This is undoubtedly The Christmas story, explaining how it all began when Mary gave birth to Jesus in a stable. The Three Wise Men, The shepherds, and King Herod all put in appearances. It’s read by the late great John Le Mesurier (and introduced by Natasha of course). Our thanks to Onceuponaworld.net for letting us use this audio. You can buy a complete set of audio bible stories from them. For the original Bible story, see St. Luke. Duration: 6.30.

Hello This is Natasha, and as it’s getting near a very special time of year, Prince Bertie the Frog would like you to hear a very special story. It’s the story of the first Christmas and it’s read by a famous English actor called John Le Mesurier.

Mary was sitting in the sun outside her house. it was a normal day, a bit of cooking, a bit of helping around the house. She was having a few minutes rest, when suddenly an angel appeared. “Are you Mary?”, he asked. “Yes, who are you?”, the startled girl replied. “I’m an angel from God”, and I have a surprise for you. You’re going to have a baby.” Mary raised her hand to her mouth. “It would be a surprise, I’m not even married.”

The angel knew that Mary was going to marry Joseph. He explained the details. ‘Your child will be the Son of God, he will be loved throughout the world for thousands of years.’ Mary thought she was dreaming. ‘It is hard to understand,’ she said hesitantly, ‘what shall I call the baby?’ ‘His name is Jesus,’ the angel answered. ‘Now I must fly.’ And he was gone.

Mary sat for a very long time without saying anything. She thought about all the angel had said, and she prayed a nice thank you to God. ‘Jesus,’ she thought. ‘That’s a nice name.’

Mary married Joseph, and they both left for Bethlehem, where they were going to live.

They had to travel a long way, so Mary rode on a donkey while Joseph walked beside her.

They arrived in the town at nightfall, and Joseph asked if there was somewhere to stay, because his wife was going to have a baby. Someone said, ‘Try the inn, they rent out rooms.’

They walked down the quiet streets, Joseph was worried about his wife, Mary who was feeling more and more tired.

‘Here we are,’ said Joseph. He told Mary to wait outside while he went in to arrange things.

A few minutes later, a miserable Joseph came out. ‘There’s no room at the inn.’

The couple sadly left the inn, and found a stable to sleep in.

During the night Mary had her baby, and said to Joseph, ‘He shall be named Jesus,’ Joseph nodded. ‘Lovely,’ he said.

***

Not so far away, there were some shepherds looking after their sheep. The angel suddenly appeared, and the shepherds looked surprised. The angel said, ‘Don’t worry. I’ve come to tell you some happy news. The Son of God has been born in Bethlehem tonight, go and see him.’

To the amazement of the shepherds, the sky was filled with angels singing. ‘Glory to God, and peace to all men.’

‘Come on lads,’ said one of the shepherds, ‘Let’s go and have a look.’

They found Mary, Joseph and little Jesus just as the angel had said, and while the sheep and cows looked on, the men all prayed to God. The baby lay asleep in a manger, with lots of warm cloths to cover him.

***

In those days there was a King called Herod. He got to hear of Jesus and was worried about it. ‘King of the Jews, eh?’ (For that is what Jesus was called) ‘I’ll give him ÒKing of the Jews.Ó Not if I’ve got anything to do with it.’

He heard that three wise men were going to visit Jesus. They had seen a very bright star in the night sky, and were going to follow it. They knew that it was shining right over the manger.

‘Go and find where he is,’ Herod said to the wise men. ‘I want to worship him.’ As the three men left, Herod chuckled to himself. ‘Worship him!’ he laughed. ‘Get rid of him, more like. King of the Jews indeed. I’m King of the Jews.’

He looked out of the window and shouted to the three wise men. ‘Hurry back, I can’t wait to worship Jesus.’

What a nasty man.

The three wise men travelled at night, following the bright star. Finally they arrived, and gave the baby Jesus lots of presents. There was gold, and frankincense and myrrh to make him smell nice.

The men worshipped Jesus, and thanked God for sending him to the world.

They were just going to go back home when God said, ‘Don’t tell Herod where Jesus is. He wants to hurt him, not worship him.’

