mary answered: "Behold, the servant of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word." And the angel left her. Learning that Mary was expecting a child, Joseph wanted to let her go, but the Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said: "Joseph, son of David! Do not be afraid to take Mary, your wife; for what was born in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to the Son, and you will call His name: Jesus; for He will save His people from their sins." No word is powerless with the Lord, and Mary soon gave birth to the Infant Jesus.
LUKE 1:26-35

World creation.

You know how everything goes dark at night when all the lights are off. In such darkness was once the whole world. Then there was no grass, no trees, no beautiful flowers, no birds, not even sky and earth, but the whole universe was darkness and chaos. However, God did not want things to remain like this, and He created this wonderful world. We know that nothing is created by itself. The world around us, filled with harmony and beauty, testifies to its great and wise Creator.
The Holy Book of the Bible describes the creation of the world according to the Word of God:
"In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
The earth was formless and empty, and darkness was over the deep, and the Spirit of God hovered over the waters.
And God said: let there be light. And there was light.
And God saw the light that it was good; and God separated the light from the darkness.
And God called the light day, and the darkness night. And there was evening and there was morning: one day.
And God said: Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it separate water from water.
And God created the firmament; and separated the water that was under the firmament from the water that was above the firmament. And it became so.
And God called the firmament sky. And it was evening. and it was Morning, the second day.
And God said, Let the waters that are under the sky be gathered into one place, and let the dry land appear. And it became so.
And God called the dry land earth, and the gathering of waters he called the seas. And God saw that it was good.
And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, herb yielding seed, fruitful tree yielding fruit after its kind, in which is its seed, on the earth. And it became so.
And the earth brought forth grass, grass yielding seed after its kind, and wood. bearing fruit, in which is its seed after its kind. And God saw that it was good.
And it was evening. and it was morning, the third day."

"And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of heaven to separate the day from the night, and for signs, and times, and days, and years;
And let them be lamps in the firmament of heaven to shine upon the earth. And it became so. And God created two great lights: the greater light to rule the day, and the smaller light to rule the night, and the stars;
And God placed them in the firmament of heaven to shine on the earth.
And rule the day and the night, and separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good.
And it was evening. and it was Morning, the fourth day.
And God said, Let the water bring forth reptiles, living creatures; and let the birds fly over the earth, in the firmament of heaven.
And God created great fish, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth, after their kind, and every winged bird after its kind. And God saw that it was good.
And God blessed them, saying: Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.
And there was evening and there was morning: the fifth day.
And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after its kind, cattle, and creeping things, and beasts of the earth after their kind. And it became so.
And God created the beasts of the earth after their kind, and the cattle after their kind, and every creeping thing on the earth after its kind. And God saw that it was good."
The whole earth. created by the Word of the almighty Creator, illuminated by the radiance of the gentle sun, breathed peace and wondrous beauty. But this was not yet the end of creation. God decided to create people so that they would live in this beautiful world and have fellowship with their Creator.

Creation of the first people.

"And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.
And God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
And God blessed them, and God said to them: Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth. And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb yielding seed that is in all the earth, and every tree bearing fruit of a tree yielding seed: this shall be food for you; but to every beast of the earth, and to every bird of the air, and to every creeping thing on the earth, in which there is a living soul, I have given all green herbs for food. And it became so.
And God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning: the sixth day.
Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God finished His works which He did, and rested on the seventh day from all His works which He did."
The man's name was Adam, and the woman's was Eve. The Lord created them beautiful and happy. They loved their Creator very much, and God loved them.
The Lord gave them all the created creation. for them to take care of her. After blessing Adam and Eve, "the Lord planted paradise in Eden, in the east; and there he placed the man whom he had created." The Lord instructed them to cultivate and maintain this garden.
Adam and Eve were constantly in communion with their Creator. In the picture you see that their eyes are turned to God - that's why they are happy. When our eyes and hearts turn to the Lord, we too become happy.
------ *Why did God say, "Let's do it?" Because God is one in three persons: God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. Therefore, in the First Book of Moses, at the creation of man, God says in the plural: "Let us create."

Bible for children. Old Testament

WORLD CREATION

In the beginning, says the Bible, there was nothing: no earth, no sky, no birds, no plants, no animals - nothing.

But there was God - the almighty Yahweh. God has always existed, the Bible says.

And then one day Yahweh decided to create this world.

First God said: "Let there be light!". And it became light.

God saw that it was good. And separated the light from the darkness.

