This book is published by Éditions Caramel.
In the beginning, there was nothing!
Only a huge, cold, dark and lifeless emptiness.
One day, a very long time ago, God created heaven and earth. No one is quite sure how long it took to create life on earth because one day could have lasted a million years.
On the first day, God created light by separating it from darkness.
Light was called “day” and darkness was called “night”.
On the second day, God separated the water. The water above the firmament (clouds, rain…), were called the “sky”.
On the third day, God gathered all the waters bellow and the continent appeared. The continent was called “land” and the water “seas”.
That same day, all sorts of trees bearing grains and fruits, all sorts of grasses, seeds and greenery were created.
On the fourth day, God created the sun to light the day on both sides of the world, and the stars and the moon to light up the night.
On the fifth day, God created living beings.
All sorts of fishes, sea snakes and other beings swarming in the sea, and all sorts of birds and winged beings in the sky.
God blessed them and told them:
“Go forth and multiply in the waters and skies”.
On the sixth day, God created all sorts of animals on earth, cattle, bugs and wild beasts, and told them to multiply and to go forth.
God created man in his likeness. He created man and woman.
God blessed them and told them: “Go forth and multiply, for you will be the masters of living beings in the skies, the land and the seas.”
God gave all nature, flora and fauna, fruit and seeds to man for food.
God sanctified the seventh day and saw that creation was completed. Thus were created the skies and the earth and all living things.
God profusely gives life to make every living being happy. God has given the best of himself.
The first man was called Adam, which means “born from the earth”, and the first woman was called Eve, which means “the living”.
God put them in a marvellous, splendid garden. In the Garden of Eden, there were thousands of beautiful trees filled with delicious fruit, a multitude of multi-coloured flowers, plants and animals. In the middle stood a gigantic and sumptuous tree, looking like a magnificent apple tree: the Tree of knowledge of good and evil.
God forbade Adam to eat the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. He told Adam that if he ever ate one of the tree’s fruits, he would die.
The serpent was more subtle than all the animals. He tempted Eve and told her that she could eat the delicious fruits of the Tree of the knowledge of good and evil. He added that she should not listen to God and that she would not die…
The snake told Eve that if Adam and her were to eat the fruit, they would be as powerful as God knowing good and evil, and that they would be the masters of their own lives. Eve picked a fruit and ate it.
She gave Adam an apple, and he ate it too.
They started to perceive the world differently and realised that they were both naked. They used fig leaves to make clothes.
Adam and Eve knew that they had disobeyed God so they hid. They were ashamed of their fault. God knew that they had eaten the forbidden fruit and was very disappointed. Man and Woman had to leave Heaven where everything was abundantly available. From now on, they will have to make their own clothes, hunt for food and will lose eternal life. They started a new life far away from the Garden of Eden.
Ils commencèrent alors une nouvelle vie loin du jardin d’Eden.
Adam and Eve had two sons, Cain and Abel. Abel grew up to be a shepherd and Cain cultivated soil.
One day, Cain presented his harvest to God, as an offering, to thank him. Abel chose the first born of his flock. God chose Abel’s offering and did not accept Cain’s. Abel gave what he cherished most to God, whom he respected more than anything else, whereas Cain had only offered God some rotten fruits and vegetables. His love was not true and sincere.
God knew this.
Cain was hugely disappointed by God’s choice and was jealous of his brother. God asked Cain not to fall into temptation. But Cain asked his brother to take a walk to the countryside, jumped on him and killed him. God knew Cain’s terrible sin and chased him away from the fertile land he inhabited. God continued to protect Cain so that no one could kill him. Cain went to live east of Eden.
Other “The Bible Explained to Children” digital books
Adam and Eve and Other Stories from the Bible
Noah’s Ark and Other Stories from the Bible
The Tower of Babel and Other Stories from the Bible
Isaac’s Sacrifice and Other Stories from the Bible
Joseph, Prince of Egypt and Other Stories from the Bible
Moses, the Ten Commandments and Other Stories from the Bible
Samson and Delilah and Other Stories from the Bible
David & Goliath and Other Stories from the Bible
The Prophet Jeremiah and Other Stories from the Bible
Esther and Other Stories from the Bible
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God gave man and woman everything. But as time went by, they did not manage to live in peace, together.