‘Right,’ said the three wise men. ‘We’ll go back a different way.’

And they did, so Herod never found out where Jesus was.

Companies may rely on trusty corporate gift baskets but when it comes to giving a loved one a gift you may want to take some time, look at the many holiday gift baskets that you could send them, and then choose Christmas gift baskets themed to the people who will be getting them.

At the top of the mountain, God told Moses ten things to remember. They were the ten things that make a good or bad person. They were called The Ten Commandments. This bible story is read, once again, in the beautiful tones of the late John Le Mesurier.

We are publishing a set of six bible stories from this series. You can buy the complete set from Onceuponaworld.net.

Introduced by Natasha Lee Lewis. Read by John Le Mesurier. Duration 4.10

Moses walked through the mighty storm, up the mountain towards God.
The children of Israel watched the lone figure staggering into the blackness, as the thunder and lightning raged.

God said, ‘I am your God, come to me.’
Moses got to the top, and God told him ten things to remember. They were the ten things that make a good or bad person. They were called The Ten Commandments.

‘The first thing to remember
When you are being good
Is have no other Gods but me
I don’t see why you should.
The second thing is simple.
Whatever else you do
Don’t worship models made of clay
Don’t make an idol in that way
I’d get annoyed with you.

And in the third commandment
You mustn’t ever say
God, Lord or Heaven in a joke
For that would spoil my day.
The fourth thing you must never do -
Upset my Sunday rest.
I’ve given you the other days
To do your work in many ways
On Sunday you can have a laze
And wear your Sunday best.

Number five’s a good one,
Remember what I say,
Don’t ever upset Mum and Dad
In any little way.

The sixth commandment sure makes sense
I know that when I say
No killing is allowed, but then
You wouldn’t would you? Even when
You get annoyed with other men
And don’t get your own way.

If you are getting married
The seventh rule is this,
Don’t try and love another
Or give the girls a kiss.
At number eight there’s something
I’m sure you’d never do,
Don’t steal a thing, at any time
From anyone, for any rhyme
Or reason - as it is a crime,
And they would capture you.

The ninth one to remember
If you do as you’re bid,
Don’t blame a man for stealing
Unless you’re sure he did.
With all the people in the world
Your neighbour is a friend.
So don’t be jealous even when
You want his goat or horse or hen,
For that’s commandment number ten,
It’s at the very end.

Moses listened open mouthed as God told him all about the commandments. ‘Can you say it again? I didn’t have time to write them down.’
God said nothing, but waved his mighty hand over Mount Sinai. Lightning flashed, and smoke covered Moses. When it cleared, he saw all the commandments beautifully written on two pieces of stone.

Moses thanked God for his help, and began to stagger down the mountain with his commandments.
On the way down he had a good think about things.

Download Water into Wine

This is the story of the most fun-loving miracle of all time - turning water into wine. Jesus proves himself to be the perfect guest when the wine runs out at a wedding in Cana, and produces his first miracle.

It is read in the rich tones of John Le Mesurier and comes, once again, courtesy of our friends at Once Upon a World

Introduced by Natasha. Duration 3.30 Minutes.

You might also be interested in these external links:

Cultural Background and Cross References

John 2.1 King James Version

When Jesus really started teaching people about God and Heaven, he chose some men to travel with him. They were called the disciples. You probably won’t remember all their names, but here are some of them - Simon, and Andrew his brother, and James and John, who were also brothers. As they all journeyed together, Jesus did lots of wonderful things called miracles - things that no on else could ever do. We know how he did them, don’t we? God helped him.

Jesus and the disciples had been invited to a wedding in Cana of Galilee.

Everybody was having a great time, eating and drinking and dancing about. Suddenly someone said, ‘There’s no more wine.’

Everyone stopped dancing and groaned. Mary, the mother of Jesus was there, and turned to her son and said, ‘Can’t you do something?’ Jesus thought for a moment. ‘Bring those water pots over here,’ he said, ‘make sure they’re nice and full.’

The servants did just as he said, they filled up the pots with water, and stood them in front of Jesus.