Thus arose day and night, morning and evening.

The next day God created the sky. Then He gathered all the water together into great seas, rivers, and lakes. Water and land separated.

On the third day, God covered the dry land with trees and plants. He also created dense forests and bright flowers. On the fourth day, God created the sun, moon and stars.

On the fifth day, God created birds, and they began to fly in the air and build their nests in the branches of trees.

On the sixth day, God created all the animals that live on Earth.

But there was no one on Earth yet who would take care of the Earth and the animals, who would love God and praise Him. And then God created the first man.

And the next day - the seventh in a row - God rested ...

ADAM AND EVE

The first man was called Adam.

The Bible says that God created the first man in his own image and likeness (that is, the first man was very similar to God).

Adam lived in the Garden of Eden, which was called the Garden of Eden.

He really enjoyed living in this garden. Yet God noticed that he was lonely.

"Let me make him an assistant!" God decided.

He put Adam to sleep, and while he slept, he created a woman from his rib.

Waking up and seeing the woman, Adam was very happy - he realized that now he would not be so alone!

Adam named her Eve, and the two of them began to live happily in the Garden of Eden.

It was then that people agreed with God about everything.

God cared a lot about people. And people, in turn, fulfilled all his requirements.

But one day Adam and Eve did not fulfill their obligations.

And it happened like this.

HOW PEOPLE BETRAYED GOD

God allowed Adam and Eve to do whatever they asked.

He did not allow them only one thing - to eat the fruits from the tree, which was called the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

But a cunning and vile serpent lived in the same Garden of Eden.

And then one day he crept up to Eve and said:

Why should you obey God? If you eat fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you will not die. You will know everything and become as wise as God!

Eve looked at the snake, then looked around and hesitantly ate the fruit.
The fruit turned out to be very tasty, and Eve handed it to Adam.

Adam! - She said - Just try!

Adam hesitated. After all, he knew very well where this fruit was plucked from!
But he so wanted to try it that he could not stand it and also bit off the fruit.

Ah, people, people..

EXILE FROM PARADISE

When God found out about the act of Adam and Eve, he was very sad.

Then he said to Adam and Eve:

And all this happened because you did not want to do what I asked you to…

So Adam and Eve were expelled from paradise.

Cain and Abel

After that, hard times came for people.

They began to get sick. To feed themselves, they had to work hard and hard. People began to die...

After some time, Adam and Eve had their first children - the sons Cain and Abel.

Cain worked in the field, Abel was a shepherd.

The brothers often, together with Adam and Eve, offered a sacrifice to God because the first people had once betrayed Him.

And then one day Abel offered a white ram as a sacrifice to God, and Cain the fruit of the earth.

God accepted Abel's gift, but refused Cain's sacrifice.

You don't give from the bottom of your heart, Cain. - said God - It's impossible. If you truly love Me, then your sacrifice will be accepted by me.

But Cain did not obey God, but only became angry with his brother because God chose his victim, and killed Abel.

For this, God God punished Cain, forcing him to leave home and wander the Earth all his life.

And Adam and Eve soon had another son - Seth, who was as kind as Abel ...

THE GREAT FLOOD

Many years later.

There were more and more people on earth.
But they no longer thought about God.

People stole, cheated, killed each other and did everything only for themselves, completely forgetting about others.

And then God Yahweh decided to punish people and sent the Great Flood to Earth.

Only one person with his family was spared by Yahweh.
This man's name was Noah.
Noah was a righteous man - that is, he always did what God told him to do.

Even before the flood, Yahweh ordered Noah to build a huge ship - an ark, collect in it a couple of all the animals, birds and insects that only exist on Earth and set sail.

And as soon as Noah set sail, it began to rain heavily, which turned into a real flood.

The water rose higher and higher. It even covered the tops of the mountains.
And every living thing on earth sank.

Only Noah and those who were with him in the ark survived.

Terrible rain poured for forty days and nights. And all these days Noah's ark wandered over the boundless sea, into which the whole Earth turned.

Finally the rain stopped. But the water still covered the ground.

However, God did not forget Noah. He sent a strong wind, and the water began to subside rapidly.

When the bottom of the ship hit something, Noah thought: "We are at the top of the mountain."

He took the dove and released it.

"If the water has come down from the earth," thought Noah, "then the dove will not return."

But the dove returned.

Another seven days passed. Noah released the dove again.

This time the bird did not return.

Then Noah carefully opened the door of the ark and went out. The ground was dry.