Many arguments unfold, people were jealous of one another, and stole property from their neighbours. They had no respect and no values!
God was very disappointed and wanted to give them another chance, another life where men and women would live in peace and love. God asked Noah, who had God and the others in his heart, to build a large ark.
Noah trusted God and built a huge ship although there was no water around his village. It took him months. Everyone said that Noah had gone mad!
God asked a couple of every species, Noah, his wife and sons and all his family to go on-board the ship. All those who arrived on time and who wanted to go on-board could. The others died, drowning in the rising waters.
There was a huge storm and a great flood that covered the entire surface of the earth, even the tallest mountains. All living beings on land, in the sea and the airs were drowned!
It rained non-stop for forty days and forty nights.
The ark sailed the waters and all the living being on-board stayed alive.
When the rain stopped, Noah waited for several days and opened the tiny window that he had built. He released a crow.
The crow came and went, but did not find any tree on which to rest.
Then, Noah released a dove, but it came back after a short while as she had not found a branch to rest. There was water on the entire surface of the earth. Noah stretched his hand, took the dove and let her into the ark. Noah waited for seven days and released the bird. The dove came back that night. It held a fresh olive branch. Thus, Noah knew that the water had gone down He waited for another seven days and released the dove once again. This time, it did not come back. It had found a tree where to land and feed.
Noah removed the ark’s cover. He looked around and saw that the surface of the earth was dry! After a while, the entire earth was once again dry and the oceans had found their place.
God asked Noah to come out of the ark with his wife, his sons and the wives of his sons, as well as all the other living beings.
Noah got all the animals out, birds, beasts, bugs and everything that creeps on the earth, elephants, tigers, lions, giraffes, snakes, lizards, horses, hippopotamuses, monkeys, antelopes, bears… and many, many more. Noah built a stone shrine to thank God for saving them all from the Flood. God decided to let living beings live forever. He promised to have pity on them, even if they behaved badly.
God blessed Noah and his sons and told them to be fruitful and multiply to fill the earth. They will feed off all the animals and vegetables through respect of life, without blood being shed for pleasure, only for the needs of growing and living.
God told them not to spill the blood of men and women, as they had been created in his image.
God established an alliance with all living beings. The sign of this alliance is the rainbow.
God said:
“Every time you see a rainbow, people will remember the alliance that I made with living beings.”
The world lived at peace since the alliance between God and living beings, after they had left the Ark. However, very soon afterwards, men and women forgot this alliance and found a vast, unoccupied land. They decided to build a city that will later be called “Babel”, which means “confusion”.
They had the idea of building a huge tower that would pierce the heavens to show that they were as powerful as God, and that they could fight Him and even be more powerful than Him!
They united to build the Tower of Babel. They were determined of being the most powerful on earth.
God saw what men and women were preparing and decided to make them speak different languages, so that they could never communicate again to build this endless tower. Human beings stopped building the tower and spread around the world, because they no longer understood one another.
Amongst Noah’s descendants, one man was called Abraham.
Abraham was born in the small village of Ur in Iraq. He had settled in Haran with Sarah, his wife, his father Terah and his nephew Lot.
Abraham was a shepherd and enjoyed taking long pauses to prey silently. For him, God was unique, creator of heaven and earth.
The other people from his country believed in several gods. They worshipped statues, prayed the sun, the rain, the wind and all sorts of other gods. Abraham believed in one God, one sole spirit that gives life.
Whilst Abraham was walking, he heard God’s calling:
“Leave your country, your kin and your father’s house, for the country that I will show you. I will make a great people from you. I shall bless you for ever”.
