Choose Life: Volume 1

By Ky McMillion

What do you know about God? What have you heard? Journey with me, lets learn at our own pace. Read this before you die. It will build on your understanding. God is Love. God is the Word. God is the creator, and the destroyer. The word of the Lord is a double-edged sword, we will all live by it and die by it. This id God's game of life. Journey with me, we will learn the rules together.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Oct 26, 2011
• ISBN: 9781456765026

Ky McMillion

I am the type that can show you better than I can tell you. This is simply my attempt to show some of the explanations of why, and how the world got to be the place it is today. I have been blessed with an empathetic spirit, and an understanding soul. I have chosen to use them in an attempt to bring this already small world closer together. We are all cousins, and should treat each other as if we were a loving family. My wife, my son, and I live in Boston Massachusetts. I mentor,counsel, and teach. Through this work I will establish my name.

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© 2011 Ky McMillion. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

First published by AuthorHouse 11/17/2011

ISBN: 978-1-4567-6502-6 (ebk)

ISBN: 978-1-4567-6500-2 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4567-6501-9 (sc)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2011908219

Printed in the United States of America

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models,

and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

This book is printed on acid-free paper.

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Contents

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

INTRODUCTION

GENESIS

EXODUS

LEVITICUS

NUMBERS

DEUTERONOMY

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

It is only appropriate that I first give thanks to the Lord; my God for sending the Lord Jesus to save me from my sins, and giving me the strength and ability to do this work. I only ask for an increase in patience. To my wife, the Her to my Him—we have been through a lot to get us to this point. I thank you so much for holding me and everything else down since I have been consumed by this work. To my son, my baby-man, my little me—you are my living inspiration. Thank you for being so patient. One day you will understand. To my grandparents—a most special thank you for always being rocks in my life. To my mom—we have been through a lot to get here also. I thank you for life and my siblings. To the rest of my family and friends—I also thank you. Thank you everyone for all of the support throughout the years. I thank anyone who played any role in me realizing this calling. Thank you to the Thomas Nelson King James Version published in 1970 and the Zondervan New International Version published in 1986 for being with me from the beginning. And thank you to anyone who reads this.

INTRODUCTION

I have been afraid of God all of my memorable life, afraid to question or really even talk about the LORD in any fashion unless it was in praise. My grandmother made sure of that. The family fears Grandmom and she fears the LORD. I listened to her and learned to fear the LORD also. The gist of everything I was taught about the LORD is that the LORD is the beginning and the ending, and I am not supposed to fear anything except God and my parents. I was also taught that God is love, and God is the word.

I remember the unanswerable questions I used to ask pertaining to the LORD, Where did God come from? Who does God really talk to? Will God ever talk to me? My grandmother made sure that the LORD was always a part of our lives. When no one wanted to go to church, Grandmom made sure we did. Regardless of whether we were saved on Sunday and backsliders by Tuesday, we went. We were supposed to be in this world but not of it.

There came a time when I decided to go with the Christian-flow. I stopped asking my grandmother questions that she knew not the answers to, and probably thought I would go to hell for asking. It felt good being saved and being able to understand what that really meant. It felt as though I really was a part of a magical sect. Good things happened all of the time, both minor miracles and true blessings. As a person who has always felt as though I merely had enough, seeing all of the extra that the LORD brought me, just because I was listening to the word of the LORD, I wanted to have that word with me and in me always.

I tried to read the Holy Bible, over and over again. I wanted that information for myself. This book will tell me everything I ever wanted to know about God. I thought. As I began to read, I quickly became enamored with the flow of the words and the terminology used in the King James Version. Then the more I read, the more I realized that there were a lot of unexplained things happening, it did not seem chronological, and it was even difficult to decipher who was speaking to whom. Then I realized that is how so many people can interpret the Bible in so many backward ways. Figuring that the old English being used was the cause of my confusion, I switched to the New International Version.

The NIV just seemed too different. That was not the Bible I knew; the Bible I had been recited scriptures from, which still stick with me today. The NIV seemed a little bit easier of a read, but it just did not seem to have that holy overtone. And slowly but surely my interest in the Bible waned. I feel stupid admitting that there was a period of time that my word was sitting in my car just to keep me safe as I drove.