NEW CONTRACT

The water receded, and a rainbow shone over the world again.

Noah and all his family came out of the ark.

And the first thing they did was to thank God for such a wonderful salvation.

After that, Noah built an altar and made a new Covenant with God.

I will no longer send a Flood to Earth. - God said at the same time - But when you see a rainbow in the sky, remember our Treaty.

Thus the good relations of God with men were again restored.

TOWER OF BABYLON

But the descendants of Noah again did not want to live in peace with God.

And then one day in the city of Babylon they wanted to build a huge tower so that they could climb into the sky and become even higher than Yahweh himself.

Let everyone know! - they shouted - We are the best in the world! And soon we ourselves will become like gods!

This happened, according to the Bible, even those times when all people in the world spoke the same language.

Here you go. Yahweh endured this for a long time, but one day he could not stand it and confused the languages ​​​​of people so that people stopped understanding each other.

And the construction of the Tower of Babel stopped.

After all, judge for yourself - is it easy to understand a person who speaks a language that you do not understand?

So, says the Bible, different languages ​​arose on Earth.

Later, people noticed that there are other people who speak the same language as them. These people began to unite with each other.

Then these groups of people scattered across the Earth.
Different peoples arose, and each people had its own language.

And the Tower of Babel remained unfinished ...

ABRAHAM

In those days there lived on earth a respectable man named Abraham.

He loved God very much and was devoted to Him.

And one day God said this to Abraham:

Leave your land and your father's house and go to the land that I will show you.
Believe me, Abraham: you will make a great nation!

Even though Abraham didn't even have children then, he believed God.

Together with his wife Sarah, they packed up and hit the road.

This path was long and difficult.
But at last they came to the land of Canaan, crossed it, and came to a place called Shechem.

Here it is, your land. - God said to him - That's what I give you and your offspring.

Abraham built an altar and offered a sacrifice to God.

Abraham lived on this earth for many years after that.
But one day foreigners invaded these lands.

They burned the cities, and captured many of the inhabitants.

Abraham fought his enemies and defeated them. Then he freed the captives and returned everything that the enemies had captured.

When Abraham was returning to his place, King Melchiselek came out to meet him.

The king was the priest of God. He blessed Abraham and said:
- Great God, Creator of heaven and Earth, may He bless you!

In response, Abraham gave him a tenth of the booty that he had taken from his enemies.

FAITH OF ABRAHAM

Abraham always believed God.

But Abraham and Sarah did not have a son. And God promised to give it to them.

And when the time came, they had a son, Isaac, with Sarah.

Abraham and Sarah loved their son very much - so much that God even decided to check whether they put love for their son above love for God.

It was for this purpose that God once said this to Abraham:

Abraham! - He said - I want you to bring your son to Me as a sacrifice.

…Sacrifice your son? But why? Abraham could not understand this.

But he always believed God, and so with eyes full of tears, he took Isaac to the top of the mountain.

There Abraham gathered stones, built an altar, tied Isaac, and as soon as he took a knife in his hands, he suddenly heard the voice of God:

Stop! Now I see that you believe Me! That you love me!

With trembling hands, Abraham untied Isaac and kissed him.

Then they prayed to God together and went down the mountain.

SODOM AND GOMORRAH

And this story happened to Lot, a relative of Abraham.

Lot lived in Sodom, a city whose inhabitants led a very sinful life.

That is why God decided to destroy Sodom.
And also the neighboring city of Gomorrah, in which sinners also lived.

In both of these cities, only Lot and his family lived according to God's laws.
Therefore, before carrying out His judgment, God commanded the angels to lead Lot's family out of the city.

But before that, God warned Lot and his family that it was necessary to leave the city, in no case looking back.

Lot's family left Sodom early in the morning.

And as soon as they came out of there, fire with brimstone fell from the sky and destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.

Lot's wife, unfortunately, did not heed God's warning.
She turned back and at the same moment turned into a pillar of salt ...

Once Abraham sent his servant Elizar to his homeland - to Mesopotamia, so that he would bring a bride for Isaac from there.

When Elizar arrived at the place, he thought.

"How can I find a bride for my master's son?" he thought.

And then Elizar turned to God:

God! - he said - Make it so that the girl who should become the wife of Isaac herself came to the source of water.
And when I ask her to tilt the jug to get drunk, she would answer me like this: "Drink, I will also give your camels a drink."

