Speaker 1: Long ago, the world was very different from the world
Speaker 1: we know today. It was a time when people forgot
Speaker 1: about being kind and good to each other. Instead, they
Speaker 1: chose to be selfish and mean, making the world a
Speaker 1: sad and dark place. Up above, watching over everything was God.
Speaker 1: He saw how bad things had gotten and felt deeply saddened.
Speaker 1: But amidst all this, there was one man who was different.
Speaker 1: His name was Noah. Noah was not like the others.
Speaker 1: He was kind, He cared for his family, and he
Speaker 1: always tried to do what was right. Because of his goodness,
Speaker 1: God noticed him. One day, God spoke to Noah. He
Speaker 1: told Noah about the big plan to wash the world
Speaker 1: clean with a great flood. But because Noah was good,
Speaker 1: God wanted to keep him and his family safe. God
Speaker 1: gave Noah a special task to build a huge boat
Speaker 1: called an arc. This wasn't just any boat. It was
Speaker 1: to be big enough to hold Noah's family and two
Speaker 1: of every kind of animal in the world. Noah got
Speaker 1: to work, even though the people around him couldn't understand why.
Speaker 1: They laughed at him, thinking he was silly. But Noah
Speaker 1: didn't mind. He trusted God and kept building the ark
Speaker 1: plank by plank. After the ark was built, something amazing happened.
Speaker 1: Animals started arriving in pairs. Lions, elephants, giraffes, and even
Speaker 1: tiny insects all lined up to board the arc. Just
Speaker 1: as God had said, it was two of every kind
Speaker 1: of animal in the world. Noah and his family helped
Speaker 1: them find their places inside, making sure that all the
Speaker 1: animals were comfortable. It was a beautiful sight, all the
Speaker 1: different animals living together peacefully. Then the skies began to
Speaker 1: darken and the first drops of rain started to fall.
Speaker 1: It rained like it had never rained before. Water poured
Speaker 1: from the sky day and night for forty days and
Speaker 1: forty nine. As the rain poured down and the waters
Speaker 1: climbed higher, entire cities and all the people in them
Speaker 1: disappeared beneath the waves, leaving nothing behind. Inside the ark, Noah,
Speaker 1: his family, and all the animals were safe and dry.
Speaker 1: They could hear the rain and the storm, but they
Speaker 1: stayed together, waiting for the moment they could come out again. Finally,
Speaker 1: the rain stopped, but the earth was still covered with water.
Speaker 1: Noah needed to find out if it was safe to
Speaker 1: leave the ark. He sent out a raven, but it
Speaker 1: came back, finding nowhere to land. Then he sent out
Speaker 1: a dove, which also returned. Noah waited a bit longer
Speaker 1: and sent the dove out again. This time it brought
Speaker 1: back an olive leaf, which meant that the waters were
Speaker 1: receding and life was starting to grow again. Soon the
Speaker 1: ark came to rest on a mountain top. The earth
Speaker 1: was finally dry enough for them to leave their big,
Speaker 1: wooden home. Noah, together with his family and all the animals,
Speaker 1: opened the door of the ark and stepped out onto
Speaker 1: the soft, muddy ground. They stretched their legs and took
Speaker 1: deep breaths of fresh air. The world looked clean and new,
Speaker 1: like a blank page waiting to be filled with stories.
Speaker 1: Flowers started to bloom and trees began to grow tall
Speaker 1: and green again. As Noah and his family stood on
Speaker 1: the fresher, God spoke to Noah again. He made a
Speaker 1: very special promise. God promised that he would never send
Speaker 1: a flood to cover the whole earth again, and as
Speaker 1: a sign of this promise, he put a rainbow in
Speaker 1: the sky. It was bright and colorful, a reminder of
Speaker 1: God's love for every living creature. In the Bible, there
Speaker 1: were two cities called Sodom and Gomorrah. These cities were
Speaker 1: filled with people who made very bad choices and didn't
Speaker 1: listen to anyone, not even God. God saw what was
Speaker 1: happening and was very sad. He decided that he couldn't
Speaker 1: let it go on anymore. But there was one good
Speaker 1: man named Lot who lived in Sodom with his family.
Speaker 1: God didn't want to hurt Lot because Lot always tried
Speaker 1: to do what was right, so God sent two angels
Speaker 1: disguised as men to Sodom. They went to Lot's house.
Speaker 1: Lot saw them and invited them in, being kind and hospitable.