Then as an adult, after I had slid too far away from the LORD, those trials and tribulations that drive most to the church, drove me back to my yearning for learning about the LORD. In lieu of me sitting, and listening to someone else’s interpretation of what God wants us to do, I will gain my own understanding, my own interpretation of the truth that is written within the word. I am truly in the pursuit of enlightenment, and implore you to join in my joy while on this journey.

I know that there is God, and I know that we are supposed to believe, but there is a lot of conflicting information in the Bible. A lot of the information is definitely under-explained. For a book that is written in such great detail, how can so much be missing? What ever happened to the woman that was made at the same time as Adam? Eve came later. Please don’t get me wrong, I am not so naive as to believe that the Holy Bible contains all of the existing information pertaining to the LORD; my God. But, being that the good book is the book that many people that we encounter in our day-to-day lives live their lives by, it is such a terrible shame that so many people do not really understand or even know the rules they are supposed to follow.

This is my effort in bringing this world together. Regardless of what you were taught or believe, real always recognizes real. People are people, we just talk differently, eat different foods, and get assigned to different bathrooms. I am not writing in an attempt to lead anyone astray. I want to bring the world a better understanding of the LORD, and how things got to be the way they are today. This is your copy of The King James Version of The Holy Bible, which I grew up on and The New International Version of the Holy Bible, which is a little bit easier of a read, combined—my great attempt not to plagiarize the NIV. Verse for verse, this is my Bible. This will eventually become The Neo-New International King James Version of the Holy Bible, or something of the sort. But until then, choose life, and read this before you die, so that you may gain your own understanding.

I am no blasphemer. My intention is not to change the Bible in any way. This is simply my reiteration, not interpretation, yet. Anything that differs from either of the texts is cited in my work. I have cited my work in this manner intentionally. I want people to understand this truth as I do, word for word both figuratively and literally. This is such a great piece of literature that it is hard to decipher the word of God from the words of man. But in all honesty, it doesn’t matter. The truth is the truth regardless of where you hear it. We need to be good people. That is basically what the Bible says in all of those words.

The only things that are different in my version than the KJV and the NIV are: I call the LORD, the Lord; your God, or the Lord; my God, or some variation. I don’t use those cool caps, it’s not the Bible, yet.

Shall is still will, it only makes sense. But shalt, that is either should, could, or would. Shall and shalt seem different to me sometimes.

I italicized the masculine pronouns used in reference to the Lord. The Lord is not a man or a woman. I honestly feel that the wording of the Bible is the root of chauvinism.

I changed some of the ands to buts; the NIV did also.

I also tried to figure out who was speaking and quoted them. This was the most difficult part, I guess this is why others also have tried and have fallen short.

My words are in italics, and usually come at the end of a passage.

I hope my effort is good enough. This is an attempt to help, not hinder. Who really knows what the Lord; our God really said. All we can honestly do is hope we are not being misled. I am not here and writing this to mislead you. I am not writing anything that I do not believe. From the depths of my heart, I truly feel that this shitty world would be a much better place if we all hearken to the truth in this book. My children will be able to pick this up and understand what the Bible says. They will also understand that I did not write the Bible, this is merely another translation, my reiteration.

I am only of weak ass flesh also, and am in no way as perfect as the Lord can make us. The vague truth is mixed up in here some place. Your charge is to learn and understand on your own what it is because everyone’s truth is not the same. But regardless of the blessings and curses we have inherited from our forefathers, and foremothers also, we still change the destinies of our offspring with every choice we make, like our forefathers and foremothers have shaped ours.

No one can give the answers you seek, except you and a genuine pursuit for truth. This fact does not solely pertain to the search of peace and happiness through the Lord; my God. In my search of that particular truth, I went to Grandmom for the answers, and she was the first person to tell me that God had them. When I asked God, this is what I got as an answer:

GENESIS

1) THE STORY OF THE BEGINNING

In the beginning God was alone and bored in the dark. So, God created Heaven and the Earth. First God made Heaven and the angels. The Earth was without form, and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the spirit of God moved upon the waters.

God said, Let there be light. And there was light. And God saw that the light was good. Then God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light day, and the darkness he called night. That was the evening and morning of the first day.

And God said, Let there be a great divide in midst of the waters that will separate the waters from the waters. And God made that great divide. God separated the waters above the great divide from the waters below the great divide. And it was so. And God called the great divide Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day. The KJV says, firmament and the NIV says, expanse, instead of great divide. The NIV also calls the expanse sky, instead of Heaven, but space would be more appropriate.

