Adventure Bible for Young Readers-NIRV (Hardback)

• Uses the kid-friendly full-text NIrV translation, and notes, tailor-made for beginning Bible student.
• Full-color tip-in pages throughout.
• "Let’s Live It" helps kids apply the Bible the their own lives.
• "Life in Bible Times" explains what it was like to live in Bible times.
• "Did You Know?" points out fun and interesting facts in the Bible.
• "Words to Treasure" highlights significant Bible verses for memorization.
• Special full-page color charts.
• Book Introductions.
• 8-full color maps.
• Presentation page.
• Easy-to-use Dictionary/Concordance for tricky words.
• Lawrence O. Richards, PhD, General Editor.

Chapter One

1 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth didn't have any shape. And it was empty. Darkness was over the surface of the ocean. At that time, the ocean covered the earth. The Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.

3 God said, "Let there be light." And there was light. 4 God saw that the light was good. He separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light "day." He called the darkness "night." There was evening, and there was morning. It was day one. 6 God said, "Let there be a huge space between the waters. Let it separate water from water." 7 And that's exactly what happened. God made the huge space between the waters. He separated the water that was under the space from the water that was above it. 8 God called the huge space "sky." There was evening, and there was morning. It was day two.

9 God said, "Let the water under the sky be gathered into one place. Let dry ground appear." And that's exactly what happened. 10 God called the dry ground "land." He called the waters that were gathered together "oceans." And God saw that it was good.

11 Then God said, "Let the land produce plants. Let them bear their own seeds. And let there be trees on the land that bear fruit with seeds in it. Let each kind of plant or tree have its own kind of seeds." And that's exactly what happened.

12 The land produced plants. Each kind of plant had its own kind of seeds. The land produced trees that bore fruit with seeds in it. Each kind of tree had its own kind of seeds.

God saw that it was good. 13 And there was evening, and there was morning. It was day three.

14 God said, "Let there be lights in the huge space of the sky. Let them separate the day from the night. Let them serve as signs to mark off the seasons and the days and the years. 15 Let them serve as lights in the huge space of the sky to give light on the earth." And that's exactly what happened.

16 God made two great lights. He made the larger light to rule over the day. He made the smaller light to rule over the night. He also made the stars.

17 God put the lights in the huge space of the sky to give light on the earth. 18 He put them there to rule over the day and the night. He put them there to separate light from darkness.

God saw that it was good. 19 And there was evening, and there was morning. It was day four.

20 God said, "Let the waters be filled with living things. Let birds fly above the earth across the huge space of the sky." 21 So God created the great creatures of the ocean. He created every living and moving thing that fills the waters. He created all kinds of them. He created every kind of bird that flies. And God saw that it was good.

22 God blessed them. He said, "Have little ones and increase your numbers. Fill the water in the oceans. Let there be more and more birds on the earth."

23 There was evening, and there was morning. It was day five.

24 God said, "Let the land produce all kinds of living creatures. Let there be livestock, and creatures that move along the ground, and wild animals. Let there be all kinds of them." And that's exactly what happened.

25 God made all kinds of wild animals. He made all kinds of livestock. He made all kinds of creatures that move along the ground. And God saw that it was good.

26 Then God said, "Let us make man in our likeness. Let them rule over the fish in the waters and the birds of the air. Let them rule over the livestock and over the whole earth. Let them rule over all of the creatures that move along the ground."

27 So God created man in his own likeness. He created him in the likeness of God. He created them as male and female.

28 God blessed them. He said to them, "Have children and increase your numbers. Fill the earth and bring it under your control. Rule over the fish in the waters and the birds of the air. Rule over every living creature that moves on the ground."

29 Then God said, "I am giving you every plant on the face of the whole earth that bears its own seeds. I am giving you every tree that has fruit with seeds in it. All of them will be given to you for food.

30 "I am giving every green plant to all of the land animals and the birds of the air for food. I am also giving the plants to all of the creatures that move on the ground. I am giving them to every living thing that breathes." And that's exactly what happened.