‘Now,’ said Jesus. ‘Take a cup of the water, and let the master taste it.’

The man took a sip. ‘It’s wine!’ he cried. ‘It’s lovely wine! It’s much nicer than the wine we had at the beginning of the wedding!’

The disciples turned to Jesus and smiled. ‘Changing water into wine - that’s a real miracle,’ they said.

Jesus looked at them, and gave a little smile up to the sky

However bad humanity is, the animals are innocent. Every child understands and sympathises with that message, and the story of the greatest animal rescue of all time will always appeal to children.

This ancient tale of natural disaster and survival is introduced by Natasha (of course), and read in the quintessentially English, laid-back tones of John Le Mesurier.

Thanks to our friends at Onceuponaworldfor sharing this story with us. You can find more children’s Bible stories there.

You might also be interested in these external links

Noah’s Ark in Wikepedia
Merriam Webster Definition of Ark
King James Version of Genesis Book 6

Adam and Eve had sons, and their sons had sons, and the sons of the sons had sons. By that time there were lots of people on the world. God sat back and watched them. He saw them hurting each other, being selfish, and not thinking about him very much.

But God saw Noah, who was a very good man, and said, ‘I like Noah, but I don’t like the others much.’

The world had not turned out quite as well as he had hoped, so he decided to have a great storm, which would cause a flood, so he could start again. The flood would soon get rid of all the bad men, animals and everything that lived.

Before God started the storm he told Noah how to build a great boat - the ark. He told him how long it should be, how many rooms it should have, and how many windows and doors.

God said, ‘Now listen, Noah, when your ark is finished, I want you to get two of every animal, two of every bird, and all the insects and bugs you can lay your hands on. Then get your wife, your sons, and their wives, and put the whole lot in the ark. Right?’

Noah said he would do it, and the ark was built. Just as the last nails were hammered in, the sky went black and the lightning started flashing. God had turned on the storm.

‘Quick,’ shouted Noah, ‘everybody in. No pushing, you lions. Hurry up at the back, tortoises.’

Just in time, the door was shut and locked. For nearly six weeks it rained and rained and rained. All the ground was covered with water, and even the trees and mountains were covered.

But the ark sailed on. It bounced up and down a bit in the rough sea, but all the animals, all the birds, all the family, even old Noah, were safe and happy inside.

After a while the rain stopped banging on the roof, and sunlight started to shine through the cracks in the door and windows. Noah knew it was time to find out if the water had gone down.

He thought, ‘If I send out one of the doves it will soon tell me if there is any land showing yet.’

***

So that day, nearly a year after the ark had started its journey, Noah opened the window and the dove flew out into the clear blue sky. Noah looked round. He certainly couldn’t see any land, just sea, sea, sea. (As far as he could see.) The dove came back looking a bit fed up. ‘No good,’ it said.

A week later, Noah sent out the dove again. This time it came flying back, proudly carrying an olive twig in its beak.

That told Noah the water had gone down enough for some land to appear, so he left it a few days and then opened the door of the ark. Al the animals ran out on to the dry land; the horse prancing about, the kangaroos jumping up and down, and the lions growling happily.

They all thanked Noah for the lift, and went on their way.

God spoke to Noah. He said, ‘ I promise I won’t flood the world again. Go now, and let all your children and grandchildren make the world a really nice place to live in.’

God went away again, leaving a lovely rainbow to show that he was going to keep his promise.

The Creation and Adam and Eve Audio

This charming story based on the beginning of the Old Testament is read by the late John Le Mesurier, most famous for his role as Sergeant Wilson in the long running and much loved television series, Dad s Army. The start of everything, and the mistake of Adam and Eve with the apple in the Garden of Eden is all told with gentle charm. This version for children was written by Robert Duncan and Storynory would like to thank Once Upon a World for sharing this very special audio with us. The entire collection can be bought from the Once Upon a World website.

Introduced - of course - by Natasha. Read by John Le Mesurier. Duration 7 Minutes.

