when God created the world and everything in it
he made man in his own image to live here and take care of the world
however humans started doing evil things and stopped following his commands
they did not pray to Him and they only cared for their own comfort
God decided to destroy then earth and everybody in it
there was only one man who loved God Noah
Noah loved and worshipped God
he believed in God even though nobody else did
he also taught his family to love and fear God
one day God spoke to Noah
Noah you are a good man
you are righteous and you live a good life with your family
but the world has become evil and all the people in the world who deserve to die
Noah was shocked at what he heard but he remained calm
but God these are your people have mercy on them
no Noah the world has to be destroyed
I will send a great flood that will destroy the whole earth
it will rain without Alton for forty days
every living being on earth will be destroyed
so be it let your will be done
fear not Noah
I have come to warn you because you have been a good man
you and your family will survive the flood
you are merciful my God
you will have to build an ark for you and your family
what is an ark my lord?
an ark is a big wooden boat
you will build this Ark to protect your family from the flood
the ark should be big enough for your family
you will also be taking many animals along with you so that they can survive with you
but God I have no knowledge about building arks how will I do this?
do not worry I will give you all the instructions you need
just follow them and you will be able to build it without any problem
okay my lord I will follow your instructions and do as you say
you must also talk to the people around you and try to convince them to mend their ways
tell them to turn to pray to me and fear me
tell them to be kind and do good things
tell them to stop be self and live a good life
I will do as you say my lord
and as God instructed Noah started to cut down trees
he made big planks out of the wood to build his ark
people started noticing when Noah was doing
they gathered around him as he shaped his planks and piled them up
they were curious
Noah what are you doing?
hello friend I am building an ark
what's is an ark?
it is a big boat my friend it will protect me and my family from the flood
what flood?
my dear friend God our Creator spoke to me?
he said that he is angry with the people
and he is going to destroy all living beings with a flood
my dear Noah we don't understand where is this flood coming from?
God will send heavy rains it will rain non-stop for forty days
and a flood will come and wipe out everything
you can stop this God is angry with your ways
you only have to turn to him and mend your ways
pray to Him ask him for forgiveness and you will be saved
you can come with me and my ark and you will be saved from the flood
Noah, have you gone mad?
you do not make any sense why are you doing all this?
stop building this nonsense Ark and look after your family
sorry my friend this is my work
God has asked me to do this I have to obey him
I will build this Ark as he has told me
the villagers laughed loudly and returned to their homes
by now Noah had gathered all the food grains the seeds and the animals
he stored the food grains in the ark
God then made the animals arrive in pairs
every animal in on the earth waited in line patiently to enter the Ark
there were lions, tigers, elephants, snakes, parrots, zebras everyone
two by two they entered the Ark
then Noah called to the villagers and once again invited them to enter his ark
the people still refused to believe in him
they could not understand why he was collecting animals and placing them in the Ark
they continued to sin against God and they refused to enter
you said it would rain for forty days Noah
I don't even see a drip of rain anywhere
Do you still think that you are making any sense?
Do you really think that this God is going to save you?
you have been making a fool of yourself and trying to make us all fool as well
I believe in my lord he will never abandon me
he has always guided me to do what is right
I am still inviting you to join me in the Ark you will be saved
we are not coming into your stupid ark
you can do as you please just leave us alone now
once Noah had completed filling up his ark with the animals
God told Noah to assemble his family and bring them into the ark
once they entered the Ark the door was closed and the ark was sealed shut
as soon as the ark was sealed the first drops of rain began to fall on earth
the villagers were amazed as there had not been any rains for a very long time
soon it was raining heavily and big thunder clouds gathered all around the village
It continued to rain for days and soon the water was flooding the village
the ark then began to float over the water
people in the village were running for shelter
as their homes had been swept away by the flood
meanwhile Noah his family
and the animals he had brought with him were safe and warm in the Ark
it rained heavily for forty days
and in the end there was nothing but water all around
all living beings were drowned
and even the highest mountains were covered by the flood
Noah looked out of the window of his ark and could see nothing but water all around
after forty days and forty nights of rain it's stopped raining
the water level slowly started coming down
the ark continued to sail with Noah's family and the animals
they kept sailing in search of dry land
After many days Noah sent a dove in search of dry land
the Dove returned as it could not find any place to make a nest
the water still covered every patch of dry land
Noah waited for one week and then sent the dove out again
this time the Dove returned with an olive branch
this meant that the water levels had come down
Noah waited for one more week
and this time when he sent the Dove out it did not return
this was a sign that the water had come down and there was dry land
soon the ark came to a stop on top of a dry mountain
Then God spoke to Noah
Noah it is now safe for you and your family to leave the Ark
you can step out to the land
you can now lead a new life with your family
release all the animals let them once again roam the earth
thank you my lord I am thankful for your love and faith in me
you have kept me safe through all this
my family is alive and well because of you
we owe our lives to you
you are a righteous man Noah
your faith in me has saved you
your family has been saved because of your good deeds
I promise that I will never again send the floods
as a reminder of this promise God created a beautiful rainbow
Noah and his family lived for a long time on earth
they had many children and soon
Noah's children and grand children were spread all over the world
Isaac and Rebecca had two sons Esau and Jacob
Isaac loved Esau more
but Rebecca loved her second son Jacob more than she loved Esau
one day when Esau returned from the fields
he was very very hungry and he went up to his twin brother
give me something to eat brother I am dying of hunger
I will give you this bowl of stew
in exchange for something I want from you
what did you like you want?