That's how it all happened.
And in the evening, having agreed on everything with Rebekah's parents, Elizar was taking the girl to Isaac.

For a long time they rode on camels until they finally arrived at the place.

Rebekah and Isaac had never met before, but they liked each other so much that they immediately got married.

And after some time, children were born to them - Esau and Jacob.

PROFITABLE EXCHANGE

Esau was the first in the family, and he ...

No, before I tell you the next story, I want to ask you: do you know what barter is?

Well, of course you know it! I am sure about that!

After all, barter is an exchange. And what is an exchange, it’s not for me to tell you, right?

You are constantly changing something with your friends - for example, you give a friend a CD with the songs of your favorite band, and in return you get the same CD with a cool game.

But is such an exchange (barter) always profitable?

Listen to how it happened in the story of Esau and Jacob.

Esau's neglect of the birthright

Esau was the eldest son. And this meant that after the death of his parents, he would own most of the property as the firstborn.

Such a tradition existed and still exists among many peoples of the world.
This is the so-called right of succession.

But Jacob, the second born son of Isaac and Rebekah, did not like this at all. So he decided to trade with Esau.

One day Jacob said this to Esau:

Brother, would you like to exchange something with me? I will give you delicious food, and you will give me your right to inherit. How do you not mind?

Esau was very hungry at that moment, therefore, not really thinking about what his brother asked, he only nodded his head in agreement.

But the mere consent of brother Jacob was not enough. It was also necessary to receive the blessing of their common father Isaac.

Mother Rebekah decided to help Jacob get his father's blessing. She advised him to put on Esau's clothes and go to his father.

The next day, Jacob changed into his brother's clothes and went to Isaac.

Father. - he said, knowing that he no longer sees anything - This is Esau. Please bless me.

It seemed to Isaac that this was indeed his beloved son Esau, and he blessed him with joy.

Having received the blessing of his father and the birthright, Jacob seized the right to inherit after the death of his parents all their wealth - a right that Esau should have had ...

JACOB'S LADDER

When Esau realized what great advantages he had lost, he hated his brother and even wanted to kill him.

Fearing that Esau would actually do it, Jacob left his father's house on the advice of his mother, Rebekah, and went to Leban in Mesopotamia.

And then one day, on the way to Mesopotamia, he lay down to rest and fell asleep. And suddenly I had a wonderful dream.

As if he is climbing a ladder, the top of which rests on the sky.
And at the very top of the ladder stands God.

And God says to Jacob:

Here I am, the Lord, the God of Abraham and Isaac, standing before you.
The land on which you now sleep, I give you, your children and grandchildren. Own it...
I am with you and will always be with you. And I will keep you everywhere you go.
You will always be happy. Just don't ever forget about Me...

Jacob woke up and joyfully exclaimed:

God! Thank you! Thank you for everything!

And Jacob promised never in his life to forget about God.
And in honor of this event, a monument was erected at that place.

For twenty years, Jacob lived in another country - Mesopotamia.
And when he returned home, the first thing he did was reconciled with his brother

THE FATE OF JOSEPH

Jacob had many children. But most of all Jacob loved his son Joseph.

It was for this love of the father that his brothers decided to destroy Joseph.
And one day they sold him into slavery to visiting merchants….

Can you imagine what kind of brothers there are in the world?

By the way, do you know what slavery is? 0, even if you never knew!

Previously, slaves were called people who were sold like a commodity.

Slaves could be beaten, tortured... Even killed.
After all, they were not even considered people! Can you imagine?

In those days, there were special, so-called slave markets, where slaves were sold.

Anyone could become such a slave. Here, for example, is what happened to Joseph...

FAMILY UNION

However, Joseph was still lucky, since he was bought to protect the palace by the head of the guards of the Egyptian pharaoh, whose name was Potiphar.

And at first it was easy for Joseph to serve.
But after a while he was thrown into prison for an offense in which he was not guilty.

It is not known how long he would have sat there, if not for the case.

One day the pharaoh had a very strange dream.

There was no one who could explain this dream. Only one Joseph managed to do this.

And then, as a reward for this, the pharaoh made him the most important among all his courtiers.

And after some time, Joseph met his brothers, forgave them and invited them to move to Egypt with his father Jacob.

So the whole family ended up in Egypt.

MOSES

Another four hundred and thirty years passed.

Jacob and his sons have long since died. Their descendants began to be called Israelites, or Jews.

In those distant times, Egypt was ruled by an evil and cruel pharaoh.
He mocked the Israelis very much and sent them to the most difficult construction and field work.

