ENGLISH 2 - summer reading: Bible

english 2 summer reading (the Bible)

Adam and Eve / Garden of Eden

• created on 5th day

• can eat anything in garden except fruit from tree of knowledge of good and evil

• serpent convinces them that the fruit is harmless

  > they eat it and gain knowledge (ex.they are naked)

• they are punished and this is where sin comes from

Cain and Abel

• sons of adam/eve

• abel = shepherd / cain = farmer

• cain brings some crop but abel brings BEST sheep

• cain is JEALOUS of how the Lord only cares about abel’s offering

  > tries to kill abel

  > “where is abel?” > “am i my brother’s keeper?”

  > abel is punished by being a restless wanderer but God shows MERCY and marks him so he isn’t murdered (abel’s fear)

Noah’s ark

• God wants to DESTROY everything and make the earth NEW

  > tells noah to build ark and take 2 of every animal (1 male/1 female) and his family and food

• rain for 40 days/nights

• noah sends out dove to see if there was still water (when dove finds land it won’t return)

  > Lord promises to not curse earth again and blesses noah

Tower of Babel

• everyone spoke 1 language

• wanted to build tower to reach heavens (thought they had the same power as God)

• God made everyone speak different languages

  > confusion forces them to disperse over entire earth

Abraham, Sarah, Hagar, Ishmael

• Abraham is commanded to go to his land and make great nation

  • is with wife sarah and nephew lot

• lies and says Sarah is sister so the pharaoh marries sarah and abraham is basically royalty

  • Lord tells pharaoh the truth and he returns sarah to abraham

• God makes covenant w/Abraham = he will have as many children as stars in sky

  • sarah is barren so she allows him to have kids with their servant Hagar

    > he does and sarah regrets it and forces hagar to flee

    > God tells her to go back and her son’s name is ishamel

• sarah is 90 and abraham is 100 when they have son named issac

• sarah doesn’t like ishamel and God allows abraham to send hagar away

  > leaves child in bush bc no water but God provides

• abraham is tested and told to sacrifice only son as offering

  > willingly does it but before he kills a ram appears

FATHER ABRAHAM HAD MANY SONS

Jacob and Esau

• twins esau (older, hairier, hunter) and jacob (younger, shaven, favorite)

• esau sells birthright to jacob for stew

• dying dad asks esau to bring him meal that he can bless (grant birthright aka land/money)

  > mom dresses jacob in goat fur and jacob receives blessing

  > esau is mad when he returns and threatens to kill

  > jacob flees

  • angels tell jacob esau+400 men are after him

    > scared and gets many animals in hopes of being accepted as servant

    > jacob —> israel (he has striven w/God)

Lot and his wife

• 2 angels feasting at Lot’s house and men from sodom (town) want to see

  > he offers his 2 daughters but they want to harm him

  > angels blind the men

• angels tell Lot’s family to flee bc the city wlll be destroyed but he hesitated so the men seized them

  > escape to small city but wife looks back and turns to ash

• Lot is old and daughters are scared he will die before they find husbands

  > they get him drunk and have children by him

Joesph, dreams, coat, time in egypt

• jacob’s favorite son and receives multicolor coat his brothers are jealous of

• 2 dreams

  - brothers’ sheaves bow to his

  - sun, moon, stars bow to him

• brothers plot to kill him but instead throw him in a put and sold him to ishmaelite traders

  > faked death by putting goat blood on coat (jacob is sad)

• he is sold to an egyptian official and is successful

• the official’s wife accuses him of assault = thrown in jail

• interprets dreams for cupbearer and baker in jail

  • cupbearer restored to position and asked to remember joseph (forgets but eventually remembers)

  • baker executed

• pharaoh dreams of 7 fat cows eaten by 7 skinny and 7 good ears grain swallowed by 7 bad

  > 7 years abundance 7 famine

  > joseph is in charge of egypt

• his brothers are sent to egypt for grain and he recognizes them but doesnt say

  • instead he accuses them of being spies, demands they return with benjamin, hides his cup in ben’s sack of grain, accuses them of theft