Speaker 1: He didn't know they were angels at first that he
Speaker 1: wanted to make sure they were safe in his city.
Speaker 1: But the people of Sodom saw these strangers and wanted
Speaker 1: to harm them. They surrounded Lot's house and demanded Lot
Speaker 1: to send the strangers out. Lot tried to protect his guests,
Speaker 1: showing he was a good man. They told him, you
Speaker 1: need to leave this city with your family because God
Speaker 1: is going to destroy it for being so wicked. The
Speaker 1: angels told Lot to take his wife and two daughters
Speaker 1: and warned them to not look back. Once they left.
Speaker 1: God was going to rain down fire and brimstone from
Speaker 1: the sky to cleanse the land of all evil. So
Speaker 1: Lot and his family ran away in the middle of
Speaker 1: the night. They ran as fast as they could, away
Speaker 1: from the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. Behind them, the
Speaker 1: sky lit up as fire fell, burning everything in those
Speaker 1: cities to the ground. It was like a giant fiery storm,
Speaker 1: wiping away all the wrongdoings. Lot's wife, however, made a
Speaker 1: big mistake. Even though the angels told her not to,
Speaker 1: she looked back to see what was happening to the city,
Speaker 1: and because she didn't listen, she turned into a pillar
Speaker 1: of salt, stuck. There forever, Lot and his daughters kept
Speaker 1: going safe because they listened to the warning. They remembered
Speaker 1: not to look back, and lived on, remembering the lesson
Speaker 1: of what happens when people choose not to do what's right.
Speaker 1: They learned the consequences of bad choices and the importance
Speaker 1: of listening and following guidance, especially when it comes from God.
Speaker 1: Once upon a time, there was a huge city named Babylon.
Speaker 1: It was known for its ccredibly strong walls and beautiful
Speaker 1: hanging gardens. It was one of the greatest cities of
Speaker 1: ancient times. Babylon was like the heart of everything important, money, power,
Speaker 1: and culture. The King of Babylon was very proud and
Speaker 1: thought his city could never be beaten, claiming it was
Speaker 1: the best city ever made. People in Babylon didn't care
Speaker 1: much about being fair or kind anymore. They were more
Speaker 1: into worshiping statues and other things rather than remembering the
Speaker 1: real God who created everything. God tried to warn them
Speaker 1: through messengers, saying that bad times were coming, but nobody
Speaker 1: in Babylon paid any attention. They thought they were too
Speaker 1: safe behind their massive walls and with all their treasures.
Speaker 1: But God wanted to prove that no place, no matter
Speaker 1: how strong or rich, could ignore him and get away
Speaker 1: with it. The warning became real during the reign of
Speaker 1: King Belshazzar. At a big party in the king's palace, soddenly,
Speaker 1: a hand appeared out of nowhere and wrote a strange
Speaker 1: message on the wall of the palace. The message was
Speaker 1: confusing to everyone, and not even the smartest people in
Speaker 1: the palace could figure it out. Then the queen remembered Daniel,
Speaker 1: a wise man who followed God and could understand dreams
Speaker 1: and signs. Daniel came and looked at the strange message
Speaker 1: on the wall. He told them the writing was a
Speaker 1: message from God, saying the king had failed to be
Speaker 1: good and as a result, Babylon would be conquered and
Speaker 1: taken over by others, just like Daniel said. That very night,
Speaker 1: something unexpected happened. The army of the Persians, led by
Speaker 1: King Cyrus, made a sneaky attack. They cleverly damned the
Speaker 1: river that flowed under Babylon's walls and sneaked into the
Speaker 1: city where the river used to flow. Because everyone was
Speaker 1: busy partying, they didn't even guard the gates, so Babylon
Speaker 1: was captured without much resistance. Babylon's fall happened quickly and
Speaker 1: took everyone by surprise. It was the end of Babylon's time,
Speaker 1: sending a strong message that being too proud and not
Speaker 1: listening to God leads to disaster. Once upon a time,
Speaker 1: after a big flood had washed the earth clean, people
Speaker 1: everywhere spoke the same language. They found a nice flat
Speaker 1: land in a place called Shinar and decided to settle there.
Speaker 1: Imagine everyone being neighbors, understanding each other perfectly, like one
Speaker 1: big family. One day, the people had a big idea,
Speaker 1: Let's build a city with a tower that reaches up
Speaker 1: to the sky. It'll be so tall it'll touch the clouds,
Speaker 1: they said, Excited to start, they used bricks instead of stones,
Speaker 1: and sticky tar for glue. Everyone worked together, passing bricks
Speaker 1: and mixing tar, laughing and dreaming about their sky high tower.