And God said, Let the waters under Heaven be gathered in one place, and let dry land appear. And it was so. And God called the dry land, Earth, and the gathering of the waters he called, Seas. And God saw that it was good. By the time The Bible takes place the world had been changed and destroyed many times. That would be a good reason why there is no mention of dinosaurs, but, that which was described sounds like Pangaea.

And God said, Let the Earth bring forth grasses and herbs of all sorts that bear their own seed, and fruit trees of all sorts bearing fruit with its seed in it. And it was so. The Earth produced grasses and herbs yielding seed of their kind and fruit trees yielding fruit whose seed is in itself. And God saw that it was good. And the evening and the morning were the third day.

And God said, Let there be lights in the great divide that separate Heaven from the Earth to divide the day from the night. And let them serve as signs of seasons, and days, and years. And let them be lights in the great divide to give light to the Earth. And it was so. And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night. He made the stars also. And God set them in the great divide to give light to the Earth, and to rule over the day and night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. And the evening and the morning were the fourth day.

And God said, Let the waters be filled with living creatures, and let fowl fly in the open part of the great divide from Heaven. The sky is the open part. That would be a good reason why things burn when they leave or enter the Earth’s atmosphere.

And God created great whales and every living or moving thing in the water, all kinds. God also made all types of birds. And God saw that it was good.

And God blessed them saying, Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the Earth. And that was the evening and the morning of the fifth day.

And God said, Let the land bring forth living creatures of all kinds; cattle, creeping things, and wild animals. And it was so. And God made the wild animals; all kinds, the livestock; all kinds, and all kinds of creeping things, and God saw that it was good.

And God said, Let us make man in our image, in our likeness. And let them have dominion over all the fish of the sea, and over every bird in the air, and over the cattle, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the Earth. When God says us, I am pretty sure the Lord is talking about God’s team of angels that God created, and commanded to help the Lord; our God pull off this beautiful piece of drama that we call life.

So God created man in his own image. In the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. Man means humans or mankind in the Bible. God made both male and female versions of a human in God’s own likeness.

And God blessed them saying, Be fruitful and multiply, and refill the Earth and subdue it. And have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over all the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moves upon the Earth. The NIV says, ". . . fill the earth . . . The KJV says, . . . replenish the earth . . ."

And God said, See, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of the Earth, and every tree yielding fruit bearing its seed. These are yours to eat. And every beast of the Earth, and every bird of the air, and all the creatures that creep upon the ground; wherever there is life, I give every green herb for food. And it was so. God saw what he had made and beheld that it was very good. And that was the evening and the morning of the sixth day.

2) THE CREATION OF MANKIND

Thus, the heavens and the Earth, and all of their great beauties were finished. On the seventh day God finished his work. So, on the seventh day he rested. He blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it, because on that day he finished creating his great work. A lot of people get confused simply because the Bible is not completely chronological.

This is what happened when God created the heavens and the Earth; before the vegetation God created grew, because God had not yet caused it to rain upon the Earth, and there was no man to work the ground.

Mists came from beneath the Earth and watered the entire face of the ground. Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; the man became a living soul. The Lord God planted a garden in the east in Eden. That is where he put the man he created. The Lord God made all types of trees that were good for food and pleasant to the eye grow out of the ground. The Tree of Life and the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil were in the middle of the garden.

A river flowed out of Eden to water the garden. Out of the garden the river parted into four rivers. The name of the first river is Pishon. The KJV calls it Pison.

It encompasses the entire land of Havilah, where there is gold. The gold of that land is good. There are also aromatic pearls and onyx stones there. The KJV says, ". . . bdellium and the onyx stone . . . The NIV says, . . . aromatic resin and onyx . . ." It also says that it can also be translated as pearls instead of bdellium.

The name of the second river is the Gihon. It winds through the entire land of Cush. The KJV says, Ethiopia; the NIV says Cush. It also says, it is possibly southeast Mesopotamia.

The name of the third river is Hiddekel; it flowed toward the east of Assyria. The NIV says that river is the Tigris, and it ran along the east side of Asshur.

And the fourth river is the Euphrates.

The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work and take care of it. And the Lord God commanded the man, You can freely eat from any tree in the garden, but of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil you must not eat—for if you do, you would surely die.