For the full text read on;

On the first day the world had ever known, God had a busy week in front of him. He said, ‘We will have light and darkness, and I will call the light day, and the dark part night.’ It all happened just as he said.

On the second day God decided there should be lots of sky all round the world. He called the sky Heaven. The next day he made all the land, and all the seas. He said that grass and plants and fruit would grow on the land.

On Thursday God worked a bit more on the light and darkness. He put finishing touches to it and threw in lots of stars. He was very pleased with what he had done.

The fifth day was very important for God. He made all the birds, and all the fishes. ‘Have lots of children,’ he told them. That’s why there are so many birds in the sky and fishes in the sea.

He had to sleep, and the next morning he said, ‘Today I shall make all the animals for the land, and if I have time I shall make a man, and he can be just like me.’ He thought that was a very good idea.

By this time it was the world’s seventh day - Sunday. God was very tired, he had worked hard for six whole days.

‘I shall make this my day of rest,’ he said.

And that’s why we’re all a bit lazy on Sundays.

When God had rested for a while, he got down to making the most beautiful garden. He called it the Garden of Eden. It had wonderful trees, and flowers. It even had lots of birds and animals in it. Whatever your favourite animal is, it was there.

God put the man he had made into the garden. The man rubbed his eyes and looked all round. God said to him, ‘Now listen, Adam (that was the man’s name) you can eat the fruit, climb the trees, paddle in the rivers and jump over the bushes, but there’s one thing you must never do. You must never eat the apples from the big tree in the middle of the garden because that tree tells you what is good and what is bad.’

Adam said, ‘What’s bad?’

‘Never mind,’ said God, ‘you go and have a nice time, and forget about that tree.’

God peeped out of the sky quite often to see how Adam was getting on, and soon he realised Ð Adam was lonely. God thought, ‘he hasn’t got any friends, no one to talk to Ð he will become unhappy soon.’

So one night, when Adam was asleep, God made a woman to be a friend for him. He called her Eve.

Adam and Eve got on very well together. They used to play with the animals, and eat lots of fruit from all the trees. Except one - the forbidden tree.

One day they decided to walk to the middle of the garden, and there was the most beautiful apple hanging from this special tree.

There was also a big nasty snake in the tree, who said, ‘Hey, why don’t you two eat that apple, it’s the nicest, biggest, juiciest apple I ever saw.’ Adam looked worried. ‘We’re not allowed to, God said so.’

‘Oh, don’t worry about that,’ said the horrible snake. ‘Have a bite, go on.’

Adam looked at Eve, and Eve looked at Adam, and the apple looked lovely. Eve tasted the apple.

‘Go on, try it,’ she said. Adam had a bite, and at once felt ashamed because he hadn’t any clothes on.

It just happened that God was walking in the garden that day, and when Adam and Eve heard him coming up the path, they ran to hide.

God was very angry when he found them. ‘You have eaten the fruit, haven’t you?’ he demanded. Adam said they had, but explained that the snake said it would be all right.

God told the snake that he was going to be the nastiest animal in the world, and he told Adam and Eve that now they would know everything about good and bad, for what good it would do them, and he turned them out of the garden of Eden and said they must look after themselves.

There was a great storm, and God went back to Heaven, leaving a flaming sword to make sure nobody touched the tree again.

You might also be interested in these external links:

• Wikipedia on Adam and Eve
• The Online Tribute to Dad’s Army

We are pleased to say that you will shortly be hearing John Le Mesurier’s unmistakeably unflappable tones on Storynory. Our friends at Once Upon a World have uncovered some recordings he made many years ago of Bible Stories, specially adapted for children by Robert Duncan. Once Upon a World is selling the complete set of stories as audio downloads, but they are letting us publish six of them for free here. We are saving up one - the Nativity - for Christmas.

The Once Upon a World take on the Bible is fresh, original, and wry. They aren’t quite the King James VI version, but we trust they will appeal to children - and they are certainly very good tales. We feel that John Le Mesurier’s style of reading follows naturally from Natasha, who will introduce all the stories. We hope that you will agree. In any case, let us know.

In due course, you will find all the this special audio series here on Storynory, under the Bible Stories category.