All language subtitles for Charlton Heston Presents The Bible From Genesis To The Passion Parable_Eng

[Music]

how did the bible come to be

the bible wasn't always a book or even a

series of books

in the beginning

there wasn't even a written language

the prophets and holy men who roamed

these arid lands seeking the truth and

preaching god's word as they perceived

it were talking to illiterate audiences

who could only be reached by the

witnessed testimony of the spoken word

their exhortations their songs and

parables the testament of faith they

offered were preserved and passed on

from generation to generation through

the telling of stories

these stories were meant to be told

aloud in the dark to people sitting

around a campfire listening

that's where i come in

i'm a storyteller i'm not a priest or a

scholar i'm going to take you with me on

a journey

a journey exploring the stories in the

bible and the ancient land where they

happened from the nile river to the top

of sinai from the banks of the jordan to

the walls of jerusalem

illustrating them with great works of

art and music from all the millennia of

man's time on earth from that sublime

moment when the first artist reached out

to paint a bull bison on the wall of his

cave

to michelangelo's adam

reaching out to touch the hand of god

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this is the old city of jerusalem built

by king herod and destroyed by the

romans in 70 a.d what you see now is

mostly built during the crusades and

after on the ruins of the ancient city

jerusalem is a holy city to three

religions the mosque the golden dome of

the rock is built over the rock at the

summit of mount moriah where abraham is

said to have taken isaac to sacrifice

him it stands on the temple mount in the

exact spot where the sacred second

temple of the jews stood in the time of

herod

there's the western wailing wall of the

temple enclosure where devout jews come

to pray

the temple itself no longer exists the

roman general titus tore it down stone

by stone along with the rest of the city

that wall is as close as you can get to

the site of the temple without

trespassing on the forbidden inner

precincts

just down the road there stands the

church of the holy sepulchre built on

the site where christ is said to have

been crucified

jerusalem is quite literally the largest

religious center in the world and

certainly

the most spiritually crowded

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this is the southwest corner of the wall