The Lord God said, It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make him a suitable helper. After the Lord God formed from the ground, all of the beasts of the land and all of the birds of the air, he brought them to Adam to see what he would name them. Whatsoever Adam called every living creature—that was its name. The NIV says adam is Hebrew for man, and it may be related to adamah; Hebrew for ground, that is probably how the name came about.

So the man gave names to all of the livestock, and all of the birds, and all of the wild animals, but Adam found no suitable helper. So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep. While he slept the Lord dug into Adam’s side, pulled out a meaty rib, and filled in the place with flesh. The NIV says, some texts say, part of the man’s side was taken.

Out of the rib he had taken from the man, the Lord God made a woman. And he brought her to the man.

The man said, This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh. She shall be called woman, because she was taken out of Man. The NIV says the Hebrew word for woman sounds like the Hebrew word for man.

This is why a man will leave his mother and father, and unite with and cling to his wife, and they will become one flesh. The man and the woman were naked, but they were not ashamed.

3) THE SNAKE AND THE GARDEN

Now the serpent was more slick than any other wild animal that the Lord God had made. He slid up to the woman and said, Did God not say that you could eat freely of any tree in the garden?

The woman said, "God did say we could eat from all of the trees in the garden, but God did also say, ‘You should not eat the fruit of or even touch the tree in the middle of the garden, or you will die.’"

The serpent said to the woman, You shall not surely die. For God knows that on the day you eat of the tree your eyes shall be opened and you will be like gods; knowing good from evil.

When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food, and was pleasing to the eye, and knowing that she always desired a tree that would make her wise, she did eat. And she gave some to her husband, who was with her. Adam heard the serpent talking to the woman. Adam wanted to eat the fruit just as badly as the woman did. He did not stop her, and tried to let her take the fall. But before he ate from the tree he really didn’t know any better.

But, he did eat. Then the eyes of them both were opened and they saw that they were naked, and were ashamed of their bodies. So, they sewed together fig leaves and made aprons to cover themselves.

Then the man and his wife heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day. Adam and his wife tried to hide from the presence of God behind some trees in the garden. The KJV talks about the voice of God walking through the garden; it didn’t say God was walking through the garden. This is probably why the people who speak to God think they are talking to a man. God has angels that perform specific tasks in the name of the Lord.

And the Lord God called out, Adam where are you?

Adam answered, I heard your voice walking in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, so I hid.

And God said, Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you should not eat of?

Adam replied, The woman you gave me gave me the fruit to eat, so I ate it.

And the Lord God said to the woman, What is this that you have done?

The woman said, The serpent tricked me, and I ate.

God said to the serpent, Because you have done this, cursed are you above all the cattle and all the wild animals. On your belly you will crawl and dust you will eat all the days of your life. You and your offspring, and her and her offspring will be enemies forever. They will crush your head, because you will strike their heel.

To the woman the Lord God said, "I will greatly multiply your childbearing pains, and through sorrow will you give birth to children. And your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.

And to Adam, God said, Because you have listened to the word of your wife over mine, and have eaten of the tree that I commanded you not to eat of, the ground is now cursed because of you. You will now suffer everyday of your life just to eat of it. It will now produce thorns and thistles, and you will need to eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your brow will you eat food until the day you return to the ground, for that is where you came from. You are dust, and that is where you will return.

God was pissed. The Lord; our God, had been undermined and disrespected. The Lord spoke these harsh words out of fury, which can never be gone back on, and we will suffer God’s wrath all of the days of our lives. That curse was heavy. But they ruined God’s great creation with disobedience.

And Adam named his wife Eve, because she was the mother of all living. The Lord God made garments out of skins, and clothed Adam and his wife. The NIV says Eve probably means living.

And the Lord God said, Man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to now reach out his hand and take from the tree of life, and eat of it and live forever. Then the Lord God sent man out of the Garden of Eden, to work the land he was taken from. After God drove man out, Cherubim and a moving flaming sword were placed at the eastside of the Garden of Eden, to guard the way to the Tree of Life.

4) THE CURSE OF BLOODSHED

Adam laid with his wife Eve and he knew her. She conceived and gave birth to Cain. Eve said, The Lord has helped me bring forth a man. Later, she gave birth to Abel. The NIV says Cain sounds like Hebrew for bring forth, or acquire. Can you imagine how much she was crying to the Lord due to the pain of the curse? The KJV says, ". . . she again bare his brother Abel." I cannot tell if Cain and Abel were twins, and that was God’s way of doubling the pain for Eve, for ruining God’s paradise.

