Adventure Bible for Early Readers, NIrV

by Lawrence O. Richards

Overview

Ready for Adventure?

The Adventure Bible® for Early Readers takes you on a fun, exciting journey through God’s Word. Along the way you’ll meet all types of people, see all sorts of places, and learn all kinds of things about the Bible. Most importantly, you’ll grow closer in your relationship with God. Here’s a quick tour through the features:

• Life in Bible Times - Articles and illustrations describe what life was like in ancient days
• People in Bible Times - Articles offer close-up looks at amazing people of the Bible
• Let’s Live It! - Hands-on activities help you apply biblical truths to your life
• Did You Know? - Interesting facts help you understand God's Word
• Words to Treasure - Great verses to memorize
• Twenty special pages - Games and other Bible fun, all with a jungle safari theme
• Book introductions, a dictionary, and color maps

Includes the complete New International Reader’s Version (NIrV) which is written at the third grade reading level for children just beginning to explore the Bible on their own.

For games and activities, visit www.AdventureBible.com.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780310739265
Publisher:	Zonderkidz
Publication date:	07/04/2013
Pages:	1536
Product dimensions:	6.30(w) x 9.30(h) x 2.00(d)
Age Range:	6 - 9 Years

About the Author

Lawrence O. Richards is currently a full-time author and speaker. He has written over 200 Christian books, including commentaries on every book of the Bible and Zondervan bestselling Adventure Bible and Teen Study Bible, which he did with his wife, Sue.

Read an Excerpt

NIrV Adventure BIBLE for Early Readers

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By Lawrence O. Richards

Zondervan

Copyright © 2008 Zondervan
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-0-310-71548-1

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Chapter One

Genesis

Who wrote this book?

Moses wrote this book.

Why was this book written?

This book tells how God created the world. It also tells about the special promises God made to Abraham.

What do we learn about God in this book?

God created all things. God loves people. But God wants people to obey him. God promises to save people who trust him.

Who is important in this book?

Important people in this book are Adam, Eve and Noah. Abraham and Sarah are also important. Isaac, Jacob and Joseph are important too.

When did this happen?

No one knows when the creation or the flood happened. Abraham was born about 2000 years before Jesus was born.

Where did this happen?

The first part of Genesis happened somewhere in the Middle East. Many people think that the Garden of Eden was in the country we now call Iraq. The rest of Genesis takes place in Egypt and Canaan.

What are some of the stories in this book?

God creates the world Genesis 1 God creates Adam and Eve Genesis 2 Adam and Eve sin Genesis 3 God saves Noah and the animals Genesis 6-8 God gives Abram a promise Genesis 12 Jacob steals Esau's blessing Genesis 27 Joseph's brothers sell him Genesis 37 Joseph becomes a ruler Genesis 39-41 Genesis

The Beginning

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 gives the ability to tell the difference between good and evil was also there.

10 A river watered the garden. It flowed from Eden. From there it separated into four other rivers.

11 The name of the first river is the Pishon. It winds through the whole land of Havilah. Gold is found there. 12 The gold of that land is good. Onyx and sweet-smelling resin are also found there.

13 The name of the second river is the Gihon. It winds through the whole land of Cush. 14 The name of the third river is the Tigris. It runs along the east side of Asshur. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.

15 The Lord God put the man in the Garden of Eden. He put him there to work its ground and to take care of it.

16 The Lord God gave the man a command. He said, "You can eat the fruit of any tree that is in the garden. 17 But you must not eat the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If you do, you can be sure that you will die."

18 The Lord God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper who is just right for him."

19 The Lord God had formed all of the wild animals. He had also formed all of the birds of the air. He had made all of them out of the ground. He brought them to the man to see what names he would give them. And the name the man gave each living creature became its name.

20 So the man gave names to all of the livestock. He gave names to all of the birds of the air. And he gave names to all of the wild animals.

But Adam didn't find a helper that was right for him. 21 So the Lord God caused him to fall into a deep sleep. While the man was sleeping, the Lord God took out one of his ribs. He closed up the opening that was in his side.