And once he even issued an order to drown all Jewish boys in the river.

At this very time, a boy was born to an Israeli mother.

Knowing that he could also be drowned in the river, as they did with other boys, his mother hid him for three whole months.

When it became difficult to hide the boy, she hid him in the reeds on the banks of the Nile in a reed basket.
The boy's sister stayed behind to watch over his brother.

Pharaoh's daughter came ashore, saw the basket and ordered to open it.

Seeing the crying child, she felt sorry for him, although she realized that the boy was a Jew.

The boy's sister saw it all. She ran to Pharaoh's daughter and asked:

Do you want me to call an Israeli mother to raise him?

The pharaoh's daughter replied:

Then the sister called her mother. She raised the child, and when the boy grew up, she brought him to the pharaoh's daughter.

The boy's name was Moses.

EXIT FROM EGYPT

When Moses became an adult, he left Pharaoh's palace and went to live with the Israelites.

Moses helped them and protected them from the Egyptians.

Pharaoh found out about this and planned to kill him. Then Moses fled to a neighboring country.

Some more time passed. And then one day God commanded Moses to lead the people of Israel out of Egypt.
Moses returned to Egypt and went with his brother Aaron to Pharaoh.

Release my people. he said to the pharaoh.

But he never wanted to let the Israelis go.

Then God conveyed through Moses that he would send many kinds of punishments (that is, punishments) to Egypt if he did not let the Jews go.
And since Pharaoh still did not agree to let them go, God began to send terrible disasters to Egypt.

So, for example, in every Egyptian family, the first-born (that is, the eldest sons) died, swarms of flies attacked Egypt, all the water turned into blood ...

In a word, the Egyptians - the inhabitants of Egypt - had to endure a lot of things before their ruler, the pharaoh, agreed to let the Israelites go.

When the Jews left Egypt, Pharaoh again regretted this and rushed after them in pursuit.

And then God created another miracle.

By that time, the Israelites had reached the so-called Red (that is, Red) Sea. The Egyptians were already catching up with them.

And then Moses waved his hand.

At the command of God, the waves of the sea parted, and the Jews crossed over to the other side along the dry bottom.

When the last Israelite came ashore, the waves of the sea closed again.
The water covered the Egyptian chariots and soldiers.

And the whole army of the Egyptians drowned...

MANNA FROM HEAVEN

After crossing the Red Sea, the Jews entered the desert.

They had nothing to eat, and they began to grumble.

Then God said to Moses:

I heard the murmuring of the Israelites. Tell them: in the evening you will eat meat, and tomorrow morning you will eat bread. And you will know that I am the Lord your God.

In the evening, many quails flew into the camp of the Israelites.

The Israelites ate the meat of these birds that evening.

And in the morning something small appeared on the surface of the desert, similar to cereals.

What is this? the Israelites asked Moses.

This is the bread that God gave us to eat. Moses answered them.

The Jews called it "manna".

It was this manna that the Israelites ate all the time they were on the road.

COMMANDMENTS OF GOD

Three months after crossing the Red Sea, the Jews reached Mount Sinai and settled at its foot.

Moses went up the mountain and there he spoke for a long time with God.

God gave the Israelites through Moses the so-called commandments, that is, the laws by which they had to live.

These ones -

1. I am Your God. You must not have any other gods besides Me.

2. Do not worship anyone or anything but Me - neither on earth nor in heaven. And do not make any images or statues for such worship.

3. Do not use My name in vain. When you turn to Me with a request or a prayer, pronounce it reverently, with respect and love.

4. Remember: the last day of the week belongs to Me. Work six days, and devote the seventh (last) to God.
(By the way, did you know that among the Jews such a day - a day off - was always considered Saturday; in other countries of the world, as a rule, this is Sunday?).

5. Respect your father and mother.

6. Don't you dare kill anyone and never!

7. Do not be unfaithful to your wife (or husband).

8. Never steal.

9. Never say anything bad about other people.

10. Do not desire anything that does not belong to you.

Then Moses went downstairs and gave the Israelites the words of God, who said:

If you follow my laws, you will become my chosen people.

Moses also showed the Israelites two stone tablets (stone "boards") on which God had written these commandments in his own hand.

After that, Moses went up the mountain again, where he remained for many more days and nights.

GOLDEN CALF

The Israelites easily agreed to keep all of God's laws, but very soon broke their promise again.
And it happened like this.