Speaker 1: But then something unexpected happened. God looked down from heaven
Speaker 1: and saw the city and the tall tower. Look at them,
Speaker 1: all speaking the same language, working together on this big project.
Speaker 1: If they can do this, they'll think they can do anything.
Speaker 1: They're forgetting that some things are meant for God alone.
Speaker 1: So God decided to mix things up a bit. Suddenly,
Speaker 1: when one person asked for a brick, another handed them
Speaker 1: a shovel. When someone needed more tar, they got a
Speaker 1: bucket of water instead. It was like everyone had started
Speaker 1: speaking in riddles. Confused and frustrated, they couldn't work together anymore.
Speaker 1: The tower that was supposed to reach the sky was
Speaker 1: left unfinished. Because they couldn't understand each other. People started
Speaker 1: to drift apart, forming smaller groups with those they could
Speaker 1: communicate with. These groups traveled far and wide, finding new
Speaker 1: places to live. The big Family was scattered across the earth,
Speaker 1: each group speaking its own new language. They traveled far
Speaker 1: to places where no one had lived before. Each group
Speaker 1: found new lands with mountains, rivers, and forests. They built
Speaker 1: new homes using what they had learned, but this time
Speaker 1: they respected their limits. The world was filled with a
Speaker 1: rainbow of languages, each as beautiful and complex as the next.
Speaker 1: In these new lands, people's lives took on new colors
Speaker 1: and shapes. They dressed in different clothes, sang different songs,
Speaker 1: and told different stories under the stars. Children grew up
Speaker 1: learning how to say hello and I Love you in
Speaker 1: their own special language. They learned from the land and
Speaker 1: the animals, and they celebrated the seasons in their own ways.
Speaker 1: In the end, the story of the Tower of Babel
Speaker 1: shows us that it's important to remember we're not all powerful,
Speaker 1: and that God has plans we might not understand. God
Speaker 1: made us all different, with many languages and ways of living,
Speaker 1: making the world a more interesting place. When we learned
Speaker 1: to listen and understand each other, we make not just buildings,
Speaker 1: but friendships that God smiles upon. A long long time ago,
Speaker 1: after Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt and through
Speaker 1: the Red Sea, they traveled through the desert to a
Speaker 1: place called Mount Sinai. God had saved them from slavery,
Speaker 1: and now he wanted to give them special rules to
Speaker 1: live by, rules that would help them be good to
Speaker 1: each other and stay close to him. Moses climbed up
Speaker 1: the tall, rocky Mount Sinai all alone. The mountain was
Speaker 1: covered in thick clouds, and there was thunder and lightning.
Speaker 1: It was a bit scary, but Moses knew it was important.
Speaker 1: God himself was going to speak to him there. God
Speaker 1: talked to Moses on the mountain for forty days and
Speaker 1: forty nights. He told Moses ten very important rules, which
Speaker 1: became known as the Ten Commandments. These weren't just any rules.
Speaker 1: They were God's way of showing the people how to
Speaker 1: live peacefully with each other and be faithful to him.
Speaker 1: When Moses came down from the mountain, he brought two
Speaker 1: stone tablets with him. The commandments were written on these
Speaker 1: tablets so everyone could remember them. The commandment said you
Speaker 1: shall have no other gods before me. This meant that
Speaker 1: the Israelites should only worship the one true God. You
Speaker 1: shall not make for yourself an idol, which meant God
Speaker 1: didn't want the people to worship statues or images as
Speaker 1: if they were gods. You shall not misuse the name
Speaker 1: of the Lord your God. God meant that they were
Speaker 1: to speak God's name with respect, not carelessly. Remember the
Speaker 1: Sabbath day by keeping it holy. He wanted one day
Speaker 1: a week for them to rest and think about God,
Speaker 1: just like God rested on the seventh day when he
Speaker 1: created the world. Honor your father and your mother. This
Speaker 1: meant they should respect and take care of their parents.
Speaker 1: You shall not murder, which meant life is precious, and
Speaker 1: they were to protect each other. You shall not commit adultery.
Speaker 1: God wanted husbands and wives to be faithful to each other.
Speaker 1: You shall not steal, which meant taking something that isn't
Speaker 1: yours is wrong. You shall not give false testimony against
Speaker 1: your neighbor. This meant telling lies about others is harmful.