22 Then the Lord God made a woman. He made her from the rib he had taken out of the man. And he brought her to him.

23 The man said,

"Her bones have come from my bones. Her body has come from my body. She will be named 'woman,' because she was taken out of a man."

24 That's why a man will leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife. The two of them will become one.

25 The man and his wife were both naked. They didn't feel any shame.

Adam and Eve Fall Into Sin

3 The serpent was more clever than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. The serpent said to the woman, "Did God really say, 'You must not eat the fruit of any tree that is in the garden'?"

2 The woman said to the serpent, "We can eat the fruit of the trees that are in the garden. 3 But God did say, 'You must not eat the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the garden. Do not even touch it. If you do, you will die.'"

4 "You can be sure that you won't die," the serpent said to the woman. 5 "God knows that when you eat the fruit of that tree, you will know things you have never known before. You will be able to tell the difference between good and evil. You will be like God."

6 The woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good to eat. It was also pleasing to look at. And it would make a person wise. So she took some of the fruit and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her. And he ate it.

7 Then both of them knew things they had never known before. They realized they were naked. So they sewed fig leaves together and made clothes for themselves.

8 Then the man and his wife heard the Lord God walking in the garden. It was the coolest time of the day. They hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden.

9 But the Lord God called out to the man. "Where are you?" he asked.

10 "I heard you in the garden," the man answered. "I was afraid. I was naked, so I hid."

11 The Lord God said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten the fruit of the tree I commanded you not to eat?"

12 The man said, "It was the woman you put here with me. She gave me some fruit from the tree. And I ate it."

13 Then the Lord God said to the woman, "What have you done?"

The woman said, "The serpent tricked me. That's why I ate the fruit."

14 So the Lord God spoke to the serpent. He said, "Because you have done this,

"I am putting a curse on you. You are cursed more than all of the livestock and all of the wild animals. You will crawl on the ground. You will eat dust all of the days of your life. 15 I will put hatred between you and the woman. Your children and her children will be enemies. Her son will crush your head. And you will crush his heel." 16 The Lord God said to the woman, "I will greatly increase your pain when you give birth. You will be in pain when you have children. You will long for your husband. And he will rule over you."

17 The Lord God said to Adam, "You listened to your wife. You ate the fruit of the tree that I commanded you about. I said, 'You must not eat its fruit.'

"So I am putting a curse on the ground because of what you did. All the days of your life you will have to work hard to get food from the ground. 18 You will eat the plants of the field, even though the ground produces thorns and thistles. 19 You will have to work hard and sweat a lot to produce the food you eat. You were made out of the ground. And you will return to it. You are dust. So you will return to it."

20 Adam named his wife Eve. She would become the mother of every living person.

21 The Lord God made clothes out of animal skins for Adam and his wife to wear. 22 The Lord God said, "The man has become like one of us. He can now tell the difference between good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and pick fruit from the tree of life and eat it. If he does, he will live forever."

23 So the Lord God drove the man out of the Garden of Eden to work the ground he had been made out of. 24 The Lord God drove him out and then placed cherubim on the east side of the Garden of Eden. He also placed a flaming sword there. It flashed back and forth. The cherubim and the sword guarded the way to the tree of life.

Cain and Abel

4 Adam made love to his wife Eve. She became pregnant and gave birth to Cain. She said, "With the Lord's help I have had a baby boy." 2 Later she gave birth to his brother Abel.

Abel took care of sheep. Cain worked the ground. 3 After some time, Cain gathered some of the things he had grown. He brought them as an offering to the Lord.

4 But Abel brought the fattest parts of some of the lambs from his flock. They were the male animals that were born first to their mothers.

The Lord was pleased with Abel and his offering. 5 But he wasn't pleased with Cain and his offering. So Cain became very angry. His face was sad.

6 Then the Lord said to Cain, "Why are you angry? Why are you looking so sad? 7 Do what is right. Then you will be accepted. If you don't do what is right, sin is waiting at your door to grab you. It longs to have you. But you must rule over it."