Abraham trusted God’s word and left Haran, where he had settled with his family. He launched on a long journey with his wife Sarah, his servants, his flock, his nephew Lot and his family.
They left and travelled to Canaan in Palestine to the Fertile Crescent where milk and river flowed abundantly.
When he reached Canaan, Abraham built a shrine to thank God. Soon after he had arrived, a huge famine struck the country and Abraham went down to live in Egypt. Pharaoh was all-powerful in Egypt. When he saw a beautiful married woman, he did not hesitate to kill her husband and took her at his service. Abraham asked Sarah to say that he was her brother so that he would not be killed. Pharaoh chose Sarah, because she was beautiful. Soon after, several plagues hit Egypt and Pharaoh’s house.
When Pharaoh understood that he had been cheated, he let Sarah go from his palace. He gave her cattle, many gifts and let Sarah’s servant, Agar, accompany her as an apology to Abraham and his people. Abraham left Egypt with his wife and Lot, his nephew, taking all he owned and everything he had received.
Abraham was rich. He had a big cattle and lots of gold and silver.
Lot also had cattle and small stock. The land where they arrived was not large enough for all their tents and cattle! Servants and shepherds fought amongst themselves for lack of space. Abraham did not want any dispute with Lot and decided to take a separate way from his nephew. He told him: “If you choose the left, I will take a right, and if you take a right, I will go left”. Lot chose the Plain of the Jordan and Abraham stayed in Canaan.
Abraham’s lack of children made him very unhappy. One day, God promised him descendants and told him:
“Abraham, look up to the sky and count the stars!
You will have as many descendants as there are stars in the sky”.
Abraham thanked God, built a shrine and prayed for a long time.
Abraham knew that he would have a child, one day. Some time later, Sarah, disappointed that she had not given Abraham a son, offered him to lay with his servant Agar and to have her child. In those days, men could marry several wives. At the time, if a servant gave birth on the knees of her mistress, the child belonged to the mistress, not the servant. Abraham lay with Agar and she fell pregnant.
Unfortunately, from then on, Agar and Sarah fought continuously. There was no respect between the two women, and Agar had to run away.
God met Agar near a source in the desert and told her.
“Agar, Sarah’s servant, where do you come from and where are you going?”
She answered: “I am running away from Sarah, my mistress”.
God replied:
“Go back to your mistress and show her some respect! I will multiply your descendants! You are with child, you will give birth to a son and you will call him Ishmael.”
Agar went back to Sarah and Abraham. A few months later, she gave birth to Ishmael. Thanks to her, Abraham was a father.
Ishmael’s birth was a great moment of joy for Abraham, although he would have preferred to have a child with Sarah, his wife… One day, God appeared before him and concluded an alliance with him, promising him that he would father many nations. He asked him to circumcise all boys aged of 8 days. He also told him:
“You will have a child with Sarah and you will give him the name Isaac. He will be born this time next year.”
Abraham thanked God. Himself, his 13-year old son Ishmael and all the men from his tribe were circumcised that day.
Soon after this alliance, God appeared before Abraham at the Oak of Manbre as he was sitting in front of his tent. Lifting his eyes to the sky, Abraham saw three men standing near him. Abraham welcomed them generously and asked Sarah to prepare a meal for them, and then he stood near them as they ate.
The three men asked him: “Where is Sarah, your wife?” Abraham replied that she was in the tent.
One of the three men said: “I shall come back to you next year, and your wife Sarah will have a son”.
Sarah was listening from the entrance of the tent.
She did not believe in this prediction, as she was so old that she thought she could no longer bear a child. She laughed inwardly. But God told Abraham:
“Why did Sarah laugh?
Is nothing too marvellous for God?”
After having announced the birth of Isaac to Abraham and Sarah, the three men stood and left to the city of Sodom.
At night, when they reached the town, they found Lot, Abraham’s nephew, sitting at the gates of the city. Seeing them, Lot stood and prostrated face to the ground and said, very respectfully:
“Please, my Lords! Come and spend the night with your servant”.