  • eventually reveals himself and they get land and good

• joseph’s dreams came true and he remained loyal through hardship

moses, egypt and plagues

• pharaoh does not like growing israelite population

  > enslaves all and orders baby boys to be killed

• baby moses is thrown into river and raised by pharaoh’s daughter

• he kills an egyptian and tries to flee but God tells him through burning bush to free his people

• 10 plagues

  1. water turned to blood

  2. frogs

  3. gnats

  4. flies

  5. all livestock dies

  6. boils

  7. hail

  8. locusts

  9. darkness

  10. death of firstborn

      • israelites marked door with lamb’s blood and spared (passover)

• israelites are freed and guided by cloud and fire

  > parting of red sea and closing on egyptians

• God gives moses 10 commandments to read on Mt. sinai

Manna from heaven

• israelite journey from egypt everyone is hungey

  > Lord says he will rain bread and to collect enough for each day (6th day = double)

• double on 6th so they can rest on 7th aka sabbath

• aaron takes omer of manna to put in jar for lord

  > lasted 40 years until they reached promised land

David and Goliath, Bathsheba

• david is small goliath is huge

• david has 5 small stones and sling

  > hits goliath in head then kills him with his own sword

  >anointed king of israel and defeats philistines

• bathsheba is married but david gets her pregnant

  > he gets her husband drunk and sends him into front battle lines and he dies

  > marries bathsheba next morning (displeases Lord)

• rich man takes poor man’s only lamb (god gave him everything and he killed uriah)

  > david is punished and his son dies

Wisdom of Solomon

• has wisdom and can determine good/evil

• 2 prostitutes

  • given birth 3 days apart but when sleeping the second woman to give birth laid on her son and he died

    > takes the other baby as own

    > woman notices and confronts (denial)

  • solomon says he will cut baby in half

    > real mom says just let her keep the baby (can’t see her child killed)

Samson and Delilah

• samson will deliver israel from philistines and he will be set apart for the Lord (no haircuts, touching dead things, alcohol)

• can kill lion with bare hands

• marries philistine woman and breaks nazarite vows

  > delilah (philistine) is used to find secret of his strength

• he lies 3 times before saying if his hair is cut he loses strength

  > head is shaven and he is blinded

  > asks for one more moment of strength and he pushes down a pillar causing his death and deaths of many philistines

vanity of life

1. everything is meaningless

2. chasing pleasure to find meaning (wealth, work, success, wisdom)

   • all feels unsatisfying

   • earthly pleasures leave feeling of emptiness without knowing lord (actions are not grounded in God)

3. time and purpose for everything

Jonah and whale

• Lord tells him to go to nineveh but flees to a ship

  > storm and ship needs to lighten = jonah allows himself to be thrown into sea bc maybe he caused this evil

• swallowed by big fish for 3 days/nights

  • admits his mistake and is vomited onto dry land

    > goes to nineveh and instead of telling people to repent (original plan) he says city will be overthrown in 40 days

  • king hears and tells people to repent

    > jonah goes to far side of city to see it’s destruction and God gives him plant which he doesnt care for but when it withers he is mad

  • if he pities a plant why shouldn’t God pity a whole city

Esther

• king ahasuerus had feast and on 7th day he wanted to show off wife (she never came)

  > search for new wife

• esther’s uncle mordecai took her in after her dad died and made her presentable

  > king falls in love

• esther risks life to help jews

• man named haman plans to hang her and mordecai and reveals plan at feast

  > he is hung

ruth

• ruth is loyal to her mother in law

• goes to work in field belonging to wealthy man Boaz

  > he notices her kindness and makes sure she is taken care of

• naomi has idea to keep family line going

  • ruth go to boaz at night and uncover feet (sign of humility) and ask him to marry her

    > he is willing but says there is another man who has 1st right

    > that man declines and they get married

Job, patience in suffering

• he is a blameless man who is rich

• Lord allows satan to test him

  • takes belongings > thanks the Lord and doesn’t charge God w/wrong

  • attacks health > thinks it is right to receive evil bc he also receives good

• doesn’t understand the sudden misfortune

• the wicked will prosper

• challenged again (if he can’t control these beasts can he correct who created them?)