Abel was the keeper of flocks, and Cain worked the soil. There came a time when Cain brought an offering of some of the fruits of soil to the Lord. But Abel brought fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. God was pleased with what Abel brought as an offering, and he showed respect and looked with favor upon it, and him. But upon Cain and his offering, he did not look with favor, or respect. So, Cain was very angry and his face showed his disgust.

Then the Lord said to Cain, Why are you angry? Why does your face show such disgust? If you do well, would you not be accepted? And if you do not well, you are teetering the line of sin. Sin is waiting at your door. Sin desires you, but you should not give in to him. The NIV says, ". . . but you must master it. The KJV says, . . . and thou shalt rule over him."

Cain talked with his brother Abel. And it so happened, when they got out to the field Cain rose up against his brother, and killed him.

And the Lord said to Cain, Where is your brother Abel?

Cain replied, I do not know, am I my brother’s keeper?

And God said, What have you done? Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground. Now you are cursed by and driven out from the ground that opened up its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. When you work the ground it will no longer produce crops for you, and you will be a fugitive and wanderer on the Earth.

Cain said to the Lord, My punishment is more than I can bear. You have driven me out from the land, and I will not be allowed in your presence. And I will be a fugitive, and a wanderer on the Earth, and whoever finds me will kill me.

Then the Lord said to him, Very well then, anyone who kills Cain shall suffer vengeance seven times worse. Then the Lord put a mark on Cain, so that no one who found him would kill him. Some people think the mark God put on Cain was dark skin. I however do not. Nor do I think this passage references any wild animals; I think it is talking about other people God had out there.

Cain went out from the presence of the Lord, and lived in the land of Nod; east of Eden. The NIV says Nod means wandering.

Cain laid with his wife and he knew her. She became pregnant, and gave birth to Enoch. They stopped wandering, and Cain built a city. He named the city Enoch, after his son.

To Enoch, Irad was born. Irad was the father of Mehujael. Mehujael was the father of Methushael. And Methushael was the father of Lamech.

Lamech had two wives, one named Adah and the other named Zillah. Adah gave birth to Jabal, he was father to those that lived in tents and raised cattle. And she gave birth to his brother Jubal; he was the father of those who played the harp and other instruments. And Zillah gave birth to Tubal-Cain. He was the teacher of how to work with iron and brass; she also gave birth to his sister Naamah. There is so much missing. The people of the city and the women who married these men came from where?

Lamech said to his two wives, Adah and Zillah, listen to me my wives, and understand what I am about to tell you. I have killed a man for wounding me, and a young man for hurting me. If Cain will be avenged seven times, then Lamech should be avenged seventy-seven times worse.

And Adam laid with his wife again, and she gave birth to a son, and named him Seth. She said, The Lord has granted me a seed in place of Abel, since Cain killed him. Seth also had a son, and he named him Enos. Then men began to call on the name of the Lord. The NIV says his name was Enosh.

5) NOAH’S BLOODLINE

This is the written account of the generations of Adam. When God created man, God made them in the likeness of himself. He made a male and female version and blessed them. And when he was finished, he called them both Adam. The KJV says, ". . . and called their name Adam . . . The NIV says, . . . he called them man." It also says that Adam is the Hebrew word for man.

When Adam was one hundred and thirty years old, he had a son in his own likeness and image. He named him Seth. Adam lived eight hundred years after Seth was born and had other sons and daughters. Adam lived nine hundred and thirty years in all, then he died.

When Seth had lived one hundred and five years, he became the father of Enos. Seth lived eight hundred and seven years after the birth of Enos. Seth lived nine hundred and twelve years in all, then he died.

When Enos was ninety years old, he became the father of Cainan. Enos lived eight hundred and fifteen years after the birth of Cainan and had other sons and daughters. Enos lived nine hundred and five years in all, then he died. The NIV says Kenan.

Cainan was seventy years old when he became the father of Mahalaleel. Cainan lived eight hundred and forty years after Mahalaleel was born and had other sons and daughters. Cainan lived nine hundred and ten years in all, then he died. The NIV calls him Mahalalel.