For forty days and nights Moses was on Mount Sinai, where he wrote down everything that God taught him.

And below, in the valley, meanwhile, all these days and nights, the Israelites were worried.

Moses does not go and does not go. - people said to Aaron, brother of Moses - Maybe something happened to him?

Aaron himself began to worry. Without his brother, he felt completely helpless.

And then there is the people who demand some decisive action from him:
- Well, do something!

And Aaron ordered the Israelites to collect all the gold items and mold them into a golden calf.

This will be our God! - he said - So let's pray to him!

…My God! How could Aaron forget what Moses did on such occasions! After all, first of all, he turned to God - to the real God! ..

GOD'S WRATH

Can you imagine how angry God was!

Only the intercession of Moses saved the Israelites from complete annihilation.

Do you remember what they promised to do?

"I am Your God. You must not have any other Gods but Me."

Remember? The very first commandment that the Israelites agreed to obey! ..

And further:
"Do not worship anyone or anything but Me - neither on earth nor in heaven. And do not make any images or statues for such worship."

Here you go. They promised and didn't deliver...

As punishment, God forced the Jews to wander in the wilderness for many more decades before bringing them to the land of Canaan...

JERICHO

For forty years the Jews wandered in the wilderness before reaching the city of Jericho.

Moses had already died by that time. Instead, the Israelis were led by his successor, Jesus Namin.

Jericho was in the hands of the Philistines, so the Jews still had to conquer this city.

And then Jesus Namin again turned to God for help:

God! - He said - Help us, please!

And God answered:

Don't worry. I'm with you!

And so it happened.

Seven priests blew trumpets, people screamed, and the walls of Jericho collapsed.

SAMSON

Some time passed, and the Jews again departed from God. Because of this, they were enslaved by the Philistines.

By that time, the Jews were led by Judge Samson, a man of great strength.

His strength was so great that once Samson even managed to tear a lion apart with his bare hands.

The Philistines were very afraid of Samson and wanted to kill him.

To learn the secret of his strength, they sent a woman named Delilah to Samson.

Delilah asked Samson that his strength was in his hair, and at night, when he was sleeping, she cut his hair.

The Philistines seized the exhausted Samson, tore out his eyes and put him in chains.

But after a while, Samson's hair began to grow again.

Samson regained his strength and took revenge on the Philistines. That's how it was.

One day the Philistines gathered to offer a sacrifice to their god Dagon.

To amuse themselves, they brought the chained Samson to the temple.

But Samson broke the chains, pressed on the pillars that supported the roof of the temple, the walls collapsed, and all the Philistines died.

Together with them, unfortunately, Samson himself died ...

DAVID'S BRILLIANT CAREER

Some more time passed. David became king of the Israelites.

However, David began his life by tending sheep.

That's what happens to some people. This is the so-called brilliant career.

You probably know what this expression means - "brilliant career"?

A career is how a person "gets ahead" in their work.

For example, he can start his career as a security guard guarding some company.

Then become an employee of this very or any other company. Or even the head of a department.

And a brilliant career is when a person first occupies some small position, after which he becomes, for example, the president of the most famous company in the whole country.

Or an outstanding actor.

Or a singer.

Or even a king. As it was with David.

And David's career began with the fact that he defeated Goliath. And it was so.

The Philistine troops attacked Israel.

And when the two armies met, a huge warrior came out of the camp of the Philistines and shouted:

Jews! If any of you can defeat me, then we will all become your slaves! If I become the winner, then you will become slaves! Well? Is there anyone who wants to compete with me?

This was Goliath.

None of the Israelis even dared to think about accepting the challenge of Goliath - he was so huge.

And only one David accepted this challenge.

When Goliath rushed at David, he calmly inserted a stone into the sling and spun it.

The stone flew out of the sling and killed the giant.

So the little David defeated the giant Goliath.

David was a very wise king, renowned throughout the earth for his wisdom.

And David was an outstanding poet of that time. It is not for nothing that so many of his psalms were collected in the Bible - verses dedicated to God ...

TEMPLE OF SOLOMON

After David's death, his son Solomon became king of Israel.

And as soon as this happened, one night God came to him.

Ask what you want, God said.

And Solomon, knowing how hard it is to be a kind and just king, asked God for wisdom.

God liked this request of his, and He gave Solomon, in addition to wisdom, also wealth and glory, so great that Solomon had no equal in the world.

Years passed. The fame of the wisest of all kings - Solomon - spread across the earth.