of the temple mount

the rock of abraham on its summit

was held by ancient tradition to be the

center of the world

in a sense the ancients were correct

that rock and the wall which encloses it

and thus the city which surrounds the

wall is the spiritual ground zero of

judaism and christianity

you could say that this is the

cornerstone of western civilization

and so is this

this is the king james translation of

the books of the old and the new

testament

today we call it simply the bible

the word bible comes from the greek

biblos the book

this is surely the book

in its two testaments the bible stands

as law and scripture for two of the

great religions of the world

and it shares with a third the muslim

faith

several of its significant figures and

stories

no book ever changed the world as this

one did

how did that happen

just with stories

words

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in the beginning

god created the heavens

and the earth

the earth was without form and void

the darkness was over all

then the spirit of god moved upon the

face of the deep

god said

let there be

and there light light

and god saw the light it was good so he

divided the light from the darkness god

called the light day in the darkness he

called night

and the evening and the morning were the

first day

now god said

let there be a firmament in the midst of

the waters and let it divide the waters

from the waters and it was so

god called the firmament heaven

and the evening and the morning were the

second day

then god said

let the waters under heaven be gathered

together

and let the dry land appear

it was so

god called the dry land earth

the gathering together of the waters he

called seas and he saw that it was good

so god said

let the earth bring forth grass and

trees yielding fruit

each after its own kind

and it was so

god saw that it was good

and the evening and the morning

were the third day

then god said

let there be lights in the firmament of

heaven

to divide the day from the night

let them be for signs to mark the

seasons the days and the years

let them be

to give light upon the earth

and it was so

god made two great lights the greater

light to rule the day

the lesser light to rule the night he

made the stars also and set them in the

firmament of heaven to divide the day

from the night

and god saw that it was good

and the evening and the morning

were the fourth day

then god said

let the waters bring forth abundantly

moving creatures that have life

and foul that may fly above the earth in

the open firmament of heaven

and he created great whales and every

living creature that moveth in the

waters after its kind and every winged

fowl after its kind and god saw that it

was good and the evening and the morning

were the fifth day

now god said

let the earth bring forth living

creatures

the beasts of the earth

and it was so god made the beasts

each after his kind

cattle and everything that moves upon

the earth

and god saw that it was good

so at last

god said

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let us

make man

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in our own

image after our likeness

and let him have dominion over all the

earth

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so the lord god formed man

out of the dust of the ground

and breathed into his nostrils the

breath of life

and man became a living soul

then god blessed him and said

be fruitful and multiply and replenish

the earth and subdue it

and have dominion over the fish of the

sea and over the fall of the air and

over every living thing that moveth upon

the earth

but then god said

behold i have given you every plant

bearing seed upon the face of all the

earth

and every tree in which there is fruit

to you which shall be for food

and so to every beast of the earth to

every fowl of the air

to all upon the earth wherein there is

life i give every green thing for food

and it was

so

then god saw everything that he had made

and behold

it was very good

in the evening and the morning

were the sixth day

thus the heavens and the earth were

finished

all the host of them

so on the seventh day

god ended his work which he had made

and he rested

these are the generations of the heavens

and the earth

when they were created

in the day that the lord god made them

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the earth says the bible was without