When Mahalaleel was sixty-five years old, he fathered Jared. After Jared was born, Mahalaleel lived another eight hundred and thirty years and had other sons and daughters. Mahalaleel lived eight hundred and ninety-five years in all, then he died.

When Jared was one hundred and sixty-two years old he fathered Enoch. Jared lived eight hundred years after the birth of Enoch and had other sons and daughters. Jared lived nine hundred and sixty-two years in all, then he died.

Enoch was sixty-five years old when he fathered Methuselah. After Methuselah was born, Enoch followed God for three hundred years and had other sons and daughters. Enoch lived three hundred and sixty-five years in all. Because Enoch followed God, God took him away.

Methuselah was one hundred and eighty-seven years old when he fathered Lamech. After Lamech was born Methuselah lived another seven hundred and eighty two years, and had other sons and daughters. Methuselah lived nine hundred and sixty-nine years in all, then he died.

Lamech was one hundred and eighty-two years old when he had a son. He called him Noah, and said, He will comfort us from our hard work and toil that the curse the Lord put on the ground has caused. The NIV says, Noah sounds like Hebrew for comfort.

Lamech lived five hundred and ninety-five years after Noah was born and had other sons and daughters. Lamech lived seven hundred and seventy-seven years in all, then he died. Noah was over five hundred years old when he fathered Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

6) THE STORY OF THE ARK

In the times when men began to multiply and daughters were born to them, the sons of God saw the daughters of man and that they were beautiful. And any of them they chose, they took for wives. The Lord said, My spirit will not stay with man forever, because he is corrupt, and of flesh; he should not live more than one hundred and twenty years. The NIV says, ". . . he is mortal; his days will be a hundred and twenty years. The KJV says, . . . he also is flesh; yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years." We all know the flesh is weak; some of the weakest stuff around.

In those days, there were also giants on the Earth—and after that also. And it came to be, that when the sons of God went in and had children with the daughters of men, those offspring became great heroes and were men of renown. Those giants are the same giants of mythology. The NIV calls them the Nephilim. These are probably some of the people that Cain was afraid would kill him.

God saw how wicked man had become on the Earth. Every thought and deed of his heart was evil. The Lord wished he had not made man, and it broke his heart. The Lord said, I will destroy all that I have created on the face of the Earth—man, beast, creeping things, and birds, for I wish I never created them. But God did like Noah.

This is the story of Noah. Noah was a good man. He was not evil like the others of his time. He followed God’s way. Noah fathered three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

To God, the Earth was corrupt and full of violence. God looked at the Earth, and saw that it was corrupt, because the people were weak and only wanted to do bad things. The NIV says, ". . . for all the people on earth had corrupted their ways. The KJV says, . . . for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth."

God said to Noah, "The time has come that I will end all flesh. The Earth is corrupt because man has filled it with violence. I will destroy man and the Earth. Make yourself an ark with rooms in it. Make it of gopher wood, and coat it inside and out with pitch to keep out the waters." The NIV says cypress wood, but it also says that the meaning of the word used is uncertain.

You should build it like this: It should be three hundred cubits long, fifty cubits wide, and thirty cubits high. That is four hundred fifty feet long, seventy-five feet wide, and forty-five feet high.

The ark should have a window one cubit from the roof. The door should be in the side of the ark, on the second of three levels. A cubit is about eighteen inches.

I will flood the Earth with water. Everything under the heavens that has the breath of life in it will be destroyed. Everything on Earth will be killed. But with you, I will establish my covenant. You, your sons, your wife, and the wives of your sons will go into the ark. You are to bring a male and female of every living creature made of flesh onto the ark to keep them alive. You will bring two of every kind of bird, two of every kind of cattle, and two of every kind of creeping thing; they will come to you, to be kept alive. You will take all of the food you need, and store it as food for you and them. Everything God told Noah to do, he did.

7) THE FLOODING

And the Lord told Noah, Now go onto the ark and bring your family, because I see that you are a good man from this generation. Also take seven pairs of every clean beast, and two pairs of every unclean. Also take seven pairs of every kind of bird, so that they all will be able to return to the Earth. In seven days I will make it rain for forty days and forty nights, and eliminate everything I have created from the face of the Earth. Noah did everything God told him.

