My 3rd Bible Do and Learn Book

Jesus is born
Jesus at the wedding
The good Samaritan
Jesus and the storm
Zacchaeus
Jesus is alive!

bible society
of south africa

© Bible Society of South Africa 2020

Jesus is born

Joseph and Mary went from the town of Nazareth to the town of Bethlehem.

When they came to Bethlehem, there was no room for them to stay at the inn.

In Bethlehem, Mary had a baby.

She wrapped him in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger.

Some shepherds were spending the night in the fields.

They were taking care of their sheep.

An angel of the Lord appeared to the shepherds.

The glory of the Lord shone over them.

They were very frightened.

The angel said to them, “Don’t be afraid! I am here with good news for you.

This very day in Bethlehem Jesus is born. He is the Lord.

You will find a baby wrapped in strips of cloth and lying in a manger.”

Glory to God! Glory to God! Glory to God! Glory to God!

Suddenly there was a great host of angels from heaven, singing,

“Glory to God in the highest heaven, and peace on earth to those with whom he is pleased.”

The angels went back to heaven.

Then the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened.”

So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph and saw the baby lying in the manger.

Some wise men came to look for Jesus.

They came a long way from the east.

A star helped them to find where Jesus was.

The star went ahead of the wise men until it stopped over the place where the child was.

When the men saw the star, how happy they were!

The wise men went into the house.

When they saw the child with his mother Mary, they knelt and worshipped him.

Then they brought out their gifts for the child.

There was gold, myrrh and frankincense.

Jesus at the wedding

In the town of Cana there was a wedding, and the mother of Jesus was there.

Jesus and his disciples had also been invited.

But they ran out of wine.

Jesus’ mother said to him, “They have no wine left.”

But Jesus said to her, “Why must you tell me what to do?

My time has not yet come.”

His mother then told the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”

There were six stone water jars.

Jesus said to the servants, “Fill these jars with water.”

They filled them to the brim.

Then Jesus told the servants, “Now draw some out, and take it to the man in charge of the feast.”

The man in charge tasted the water that had turned into wine.

He did not know where this wine had come from.

So he called the bridegroom and said to him,

“Everyone else serves the best wine first.

But you have kept the best wine until now!”

Jesus did this first miracle in Cana.

From that time on, his disciples believed in him.

The good Samaritan

One day Jesus was talking to the people.

A man asked him, “Who is my neighbour?”

So Jesus told the people a story.

Once a man was going along a road.

Robbers attacked him.

They tore off his clothes and beat him.

They almost killed the man and left him lying there.

A priest was going down that road.

When he saw the man, he passed by, on the other side.

In the same way, a man who helped in the Temple came along.

He went over and looked at the man and then walked past, on the other side.

But a man from the country of Samaria was travelling along the road.

When he saw the poor man who had been beaten up by robbers, he felt sorry for him and went over to him.

He poured oil and wine on his wounds and bandaged them.

Then he placed the man on his own donkey.

He took the man to an inn.

There in the inn he took care of the man.

The next day he took out two silver coins.

He gave them to the innkeeper and said: “Take care of him. When I come back this way, I will pay you back for whatever else you spend on him.”

When Jesus had finished telling the story, he asked, “Which man was like a neighbour to the one who was beaten?”

The man answered, “The one who was kind to him.”

So Jesus said, “You must do the same.”

Jesus and the storm

Jesus got into a boat.

His disciples were also in the boat.

They started across to the other side of the lake.

Jesus was sleeping in the back of the boat.

Suddenly a strong wind began to blow.

The waves began to spill over into the boat, and the boat was about to sink.

But Jesus was still asleep.

The disciples went to Jesus and woke him up.

They said, “Save us, Lord! We are about to die!”

Jesus said, “Why are you afraid?”

Then Jesus got up.

He ordered the winds and the waves to stop.

“Be quiet!” Jesus said. “Be still!”

And there was a great calm.

The disciples were amazed and afraid.

They said to one another, “Who is this man? Even the winds and the waves obey him!”

Jesus and his disciples sailed on across the lake.

Zacchaeus

There was a man named Zacchaeus.

Everybody knew him.

Zacchaeus was a rich man who lived in Jericho.

The people did not like him, for he was a tax-collector.

Zacchaeus collected money from the people.

The money was for the rulers.

One day Jesus arrived in Jericho.

Zacchaeus wanted to see who Jesus was.

But Zacchaeus could not because he was a little man.

Zacchaeus ran ahead of the crowd and climbed up into a tree.

He climbed the tree to see Jesus.

When Jesus came to that place he looked up.

Jesus said, “Hurry down, Zacchaeus. I must stay in your house today.”

Zacchaeus hurried down.

Zacchaeus welcomed Jesus into his house.

Zacchaeus was very glad.

All the people who saw it started grumbling.

They said, “Jesus is staying with a bad man!”

Zacchaeus stood up and said to Jesus,

“Sir, I will give half of everything I have to the poor.

If I have cheated anyone, I will pay him back four times as much.”

Jesus said, “Today everything is right again in this family. I have come to save people who are lost.”

Now, how happy Zacchaeus is!

Jesus is alive

Jesus and his disciples went to a garden.

Jesus prayed to God, “Do with me whatever you want.”

Then Judas came, leading men carrying swords and clubs.

They came and arrested Jesus. Then they took Jesus to the High Priest.

The High Priest asked Jesus, “Are you the Son of God?” Jesus answered, “I am.”

The High Priest then said to the council members, “What should we do with Jesus?”

They answered, “He must die.”

The Jewish leaders then took Jesus to Pilate, who finally turned Jesus over to some soldiers.

The soldiers made fun of Jesus and put a crown of thorns on his head.

They took Jesus to a place called Golgotha.

Golgotha means, “The Place of the Skull”.

The soldiers nailed Jesus to a cross.

Mary, the mother of Jesus, was standing nearby.

She was standing near John, the friend Jesus loved.

Jesus said to his mother, “He is your son.”

He said to his friend, “She is your mother.”

Then John took Mary to live in his home.

Jesus cried out aloud. Then he died.

They took Jesus down from the cross.

Then they buried him in a garden.

They put a big stone in front of the grave.

On Sunday morning some women went to the grave.

They saw the stone had been rolled away.

But the body of Jesus was not there!

An angel from heaven said to the women, “Jesus is alive! Go and tell his friends.”

That same day two men were going to Emmaus.

They were talking about all that happened.

They were very sad.

Jesus came and walked with them.

Jesus told them that he had to die.

Then they came to the village. The men said to Jesus, “Stay with us.”

Jesus went in and sat down to eat with them.

When Jesus gave thanks for the bread, the men knew it was Jesus, but Jesus then disappeared.

At once, the men went back to Jerusalem.

They told their friends what had happened.

They said they had seen Jesus.

The two were telling them how they had seen Jesus.

Suddenly, Jesus himself stood among them.

Jesus said to them, “It is I myself.”

They were full of joy.

They knew that Jesus was alive!

My 3rd Bible Do and Learn Book

English Literacy Programme
First digital edition 2020

© Bible Society of South Africa 2020

Illustrations © Bible Society of South Africa 1985
Illustrations by Annie Vallotton

All rights reserved. No part of this book may, without prior written permission of the copyright holder, be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical or otherwise, either through photocopying, writing, audio recording, or any other system for information storage and retrieval.

Published by the Bible Society of South Africa
P O Box 5500, Tyger Valley 7536, Bellville

www.biblesociety.co.za

Epub-format: ISBN 978-0-7982-2392-8
PDF-format: ISBN 978-0-7982-2391-1