31 God saw everything he had made. And it was very good. There was evening, and there was morning. It was day six.

2 So the heavens and the earth and everything in them were completed.

2 By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing. So on the seventh day he rested from all of his work. 3 God blessed the seventh day and made it holy. He rested on it. After he had created everything, he rested from all of the work he had done.

Adam and Eve

4 Here is the story of the heavens and the earth when they were created.

The Lord God made the earth and the heavens. 5 At that time, bushes had not appeared on the earth. Plants had not come up in the fields. The Lord God had not sent rain on the earth. And there wasn't any man to work the ground. 6 But streams came up from the earth. They watered the whole surface of the ground.

7 Then the Lord God formed a man. He made him out of the dust of the ground. He breathed the breath of life into him. And the man became a living person.

8 The Lord God had planted a garden in the east. It was in Eden. There he put the man he had formed. 9 The Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground. Their fruit was pleasing to look at and good to eat.

The tree that gives life forever was in the middle of the garden. The tree that

35 Then the people sacrificed burnt offerings to the God of Israel. They had returned from Babylonia. They offered 12 bulls for the whole nation of Israel. They offered 96 rams and 77 male lambs. All of that was a burnt offering to the Lord. They sacrificed 12 male goats as a sin offering.

36 They also handed over the king's orders. They gave them to the royal officials and governors who ruled over the land west of the Euphrates River. Then those men helped the people. They also did many things for the house of God.

Ezra Prays for the People

9 After all of those things had been done, the leaders came to me. They said, "The people of Israel have committed sins. Even the priests and Levites have sinned. They haven't kept themselves separate from the nations that are around them. The Lord hates the practices of those nations. He hates what the Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites and Jebusites do. He also hates what the Ammonites, Moabites, Egyptians and Amorites do.

2 "The men of Israel have gotten married to the daughters of some of those people. They've also taken some of those women for their sons to marry. So they've mixed our holy nation with the nations around us. By getting married to women who don't worship the Lord, we leaders and officials have led the way in breaking our covenant with him. We haven't been faithful to him."

3 When I heard that, I tore my inner robe and my coat. I pulled hair from my head and beard. I was so shocked I sat down. 4 Then everyone who trembled with fear because of what the God of Israel had said gathered around me. They came because the people who had returned from Babylonia had not been faithful. So I sat there in shock until the time of the evening sacrifice.

5 Then I got up. I had been very sad for quite a while. My inner robe and my coat were torn. I fell down on my knees. I spread my hands out to the Lord my God. 6 I prayed,

"You are my God. I'm filled with shame and dishonor. I can hardly look to you and pray. That's because our sins are piled up above our heads. Our guilt reaches all the way to the heavens. 7 We are filled with it. It has been like that ever since the days of our people who lived long ago.

"Kings of other countries have killed many of us and our kings and priests with their swords. They've forced others to leave their own land. They've taken them away as prisoners. They've robbed others. They've made still others feel ashamed and dishonored.

"All of those things have happened to us because we've committed so many sins. And that's how things still are to this very day.

8 "But you are the Lord our God. Now you have shown us your favor for a short time. You have allowed a few of us to remain here. Your temple has given us new hope. So you have made things easier for us. You have given us a little rest from our slavery. 9 We are still slaves. But you are our God. You haven't deserted us. You haven't left us in our slavery. You have been kind to us. The kings of Persia have seen it. You have given us new life to repair your temple and rebuild it. You have given us a place of safety in Judah and Jerusalem.

10 "You are our God. What can we say after the way you have blessed us? We said no to what you commanded us to do.

11 "You gave us your commands through your servants the prophets. You said, 'You are entering the land to take it as your own. The sinful practices of its people have polluted it. They have filled it with their unclean acts from one end to the other. The Lord hates all of their practices. 12 So don't let your daughters get married to their sons. And don't let their daughters marry your sons. Don't make a peace treaty with them at any time. Then you will be strong. You will eat the good things the land produces. And you will leave all of it to your children as their share. They and their children after them will enjoy it forever.'