Noah was six hundred years old when God sent the flood to the Earth. Noah went into the ark; he took his sons, his wife, and their wives into the ark with him because the flood was coming. All kinds of wild animals came; clean and unclean, all types of birds and everything that creeps.

They all came to Noah; male and female, two by two—just like God said. And it so happened, that after the seven days that God allowed for all his creations to pair up and make it to the ark, he sent the great flood to the Earth.

Noah was six hundred years, two months, and seventeen days old when every geyser erupted and the heavens opened up. A great rain fell forty days and forty nights upon the Earth. And the day came that Noah, and Shem, and Ham, and Japheth, and all of their wives were on the ark. Every kind of wild beast, every kind of livestock, every thing that creeps, every kind of bird, and any other thing with wings came. Everything with the breath of life in it came to Noah with their partners, and entered the ark. And they all went in; male and female, just as God had said, and he shut them in.

For forty days, the Earth was flooded, and the rising waters lifted the ark high off of the ground. And as the water rose, so did the ark, and it floated on the face of the water. The water was so high it covered the highest mountains of the Earth. The water was more than fifteen cubits above the highest mountains of the Earth. That is more than twenty feet.

All moving flesh died; every bird, every cattle, every wild beast, every thing that creeps, and every man. If it was on dry land, and had the breath of life in its nostrils, it died. Everything that lived on ground was eliminated. Every man, every cattle, every thing that creeps, and every bird was destroyed. Noah and all those on his ark were all that remained. The Earth stayed flooded for one hundred and fifty days.

8) THE DRYING

God remembered that Noah was in the ark with all the wild beasts and the all the cattle. God caused a great wind to pass over the Earth, and the flooding was done. The geysers settled, and the heavens closed up and the rain stopped. The waters steadily went down. It took one hundred and fifty days for all of the water to go down. The ark landed on the mountains of Ararat on the seventeenth day of the seventh month. The water continued to go down until the tenth month. And on the first day of the tenth month the mountaintops could be seen.

And the time came that the forty days of rain were over, and Noah opened the window he had made in the ark. He sent out a raven to fly back and forth until the ground was dry. He also sent out a dove. The dove could not find a place to land because the whole Earth was covered with water. So Noah put out his hand and brought the dove back into the ark. After seven days had passed, Noah sent out the dove again. The dove came back to him in the evening with a newly picked olive leaf in its mouth. Noah knew that the waters were going down. After another seven days Noah sent out the dove again. But this time it did not return. When Noah was six hundred and one years, one month, and one day old, he opened the ark and saw that the ground was dry.

And on the twenty-seventh day of the second month, the Earth was dry. Then God spoke to Noah. He said, Leave the ark; take your wife, and your sons, and their wives with you. Take the birds, and cattle, and everything that creeps; everything of flesh with you, so they may be fruitful and multiply, and replenish the Earth. Noah came out of the ark, and he brought his wife, and his sons, and their wives with him—then every kind of wild beast, everything that creeps, and every kind of bird; everything that moves on the Earth came out of the ark also.

Noah built an altar to the Lord, and offered burnt offerings of every clean wild beast, and every clean bird. The Lord smelled the sweet smell, and said to himself, I will never again curse the ground because of man. I know there is evil in the heart of man from the time they are young. I will never again smite everything, as I have done. As long as there is an Earth, there will be time to plant and time to harvest, there will be hot and cold, there will be winter and summer, and there will be night and day. That was the last time God destroyed the Earth. The Earth has been destroyed even before that. That is why there is evidence of the different ages and the remains of great beasts buried under tons of rock.

9) NOAH’S SONS AND THE RAINBOW

God blessed Noah and his sons. He told them, Be fruitful and multiply, and repopulate the Earth. Every animal, every bird, and everything that creeps on this Earth will fear and dread you, and all the fish of the sea will be delivered into your hands. Every living thing that moves will be food for you. Just like the vegetation. I give everything to you. But you will not eat bloody flesh; the blood is the life. And your blood will definitely return to me when you die; it is your obligation. And anything could kill you; any beast, any man—even your own brother. The NIV says, ". . . And for your lifeblood I will surely demand an accounting. I will demand an accounting from every animal. And from each man, too, I will demand an accounting for the life of his fellow man . . . The KJV says, And surely the blood of your lives will I require; at the hand of every beast will I require it, and at the hand of man; at the hand of every man’s brother will I require the life of man."