form and void

darkness was upon the face of the deep

void

indeed

but before the creation what was there

when there was nothing

not even light

how can we answer that

stephen hawking the great physicist

tried with another question

were the rules of the universe so

compelling he said

that it created itself

in the book of genesis there's only god

whose very existence defines the

universe

god then chose to create man

in his own image

from the dust to the ground

and for all of us after all only atoms

the dust of the stars

anyway i prefer michelangelo's immortal

image of that sublime moment

he shaped everyone's perception of god

from archbishop to atheist

he gives us an inspired vision of an

almighty god and at his fingertip

the perfection of his creation

adam

waking into life

so on the seventh day god ended his work

which he had made and he rested

then according to genesis the very next

thing god did was to plant a garden

eastward in eden

now where would that be

no one knows of course but in this arid

land the garden of eden would surely

have been an oasis with water maybe like

this one probably a lot greener

how much greener

just as green as he wanted it to be

then the lord god planted a garden

eastward in eaton

and there he put the man he had formed

and he called his name

adam

he put him into the garden to till it to

keep it

and out of the ground the lord god made

every tree grow that is pleasant to the

site and good for food the tree of life

also in the midst of the garden

and the tree

of the knowledge of good and evil

and a river went out of eden to water

the ground from thence it parted

encompassed the whole land and the land

was good

and the lord god commanded the man

saying

of every tree of the garden thou mayest

freely eat

but the tree of the knowledge of good

and evil

thou shalt not eat of it

for in the day that thou eatest thereof

thou shalt surely die

now the lord god had formed every beast

of the field and every fowl of the air

so he brought them to adam to see what

he would call them and whatsoever adam

called every living creature that was

the name thereof adam gave names to all

the fowl and the beasts

but for adam

there was no companion for him

so the lord god said

it is not good

that the man should be alone

i will make him a helpmate

and god caused a deep sleep to fall upon

adam

and while he slept he took one of his

ribs and closed up the flesh thereof

and from the rib which the lord god had

taken from man

he made

woman and brought her to the man

and adam said

this is now bone of my bone

and flesh of my flesh

she shall be called woman

because she was taken out of man

therefore shall a man leave his father

and his mother and shall cleave to his

wife

and they shall be one flesh

and they were both naked the man and the

woman and were not ashamed

now the serpent

was more cunning than any beast which

the lord god had made

and he said to the woman

yay hath god not said ye shall eat of

every tree of the garden

and the woman said

we may eat of the fruit of the trees

which are in the garden but of the fruit

of the tree which is in the midst of the

garden god hath said you shall not eat

of it neither shall you touch it lest

you die

he shall not surely die

said the serpent

for god does know that in the day ye eat

thereof

then your eyes shall be opened and ye

shall be like god

knowing good

and evil

and when the woman saw that the tree was

good for food and

pleasant to the eye it's fruit to be

desired to

make one wise she took the fruit

and did eat and gave also to her husband

and he did eat with her

and the eyes of them both were opened

and they knew that they were naked

and they

sewed fig leaves together

and made themselves aprons then they

heard the voice of the lord god walking

in the garden in the cool of the day

and adam and his wife hid themselves

from the presence of god amongst the

trees of the garden

and the lord god called to adam

where art thou

adam said

i heard thy voice in the garden and i

was afraid because i

i was

naked

so i hid myself

and god said

who told thee that thou wasted naked

hast thou eaten of the tree whereof i

commanded thee that thou should not eat

and adam said

the woman now made to be with me she

gave me of the tree and i did eat

and god said to the woman

what is this that thou hast done

and the woman said

the serpent beguiled me and i did eat

and the lord said to the serpent

because thou hast done this thou art

cursed above every beast of the field

upon thy belly shalt thou go and dust

shalt thou eat all the days of thy life

i will put enmity between thee and the

woman

and between thy seed and her seed

he shall strike thy head

and thou shall strike his heel

to the woman he said

i will multiply thy sorrow

and thy conception

in sorrow

shalt thou bring forth children

and to adam he said

because thou hearkened unto thy wife and

ate of the tree of which i commanded

thee thou must not eat

curse it is the ground for thy sake

in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the

days of thy life

till thou return into the ground for out

of it was thou taken

dust thou art and unto dust shalt thou

return

therefore

the lord god sent them forth from the

garden

he drove out the man and the woman

and placed cherubim at the east of eden

and a flaming sword which always turned

to keep the way

of the tree of life

this is the book of the generations of

adam and the day that god created man

in the likeness of god

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the likeness of god

in every culture and every time man has

tried to capture the face of god in

paint and pencil bronze and marble

of course none of us can say for sure

whether anybody's gotten it right so far

then there was that business with the

apple

when adam and eve ate the apple they

were no longer simply god's creatures

innocent as animals in the safety of the

garden

they chose to know

blessed and cursed with the knowledge of

good and evil

they took their destiny in their own

hands

exiled from the garden after the fall

they and their children forever would be

impelled to find out

to comprehend creation and

understand the god that made them

that's been man's noblest and most

frustrating occupation ever since

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the story of cain and abel begins with a