8 Cain said to his brother Abel, "Let's go out to the field." So they went out. There Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.

9 Then the Lord said to Cain, "Where is your brother Abel?"

"I don't know," he replied. "Am I supposed to look after my brother?"

10 The Lord said, "What have you done? Listen! Your brother's blood is crying out to me from the ground.

11 "So I am putting a curse on you. I am driving you away from the ground. It has opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand. 12 When you work the ground, it will not produce its crops for you anymore. You will be a restless person who wanders around on the earth."

13 Cain said to the Lord, "You are punishing me more than I can take. 14 Today you are driving me away from the land. I will be hidden from you. I'll be a restless person who wanders around on the earth. Anyone who finds me will kill me."

15 But the Lord said to him, "No. Anyone who kills you will be paid back seven times." The Lord put a mark on Cain. Then anyone who found him wouldn't kill him.

16 So Cain went away from the Lord. He lived in the land of Nod. It was east of Eden.

17 Cain made love to his wife. She became pregnant and gave birth to Enoch. At that time Cain was building a city. He named it after his son Enoch.

18 Enoch had a son named Irad. Irad was the father of Mehujael. Mehujael was the father of Methushael. And Methushael was the father of Lamech.

19 Lamech married two women. One was named Adah, and the other was named Zillah. 20 Adah gave birth to Jabal. He was the father of those who live in tents and raise livestock. 21 His brother's name was Jubal. He was the father of everyone who plays the harp and flute.

22 Zillah also had a son. His name was Tubal-Cain. He made all kinds of tools out of bronze and iron. Tubal-Cain's sister was Naamah.

23 Lamech said to his wives,

"Adah and Zillah, listen to me. You wives of Lamech, hear my words. I have killed a man because he wounded me. I have killed a young man because he hurt me. 24 Anyone who would have killed Cain would have been paid back seven times. But anyone who hurts me will be paid back 77 times."

25 Adam made love to his wife again. She gave birth to a son and named him Seth. She said, "God has given me another child. The child will take the place of Abel, because Cain killed him."

26 Seth also had a son. He named him Enosh.

At that time people began to worship the Lord.

(Continues...)

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Excerpted from NIrV Adventure BIBLE for Early Readers by Lawrence O. Richards Copyright © 2008 by Zondervan. Excerpted by permission.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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Table of Contents

Contents

Welcome!....................viii
A Word About the NIrV....................x
Genesis....................1
Exodus....................64
Leviticus....................114
Numbers....................151
Deuteronomy....................204
Joshua....................248
Judges....................280
Ruth....................311
1 Samuel....................317
2 Samuel....................357
1 Kings....................393
2 Kings....................433
1 Chronicles....................471
2 Chronicles....................511
Ezra....................554
Nehemiah....................570
Esther....................591
Job....................602
Psalms....................641
Proverbs....................741
Ecclesiastes....................777
Song of Songs....................789
Isaiah....................797
Jeremiah....................878
Lamentations....................953
Ezekiel....................962
Daniel....................1019
Hosea....................1039
Joel....................1052
Amos....................1058
Obadiah....................1069
Jonah....................1072
Micah....................1076
Nahum....................1086
Habakkuk....................1090
Zephaniah....................1095
Haggai....................1100
Zechariah....................1103
Malachi....................1114
Matthew....................1121
Mark....................1164
Luke....................1191
John....................1235
Acts....................1269
Romans....................1310
1 Corinthians....................1330
2 Corinthians....................1349
Galatians....................1362
Ephesians....................1370
Philippians....................1378
Colossians....................1384
1 Thessalonians....................1390
2 Thessalonians....................1395
1 Timothy....................1399
2 Timothy....................1406
Titus....................1411
Philemon....................1415
Hebrews....................1418
James....................1433
1 Peter....................1439
2 Peter....................1446
1 John....................1451
2 John....................1458
3 John....................1460
Jude....................1462
Revelation....................1465
Subject Index....................1487
Illustrations Index....................1501
Activities Index....................1505
Dictionary....................1509
Map Index....................1517