tell me fast I cannot wait I want to eat
I want you to give up your right to our fathers inheritance and property
what?
well, it is for you to decide
If you don't agree you can get your own food
Esau was so hungry that he couldn't think straight
he agreed to give up his blessings in exchange for a bowl of stew
this showed that Esau did not value what was his birthright
if he could think of giving up his inheritance for just a bowl of stew
he was not fit to be Isaac's heir and inheritor
after this Rebekah helped her favourite son Jacob to trick her blind husband
so that Jacob would be his heir
but Esau soon realised what he had done
and was furious at the way he felt his brother had duped him
I have been cheated
my own mother and brother cheated me
I will take her revenge
I will kill Jacob
he will pay for what he has done
Rebecca overheard Esau plotting to kill his brother and became very alarmed
she ran to warn Jacob
Jacob Oh Jacob hurry you must leave
your brother is very angry he is going to kill you
you have to go away as soon as you can
what Oh No but where will I go mother?
where can I hide from him?
I know where you can go my brother your uncle Laban lives in Haran
which is quite far from here go there and he will take care of you
early the next morning as soon as the sun started to rise
Jacob quietly left his house to go to the Haran
Rebecca came to the door and gave him a bag with some things for the way
Rebecca wave to Jacob tears streaming down her cheeks
Jacob travelled for several days
walking during the day and sleeping by the roadside at night
one day he was feeling very tired and decided to rest for some time
this looks like a good place to sleep for a while
I will continue my journey after I am rested
Jacob saw a large stone nearby on which he lay his head and fell asleep
and what a dream he had
he saw a very very long stairway
which started from the ground and reached up to heaven
there were angels going up and down the stairs
and there at the very top was God
and then God spoke to Jacob
Jacob this land shall belong to you and to your descendants
take good care of it
when Jacob woke up
he couldn't believe that God had actually spoken to him
my Lord has spoken to me my Lord has spoken to me I feel so blessed
this place shall be called Bethel the house of the Lord
this stone shall be the altar in this house of worship
Jacob then again continued on his journey to Haran
on after walking for a few days
he saw some Shepherds near a well
who were waiting to water their sheep
Jacob went to them
tell me dear brothers would you know where my uncle Laban lives
I have travelled far to find him
sure we do he stays quite close by
Do you see that pretty lady coming this way
she is his daughter Rachel
when Jacob laid his eyes on Rachel
he immediately fell in love with her
when he saw her trying to lift the heavy stone on the well
so that she could water her sheep
he went forward to help her
here let me do it this stone is too heavy for you to lift
oh thank you so much kind sir
please call me Jacob I am your cousin your aunt Rebecca son
in fact I was on my way to your house to meet uncle Laban
Rachel looked at Jacob shyly and asked him to follow her
you look very tired come our house is not far
on reaching the house Jacob greeted his uncle warmly
I am so happy to meet you uncle
mother has asked me to be here with you as my brother Esau wants to kill me
oh no that is terrible
don't worry you can stay here for as long as you like son
you will be safe here and you can also work for me I will pay you for it
thank you so much uncle
I really appreciate what you are doing for me
ah I have just one desire
if you would be kind enough to consider it
tell me what you desires son don't be afraid
you have very kindly offered to pay me for working for you
but I would be happy to work for you without any wages
but why would you work for me free I don't understand
uncle instead of wages I would be very grateful
if you could give me the hand of your daughter Rachel in marriage
hmm all right you work for me for seven years
and then you can marry my daughter
Thank You uncle thank you so much
Rachel also liked Jacob
but she was very disappointed to hear what her father said
Oh Jacob I don't think what father is doing is right
we both want to marry each other
why should we have to wait for seven years?
I love you so much Rachel that I'm sure even seven years will just fly by quickly
I can't wait to make you mine
and so Jacob went to work for his uncle
he worked very hard and for very long hours but he did not mind
because he kept thinking of marrying Rachel after the seven years were over
Rachel my love
it is now just a matter of a few days and you will finally be mine
I also can't wait to marry you My dear Jacob
finally the big day arrived when Jacob was to marry Rachel
Laban had made arrangements for a grand wedding
many people had been invited
but when Jacob saw his bride he was shocked
what is this uncle?
you had promised me Rachel in marriage but this is Leah
Leah was Rachel's elder sister
who is not as beautiful as Rachel
well you have to understand Jacob
I cannot get my younger daughter married
until my elder daughter is married
but this is not fair uncle you have gone back on your word
calm down calm down son don't get so angry
but I cannot accept this I love Rachel and want her as my wife
well then if you love Rachel so much
you can marry her also at the end of the week
really you mean it
you can marry Rachel
but for that you have to work for me for another seven years
do you agree?
Jacob was very angry but he could do nothing
the thought of not having Rachel was unbearable for him
alright uncle I agree
I will work for you for another seven years
no Jacob you don't have to do that father is not doing right
Rachel I cannot imagine a life without you
you are the love of my life
just like the first seven years past even these seven years will pass
but now I will have you with me so it will not be difficult at all
a week after Jacob got married to Leah
he once again got married this time to his sweetheart Rachel
though he now had two wives Rachel was the one he loved