13 "Our evil acts and our terrible sins have brought about the things that have happened to us. You are our God. Because we sinned so much, you should have punished us even more than you have. But you have left many of your people alive. 14 Suppose we don't obey your commands again. And suppose we continue to get married to people who commit sins that you hate. If we do, you will be so angry with us that you will destroy us. You won't leave us even a few people. You won't leave anyone alive.

15 "Lord, you are the God of Israel. You are holy. You always do what is right. Today you have left many of your people alive. Here we are with all of our guilt. You see the guilt of our sin. Because we have sinned, not one of us can stand in front of you."

The People Admit They Have Sinned

10 Ezra was praying and admitting to God that his people had sinned. He was sobbing and throwing himself down in front of the house of God. Then a large crowd gathered around him. Men, women and children were there. They too sobbed bitterly.

2 Shecaniah spoke to Ezra. Shecaniah was the son of Jehiel. He belonged to the family line of Elam. Shecaniah said, "We haven't been faithful to our God. We've gotten married to women from the nations that are around us. In spite of that, there is still hope for Israel. 3 So let's make a covenant in the sight of our God. Let's promise to send away all of those women and their children. That's what you have advised us to do. Those who respect our God's commands have given us the same advice. We want to do what the Law says.

4 "Get up, Ezra. This matter is in your hands. Do what you need to. We will be behind you all the way. Be brave and do it."

5 So Ezra got up. He made the leading priests and Levites and all of the people of Israel take an oath. He made them promise they would do what Shecaniah had suggested. And they took the oath.

6 Then Ezra left the house of God. He went to Jehohanan's room. Jehohanan was the son of Eliashib. While Ezra was there, he didn't eat any food. He didn't drink any water. That's because he was filled with sadness. He sobbed because the people weren't faithful to the Lord's commands.

EZEKIEL

Who wrote this book? The prophet Ezekiel wrote this book.

Why was this book written?

There are two parts to this book. The first part tells that people in Judah were bad. They did not obey God. God had tried to teach them to obey him. He had to punish them. The second part tells that God will bring his people back to their land. A new temple will be built in Jerusalem too.

What do we learn about God in this book?

God only does good things. He cannot do bad things. He cannot live with bad people.

What is special about this book?

Ezekiel tells the people what God says. Sometimes he acts out God's message. Ezekiel also describes a great temple. It will be built in Jerusalem someday.

When was this book written?

Ezekiel wrote this book after Jerusalem was destroyed.

Where was this book written?

The people of Judah were taken away from their homes. Ezekiel was taken too. He wrote this book when he was a slave in a far away land called Babylon.

What chapters tell about Ezekiel's experiences?

Ezekiel has a vision Ezekiel 1 Ezekiel acts out the fall of Jerusalem Ezekiel 4 Jerusalem is like a cooking pot Ezekiel 24:1-14 Ezekiel is a guard for Israel Ezekiel 33 Ezekiel has a vision of dry bones coming to life Ezekiel 37:1-14

The Lord Gives Ezekiel Visions of His Glory

1 I was 30 years old. I was with my people who had been taken away from their country. We were by the Kebar River in the land of Babylonia. On the fifth day of the fourth month, the heavens were opened. I saw visions of God.

2 It was the fifth day of the month. Jehoiachin had been king of Judah. It was the fifth year since he had been brought to Babylon as a prisoner. 3 A message came to me from the Lord. I was by the Kebar River in Babylonia. The Lord put his strong hand on me there. I am Ezekiel, the son of Buzi. I'm a priest.

4 I looked up and saw a windstorm coming from the north. I saw a huge cloud. The fire of lightning was flashing out of it. Bright light surrounded it. The center of the fire looked like glowing metal.

5 I saw in the fire something that looked like four living creatures. They appeared to have the shape of a man.

Continues...