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Moses in the Desert

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Moses led the Hebrews to their new land across the desert. They stopped at wells for water, but they grew hungry, and started grumbling.  They quickly forgot how hard life had been for them when they were slaves in Egypt. Do you remember the juicy melons we had? Said one.  'And the onions and cucumbers, said another. 'We always had plenty of bread and meat, said a third.  It would be better to be slaves in Egypt, than die of starvation in the desert, they agreed. God heard the people complaining and said to Moses; 'Tell the people I will not let them go hungry.  I will give them meat to eat every evening, and bread every morning.  There will be enough for each day, but on Fridays, the sixth day, there will be enough for two days.  This is so that on the seventh day, which is the Sabbath, my holy day, the people will not have to collect food, but will rest. Every day He gave them food and water.  He kept his promises to them. so that they would learn to trust Him. That eveni
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The Empty Tomb

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Very early on Sunday morning, just before dawn.  Mary Magdalene and two friends went to the tomb to finish the preparations for the burial.  They wondered how they would roll away the huge stone that blocked the entrance. When the women reached the hillside, they were astonished to see that the stone had been rolled away from the tomb and the soldiers guarding it had gone.  A man in shining white clothes told them. 'Don't be frightened. I know you are looking for Jesus. He's not here.  He is alive.  When the women looked into the tomb, they saw it was empty: the body had gone. Puzzled and a little frightened, the three women ran to tell the disciples and friends of Jesus. 'They've taken the Lord away, and we don't know where they've laid him, cried Mary.  The disciples didn't believe her: they thought the women must have imagined it. Especially when you have kids, before their go to sleep and tell them a little story. Peter and John ran to the tomb to se
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David the King

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David's great victory over Goliath made him famous, and King Saul was so pleased, he ordered David to stay with him.  There, David met King Saul's son. Jonathan, and he and David instantly became the greatest of friends. They loved each other as if they were brothers. Jonathan gave David his cloak and a sword. They vowed they would be friends forever. King Saul put David in charge of his army, and told him he could marry his daughter, Merab. David soon became a great soldier and was very popular.  Everywhere he went, people sang his praises. But King Saul soon became jealous of him, fearing he wanted to be king in his place.  So King Saul made Merab marry another man, but when he saw that David loved his other daughter.  Michal, he made a plan. 'You may marry Michal, he said. 'But first you must kill a hundred Philistines.  King Saul was sure David would be killed in the battle, but David fought the Philistines and killed two hundred of them. Then he married Michal, but
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The Last Supper

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A few days before the Feast of the Passover, which reminded the Jews of when God freed them from being slaves in Egypt, the disciples asked Jesus where they would have this special meal. 'Go to Jerusalem, said Jesus to Peter and John. 'There you'll meet a man carrying a jug of water. Follow him to his house.  Ask the owner to show you a room where we'll have the Feast of the Passover together. Peter and John went to Jerusalem, found the man with the water jug, and followed him to his house. There they made a room upstairs ready, and that evening Jesus and the other ten disciples arrived for the meal. Before they sat down to eat, Jesus filled a basin with water, picked up a towel and knelt in front of each disciple, one by one, to wash their feet, drying them with the towel.  This work was usually done by a servant, and so when Jesus came to Peter, the disciple protested. 'I can't let you wash my feet, Lord.  Jesus replied. 'If you won't let me wash your
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Sentenced to Die

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Late that night. Jesus was taken by the Temple guards to the palace of Caiaphas, the High Priest.  Many of the Jewish leaders were summoned there for the trial, although it was very late. Peter secretly followed Jesus through the streets to the palace courtyard.  As he stood with some of the guards, warming himself by their fire, a servant girl walked past and looked at him.  'You were with Jesus of Nazareth, she said. ;I don't know what you mean, answered Peter.  A little while later, another servant said to him; 'This man was with Jesus. 'I don't know him." swore Peter. As Peter stood talking to the guards, a man said; 'You must know Jesus. I can tell you come from Galilee. Peter was very frightened. 'I tell you. I don't know the man, he shouted.  At that moment, a cock crowed three times, and Peter remembered that Jesus had told him he would deny knowing him three times. Joseph, a rich man from Arimathea, who believed in Jesus, went to Pontius Pi
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Death on a Cross

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The soldiers led Jesus through the streets of Jerusalem, making him carry a huge wooden cross.  Jesus was very tired and weak from all the beatings he had been given, and he stumbled and fell again and again under the weight of the cross. At last, a soldier made a man named Simon., who was standing in the street watching the procession, carry the cross for Jesus. They struggled on to a place outside the city walls, called Golgotha. There, the guards nailed Jesus to the cross by his hands and feet.  They nailed a sign above his head which said; 'Jesus of Nazareth. King of the Jews. Then they set up the cross between two other crosses. On them were thieves who had also been sentenced to death.  Jesus looked down at the soldiers and the people watching.  'Forgive them, Father, he prayed. 'They don't know what they are doing. Some of his enemies in the crowd shouted to him, If you really are the Son of God, come down from the cross.  Then we'll believe you, they taunted
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Home to Jerusalem

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Cyrus, who ruled Persia from his palace in Babylon, was a good king.  He put out a proclamation, saying; 'The Lord God of Israel has told me to build a house for Him in Jerusalem.  All his people are free to go home to rebuild the Temple that Solomon built, I will 'retum all the treasures that King Nebuchadnezzar stole, from the Temple before he destroyed it. The Israelites, or Jews, as they were also known, were overjoyed that they were free to go home at last, In all, forty-two thousand people prepared for the journey across the desert.  They took with them their servants, and horses, mules and camels, all loaded with goods and food.  When they reached Jerusalem, they began work to rebuild the Temple at once. Many people gave gifts of gold and silver to pay for the stonemasons and carpenters, and provided them with food.  First the workman laid the foundations of the Temple. When they were finished, the priests sang songs of thanks and praises to God. The people who had been
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From Origin

The word 'Bible', is the equivalent of the Greek word biblia (diminutive from bı́blos, the inner bark of the papyrus), meaning originally 'books.' The phrase 'the books' (ta biblia ) occurs in Daniel 9:2 (Septuagint) for prophetic writings. 

In the Prologue

to Sirach it designates generally the Old Testament Scriptures; similarly in 1 Macc 12:9 ("the holy books"). The usage passed into the Christian church for Old Testament (2 Clem 14:2), and by and by (circa 5th century) was extended to the whole Scriptures.

Bibliotheca Divina

Jerome's name for the Bible (4th century) was "the Divine Library" (3) Afterward came an important change from plural to singular meaning. In process of time this name, with many others of Greek origin, passed into the vocabulary of the western church; and in the 13th century, by a happy solecism, the neuter plural came to be regarded as a feminine singular, and 'The Books' became by common consent 'The Book' (biblia, singular), in which form the word was passed into the languages of modern Europe" (Westcott, Bible in the Church, 5).