And one day Solomon, as a sign of gratitude to God, who had once so generously rewarded him, decided to build God's temple.

The construction of this temple continued for seven years.

When the temple was finally built, the priests brought into the middle the ark of the covenant with God, which was built in the time of Moses (remember how it was?).

And at that moment God appeared in the temple.

Solomon stood before God, stretched out his hands to Him and said:

Lord God of Israel! Glory to Thee! There is no one like You in all the earth! Help your people further! Fulfill all the prayers of those who will pray in this place ...

And God answered him:

I heard your prayer. And my eyes and my heart will be in this temple all the days....

For many years after that the Israelites lived in joy and gladness.

But as Solomon grew old, he began to sin. And his subjects began to sin with him.

For this, God divided Israel into two halves - the North, which continued to be called Israel, and the South, which received the name Judea.

DANIEL AND THE LIONS

This story happened to Daniel, the governor and assistant to the mighty king of Persia - Darius.

Daniel, as a Jew, always believed in his God.

Other vicegerents - the Medes and Persians - worshiped their gods, so they decided to kill Daniel.

These people persuaded King Darius to issue a decree that forbade all people for thirty days to make requests to anyone other than King Darius himself - both to man and to God.

The one who violated this decree was expected to be severely punished - he was thrown into the lions' den.

This was done on purpose in order to destroy Daniel.

After all, his enemies knew that Daniel always prayed openly to his God!

That is what happened this time as well.

The governors watched Daniel closely.

When they noticed that despite the decree, Daniel turned to God with a prayer, in which there were also requests for help, they reported this to the king.

King Darius loved Daniel very much. But he was forced to keep his word and gave the order to throw Daniel into the lions' den.

And a miracle happened.

The next day Darius hurried to the ditch.

The king did not even hope to see his favorite alive.

Imagine his surprise when he discovered that Daniel was calmly walking along the bottom of the ditch along with the lions.

Has your God saved you? Darius asked in surprise.

My king. - Daniel calmly answered him - the Lord sent his angel to me, and the angel protected me from the lions.

The king was very happy that everything ended so well.

He ordered Daniel to be released, after which he issued a new decree:

“I command all the nations that live in my kingdom,” this decree said, “to respect the God of Daniel, since He is the living and eternal God…”

QUEEN ESther

The Persian king Artaxerxes had a first minister, whose name was Haman.

Haman held such a high position that not only ordinary people, but even other ministers of the king bowed before him.

And then one day Haman decided to destroy all the Jews who lived in Persia.

Do you know why? Because Mordecai, a relative of Queen Esther, did not want to bow before him.

All in all! Can you imagine?..

The fact is that Mordecai was a Jew. And as a Jew, he could not even bow before anyone else but his God.

After all, remember how this was said in one of the commandments that God transmitted to people through Moses?

"... Do not worship anyone and nothing but Me - neither on earth nor in heaven ..."

And it was precisely for this that Haman disliked the Jews! ..

Haman deceived the king and ensured that the king issued a very terrible decree.

According to this decree, all the Jews who then lived in Persia were to be killed ...

Fortunately, the wife of Artaxerxes, Queen Esther, found out about this in time.

She invited the king and Haman to a banquet.

And there, at a banquet, she turned to Artaxerxes with these words:

My beloved husband and king! - she said - Because of the meanness of one person, all my people can be destroyed! Is this fair?

Who is this man? the king exclaimed in anger.

Esther pointed to Haman and told everything she knew.

At that moment, the king was informed that Haman had already managed to build a gallows for Mordecai.

What! - the king became even more angry - Then we will hang Haman on it!

Let Mordecai be prime minister in his place.

So vile Haman punished himself.

PROPHETS

But the Israelites still didn't want to obey God's laws.

And then, in order to enlighten them, God began to send prophets to the earth.

These people taught the people and helped the Jews to improve.

Especially famous among the prophets were Isaiah, Elisha, Elijah and Jonah.

Thus, Jeremiah warned that if the Jews did not reform, God would destroy their main city - Jerusalem.

Isaiah spoke about the coming of the Savior, which you can read about a little further.

He predicted that the Savior would be born of a Virgin, that He would suffer and meekly endure suffering, that He would be crucified next to the thieves, and much more.

JONA ​​AND GOD'S WILL

God sent prophets not only to the Jewish people.