  > repents for questioning

  > his friends are rebuked for speaking falsely

  > Job’s fortune is restored

Daniel in the lion’s den

• daniel is faithful to God > favor and compassion

• nebuchadnezzar had image of gold everyone needed to worship

  > daniel pays no attention

  > sent to lion’s den (they say the God he worships will deliver him)

• he returns unharmed and king decrees everyone should fear the God of daniel

Joseph, Mary

• angel Gabriel of the Lord comes to mary before she and joseph got married and said she a virgin will conceive a son (immanuel)

• joseph is scared and wants to divorce but angels says dont fear

Jesus’s birth

• born in manger in bethlehem

the magi

• 3 wise men sent by the king from the east to find Jesus

  • herod wanted to kill him so he tricked them into thinking he wanted to worship him too

• they follow the star to the manger

• brought gifts of gold, frankincense, myrrh

• warned in a dream to not return to herod, ruining his plan

King Herod slaughtering the innocents

• killed all boys under age 2 out of anger (he was tricked by the wise men)

John the Baptist

• preached in the wilderness of the kingdom of heaven

• baptized people in the river jordan after they confessed sins

• baptized Jesus

temptation of Christ

• led by spirit into wilderness and tempted by devil

• fasted for 40 days/nights

• devil says if you are son of god make stones into bread

  > men shall not live by bread alone but by every word that comes from the mouth of God

  > satan continues to tempt but each time Jesus says “it is written”

betrayal by Judas

• plot to kill Jesus

• Judas (1 of 12 disciples) asks chief priest what they will do if he hands Jesus to them (30 silver)

• goes to Jesus in Gethsemane with crows (the one he kisses is him)

Simon denies Jesus 3 times

• servant comes to him and asks was he with Jesus

  > doesn’t know what she means

• another servant sees him and says that man was with Jesus

  > he does not know the man

• bystander says he HAS to be the one (accent)

  > he does not know the man

• “before the rooster crows, you will deny me 3 times”

(at last supper Simon declared he would never fall away from Jesus even though Jesus said they all would and look what happened)

Pontius Pilate at Jesus’s trial

• Judas brings back silver and admits sin

  > hangs himself

• Pilate is gov. and calls Jesus “King of the Jews” and amazed when Jesus remained silent after every accusation

Crucifixion at Golgotha

• Jesus is crucified on cross on hill w/other man and is mocked

• cries out to Lord

• curtain of the temple was torn in 2 and earth shook, rocks split, tombs opened and saints that recently fell asleep were raised

• buried in tomb

Sermon on the mount

• one of Jesus’s most famous teachings

• beatitudes (8 blessings that show the value in the heart NOT power, money, etc)

• salt and light

• he will fulfill the law

• anger hurts the Lord

• do not commit adultery (better to lose one of your members than that let your whole body go to hell)

• divorce should not be taken lightly

• do not make false promises (do not swear by anything)

• do not seek revenge

• love your enemies

• give to the needy

• the Lord’s prayer

• fast in secret (out of intention for the Lord)

• you cannot serve god and money (don’t treasure earthly things)

• do not be anxious

• don't be judgemental

• ask, and it will be given

• golden rule and the easy way leads to destruction

• a tree and its fruit (do not be fooled by outward appearance)

• build your house on the rock 

Lazarus

• he is ill but it is so Jesus can be glorified through it

• Jesus and disciples go to him when he died

• Jesus raised him from the dead

Good Samaritan (parable)

• lawyer asks “how to get eternal life” = love the Lord with all heart, soul, mind…and your neighbor as yourself

  • man asks who is neighbor

• when a man is beaten and a good samaritan (disliked by Jews) stops to bind wounds and take care of him at inn

  > neighbor is the one who showed him mercy

The Lost Sheep (parable)

• pharisee says Jesus receives and eats with sinners

• Jesus says if he had 100 sheep in a field and 1 got lost, go back and find the 1 (and rejoice)

  • more joy in heaven in 1 sinner who repents than 99 righteous people who need no repentance

the Prodigal Son

• 2 sons and younger asked for share of property

  > left and spent recklessly

  > famine hits and he ate with pigs

  • went home and begged for father’s forgiveness (father feels compassion)

• father dresses this son up in best robe and kills best calf to celebrate finding lost son whom he thought was dead

  > son who never disobeyed was angry his brother was celebrated after losing all money

definition of love

• “Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. it does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends.”