"Whoever kills a man, will be killed by a man, because God made man in the image of himself. You will be fruitful and multiply abundantly on the Earth."

And God spoke to Noah and his sons, saying, "Look, I will establish my covenant with you, and all your descendents. I also make the covenant with everything that came out of the ark with you; every bird, every cattle, and every wild beast; everything living on the Earth. I will establish my covenant with you. I will never again kill all life or destroy the Earth by flooding it."

God added, This is the token of the covenant I have made with you and all that were on the ark with you; it will last forever. I have put a rainbow in the clouds, and it will mark the covenant between me and the Earth. And it will so happen, that every time I bring clouds over the Earth, the rainbow will be seen in the clouds. It will remind me of the covenant I have made with you and every other living thing, and I will never again destroy the Earth by flooding it. Every time I see the bow in the clouds it will remind me of the everlasting covenant between God and all the creatures on the Earth. And God told Noah, This is the token of the covenant that I have established between myself and all of the flesh on the Earth.

Noah had three sons with him on the ark; Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Ham was the father of Canaan. These are the sons of Noah, and through them people became scattered on the Earth. You do need to remember that in the Bible father means ancestor, and a lot of time passes between stories.

Noah was a man of the soil. He planted the first vineyard. When he would drink, he would get drunk and pass out in his tent. One day Ham; who was the father of Canaan, walked into the tent where Noah lay, and saw him naked. He went out and told his brothers. Shem and Japheth put a garment on their shoulders and walked in backward, so they did not see their father naked, and they covered him. When Noah woke up from his wine, he was infuriated when he learned about what his youngest son had done to him.

Noah said, Cursed be Canaan. He will be the lowest of servant to his brothers. He added, Blessed be the Lord; the God of Shem. Canaan will be Shem’s slaves. And God will let Japheth grow, and they will live in the tents of Shem; and Canaan will be their slaves. Noah lived three hundred and fifty years after the flood. Noah lived nine hundred and fifty years in all, then he died. You must also remember that sometimes in the Bible an individuals name can represent a nation of people. Something abominable probably happened in that tent, and Noah was probably hungover.

10) NOAH’S SEED

This is the account of the generations of Noah’s sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. They fathered nations after the flood. The descendants of Japheth were Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, and Tiras. The descendants of Gomer were Ashkenaz, Riphath, and Togarmah. The descendants of Javan were Elishah, Tarshish, Kittim, and Dodanim. These people spread among the islands and had their own languages. Both the NIV and the KJV say, sons instead of descendants. The NIV also says that sons may mean descendants, successors, or nations. It also says Rodanim instead of Dodanim.

The sons of Ham were Cush, Mizraim, Phut, and Canaan. The NIV calls Phut, Put, and says that Mizraim is Egypt.

The descendants of Cush were Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah, and Sabteca. In the KJV Sabteca is Sabtechah.

The descendants of Raamah were Sheba, and Dedan. Out of Cush came Nimrod. He became a mighty warrior on Earth. He was a mighty hunter before the Lord. Some were even said to be, Like Nimrod, a mighty hunter before the Lord. His kingdom began with Babylon, Erech, Akkad, and Calneh in Shinar. The NIV says Shinar was Babylonia. The KJV calls Babylon, Babel and Akkad, Accad.

From there he went to Asshur and built Ninevah, Rehoboth, and Calah. He also built Resen between Ninevah and Calah; they formed one great city.

The descendants of Mizraim were the Ludim, the Anamim, the Lehabim, and the Naphtuhim. Also there were the Pathrusim, and the Casluhim (the Philistim came from them), and the Caphtorim. The NIV called them the Ludites, Anamites, Lehabites, Naphtuhites, Pathrusites, Casluhites, Philistines, and Caphtorites.

Canaan fathered Sidon; his firstborn, Heth, the father of the Jebusites, the father of the Amorites, the father of the Girgashites, the father of the Hivites, the father of the Arkites, the father of the Sinites, the father of the Arvadites, the father of the Zemarites, and the father of the Hamathites. Then the Canaanite groups were spread abroad. The Canaanites were spread from Sidon, out toward Gerar, as far as Gaza, and out toward Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboim, and as far as Lasha. These are the descendants of Ham by their groups. They were all spread out and had their own languages.

Sons were also born to Shem. He was the oldest of the sons of Noah. He fathered