So, once God said this to the prophet Jonah:

Go to the city of Nineveh and convey my words to the people: if they do not stop sinning and do not begin to fulfill all My commandments, then their city will be destroyed. The city of Nineveh was in the neighboring country - Assyria.

Jonah was very afraid that the inhabitants of Nineveh would not accept him and would kill him. And so he decided to run away.

He hurried to the port and boarded a ship that was heading in the opposite direction from Nineveh.

But you can’t escape the will of God anywhere - Jonah understood this as soon as the ship sailed from the shore.

A terrible storm began, and the ship began to sink.

Then Jonah knelt down and began to pray:

God! Help us! Save us from death!

And at that moment he heard the words of God:

But you are not doing what I commanded you!

Jonah grew gloomy, and then turned to the captain of the ship with a request:

Captain, he said, throw me overboard. Know: the storm started because of me. After all, I wanted to run away from doing God's will!

The sailors threw Jonah into the sea. And at that moment the storm stopped.

Jonah himself began to sink.

But God did not want Jonah to die at all.

He wanted the prophet to get to Nineveh as quickly as possible and convey His words to the people.

So He sent a huge whale to help Jonah.

The whale swallowed the prophet. Jonah realized that there was no hiding from God anyway, and he began to pray:

God! - He asked - Help me get to Nineveh as soon as possible and fulfill your will. And forgive me for not listening to You before...

For three days and three nights the whale with Jonah sailed on the sea. And then God ordered the whale to bring the prophet to the shore.

Jonah immediately went to Nineveh and delivered the words of God to the people.

And the people, to Jonah's great surprise, believed him.

They began to pray, God forgave them all their sins, and the city was saved.

So the prophet Jonah, although not immediately, nevertheless fulfilled the will of God...

TRUE GOD

The prophets also had to contend with the false gods worshiped by the Israelite kings.

Chief among these prophets was Elijah.

Once God commanded to predict to Elijah that for the sins of the king there would be no rain for three years, and a terrible famine would begin in the country.

And so it happened - for three years there was a drought in the country, and many people died of malnutrition.

When three years had passed, Elijah came to the king, who worshiped the false god Balaal, and offered:

Tsar. Let's do this. Each of us will make our own altar. You will dedicate your altar to your god Balaam, I will dedicate it to my Lord.
On these altars we will put wood. But we will not light the fire.
Let God - the one who is true, real - himself light a fire on his altar.

The king agreed, and the next day two altars were built on the mountain. The priests of Baal prayed to their god until evening, stabbed themselves with knives, galloped and shouted:

Baal, hear us!

But it was all in vain - the fire on their altar never ignited.

Elijah placed wood and a sacrificial animal on his altar, after which he asked for twelve buckets of water to be poured into it.

When everything was wet, Elijah prayed to God.

And at the same moment fire fell from the sky, dried up all the water and burned the sacrifice and the firewood.

And the next day it began to rain, and the drought stopped.

CHARIOT FOR THE PROPHET ELIJAH

Elijah called on people to repent before God and repeatedly proved that the very God he worships is the true one.

For this, God promised Elijah that he would never die, but would be taken to heaven alive. And so it happened.

One day Elijah and his disciple Elisha went to the Jordan River.

Elijah struck the water with his cloak, the water parted, and both prophets crossed the river on dry land.

Elijah stepped into it, and the chariot went up into the sky.

And Elijah's cloak fell on top of Elisha.

Elisha took the cloak and, returning to the Jordan, hit the water with it.

The water parted again, and Elisha realized that now he was a prophet of God...

WAITING FOR THE SAVIOR

But despite all the warnings of the prophets, the Israelites did not stop sinning.

God endured their sins for a long time, however, the people were not corrected. And then God stopped helping the Israelites.

He allowed the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar to conquer Jerusalem, sack and destroy it.

At the same time, the temple built by Solomon was also destroyed.

All the Jewish people Nebuchadnezzar took into Babylonian captivity.

Some time passed, and the Jews again began to remember God.

Therefore, after some time, the Lord helped the Persian king Cyrus conquer the Babylonian kingdom.

Cyrus released the Israelites, and they returned home again.

Jerusalem revived again. The temple of God was rebuilt...

But the Israelites again were unwilling to listen to God's commands and obey His laws.

And the new prophets once again began to warn the Jews about the trials that await them if they do not stop sinning.

And also about the coming of the Messiah (Savior), who will free the Israelites and become the king of the Jews.

Messiah, who will help people to conclude a new Covenant with God.

And people began to expect the coming of the Savior ...