Speaker 1: You shall not covet, which means not to be jealous
Speaker 1: of what others have. The people promised to follow these commandments,
Speaker 1: and Moses helped them learn what each one meant. The
Speaker 1: Ten Commandments were a gift to help the Israelites understand
Speaker 1: right from wrong. They were rules to live by that
Speaker 1: would keep them safe and happy. After wandering in the
Speaker 1: desert for forty years. The Israelites, led by Joshua, were
Speaker 1: finally entering the Promised Land, but there was a big
Speaker 1: obstacle in their way, the fortified city of Jericho, a
Speaker 1: city with walls so strong and high that no army
Speaker 1: could easily defeat it. God had a plan for how
Speaker 1: the Israelites would conquer Jericho, and it was unlike any
Speaker 1: battle plan ever devised. God told Joshua to have the
Speaker 1: armed men march around the city once a day for
Speaker 1: six days. They were to be followed by seven priests
Speaker 1: carrying trumpets made from Ram's horns and the Ark of
Speaker 1: the Covenant, a sacred chest that represented God's presence among them. Then,
Speaker 1: on the seventh day, they were to march around the
Speaker 1: city seven times at Joshua's command. After the seventh lap,
Speaker 1: the priests were to blow their trumpets and all the
Speaker 1: people were to shout as loud as they could. Joshua
Speaker 1: and the Israelites did exactly as God instructed. The people
Speaker 1: of Jericho were watching as the Israelites circled their city
Speaker 1: once a day, quietly except for the sound of the trumpets.
Speaker 1: They were confused and even amused by such an unusual
Speaker 1: military strategy. Finally, the seventh day arrived. The Israelites got
Speaker 1: up at dawn and marched around the city not once,
Speaker 1: but seven times. The anticipation grew with each lap. Then,
Speaker 1: when Joshua gave the signal, the blew their trumpets and
Speaker 1: the people shouted with all their might, and something incredible happened.
Speaker 1: The walls of Jericho fell down flat. The Israelites charged
Speaker 1: straight into the city and captured it, just as God
Speaker 1: had promised a long time ago. In the land where
Speaker 1: Jesus was born, there ruled a king named Herod. King
Speaker 1: Herod was known for his magnificent buildings and cities, but
Speaker 1: he was also known for something not so grand, his
Speaker 1: fear of losing his power. When Jesus was born in Bethlehem,
Speaker 1: a bright star appeared in the sky. Wise men from
Speaker 1: the east saw this star and knew it meant that
Speaker 1: a new king, the King of kings, had been born.
Speaker 1: They wanted to find and worship this new king, so
Speaker 1: they traveled to Jerusalem and started looking for him. When
Speaker 1: King Herod heard this, he was very troubled. Herod didn't
Speaker 1: want anyone to take his place as king, so he
Speaker 1: called to get all the chief priests and asked them
Speaker 1: where the Messiah was born. They told him in Bethlehem
Speaker 1: of Judea. King Herod secretly called the wise Men to
Speaker 1: find out exactly when the star had appeared. He told
Speaker 1: them to find the child and report back to him
Speaker 1: so that he too could worship him. But Herod didn't
Speaker 1: really want to worship the new king. He wanted to
Speaker 1: get rid of him. The wise men went on their way.
Speaker 1: They followed the star until it stopped over a stable,
Speaker 1: a house where the animals slept. When they saw Jesus
Speaker 1: with his mother Mary, they bowed down and worshiped him.
Speaker 1: They also gave Jesus gifts of gold, frankincense, and mrr.
Speaker 1: But when it was time to go back to King Herod,
Speaker 1: they were warned in a dream not to return to him,
Speaker 1: so they went back to their country by another path.
Speaker 1: When Herod realized that the wise Men had tricked him,
Speaker 1: he was furious. He gave orders to kill all the
Speaker 1: boys in Bethlehem who were two years old and under.
Speaker 1: This terrible act showed just how far Herod would go
Speaker 1: to protect his throne. However, God protected Jesus from Herod's plan.
Speaker 1: An angel appeared to Joseph in a dream and said,
Speaker 1: get up, take the child and his mother, and escape
Speaker 1: to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod
Speaker 1: is going to search for the child to kill him.
Speaker 1: Joseph did exactly as the angel said. They ran away
Speaker 1: to Egypt, and they stayed there until the day Herod
Speaker 1: had died.