sacrifice

sacrifice is a theme along with the

image of a lamb that recurs often

through these stories

sometimes filled with terror

and wonder

they are wonderful

wonderfully written and awesome in their

impact on mankind and the world

that impact has been enormous almost

impossible to measure

shaping the way we feel about right and

wrong good and evil promises justice

responsibility

mercy

love

and god

we see this in the next story where even

the actual presence of god and the

certainty of his judgment can't stop the

animal reflex to rage and blood that

seems bred in the bones of man

part of the primal earth from which he's

made

an impulse which bits brother against

brother and ends in the first murder

maybe that's when god decided that

sooner or later he would have to write

down some rules

because she would be the mother of all

living adam called his wife's name eve

and adam knew eve his wife and she

conceived and bore kane and said i have

gotten a man from the lord

and she again bore his brother abel

now abel was a keeper of sheep but cain

was a tiller of the ground

and in time it came to pass that cain

brought of the fruit of the ground an

offering unto the lord

while abel he brought the choicest of

his flock

so the lord had respect unto abel and

his offering but under cain in his

offering

he had no respect

thus cain was very roth

his countenance fell

so the lord said to him

why art thou wroth why hast thy

countenance fallen if thou doest well

shalt thou not be accepted and if thou

doest not well

sin lieth at thy door

now

it came to pass when they were in the

fields that cain quarreled with abel his

brother and rose up against him and

threw him

then the lord said to cain

where is abel thy brother

he said i know not him i'm my brother's

keeper

and the lord god said

what hast thou done

the voice of thy brother's blood cries

out to me from the ground

therefore art thou now cursed from the

earth

which hath opened her mouth to receive

thy brother's blood

from thy hand

henceforth

and thou tillist the ground it shall not

yield unto thee her strength

a fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be

in the earth

and cain said to the lord

my punishment is greater than i can bear

behold

thou hast driven me out this day and

from thy face shall i be hid

i should be a fugitive in the face of

the earth and anyone that finds me

shall slay me

the lord said whosoever slayeth cain

vengeance shall be taken on him

sevenfold

and the lord set a mark upon cain

lest any finding him should kill him

so cain went out from the presence of

the lord and dwelt in the land of nod

in the east of eden

then adam knew his wife again

and begat his son again

in his own likeness after his image

he called his name seth

and eve said

god hath given me

another seed

instead of abel whom came slew

and adam lived many years

and begat sons and daughters

so it came to pass when men began to

multiply in the face of the earth and

daughters were born under them

that the sons of god saw the daughters

of men

that they were fair

and they took them as wives

and after that

when their children were born to them

these same became mighty men

men of renown

then man began to call upon the name of

the

and the lord said

my spirit

shall not always strive with man

for he also

is flesh

his days shall yet be great in the earth

there were giants in the earth

in those days

the story of cain and abel begins with a

lamb sacrificed to god and ends with the

first murder which is also the first

fratricide

i'm puzzled that god accepts abel's land

but rejects cain's grain but some

scholars point out that the original

israelites were shepherd people who

disdained their canaanite neighbors not

only because they were farmers but

because they lived in towns grew grain

and grapes and worshiped pagan gods

[Music]

this hill is what archaeologists call a

tell it's what's left of the ancient

city of jericho the oldest walled city

in the world dating back to before 8000

bc

i'm literally standing on 23 layers of

joshua civilization

the israelites destroyed the city at the

blast of a trumpet in the bulk of joshua

and there is archaeological evidence

that these walls did indeed come a

tumbling down

maybe in some earthquake

i like the biblical notion they were

knocked flat by the collective primal

shout of a people chosen by god

this stone tower uncovered by excavation

of the lower levels is what remains of a

granary marks one of the earliest known

places where man settled down to till

the fields grow grain and store it in a

kind of a bronze age silo like this

in a town

the israelites disdained this preferring

the pure life of the nomadic shepherd

away from the corruption of city living

in genesis the first book of the hebrew

bible also known as the old testament

a crucial story is the flood

which all but wipes man from the face of

the earth

significantly a great flood is found in

the oral and pictorial history of many

peoples with no theological or

geographic connection to the jews

or to their middle eastern homeland

in genesis god chooses to punish mankind

his own creation for their sinful lives

but he singles out one man

noah to carry on to endure

survive

and begin again

now it came to pass that the generations

of the sons of adam multiplied and waxed

fat they rode in the high places of the

earth and ate the increase of the fields

butter of kine and milk of sheep with

fat of lambs and rams of the breed of

bastion

and to drink the pure blood of the grape

and they said our hand is high and the

lord hath not done all this

but their grapes were the grapes of gall

and their wine

as the wine of dragons

and at last the people had corrupted

themselves

they had forgotten

the god that formed them

and when the lord saw this he said

they are children

in whom is no faith

i will hide my face from them and see

what their end will be

but then

god looked upon the earth

and behold it was corrupt the earth was

corrupt before god and filled with

violence

and god saw that the wickedness of man

was in the earth and evil

and it grieved him at his heart but he

had made man

so the lord said

will this people rise up and go a

whoring and forsake me

then my anger shall be kindled against

them

and i will forsake them

i will blot man whom i created from the

face of the earth

both man and beast and the creeping

things and the fowls of the air

it repenteth me that i have made them

but one man found grace in the eyes of

the lord

noah

he was a just man in his

generation and walked with god

god looked upon him saying

this man shall comfort us

and call his name

no

god said

the end of all flesh has come before me

but the earth is filled with violence

and my way upon the earth is corrupted

behold

i will destroy all

with the earth

but go thou

make the an ark

of gopher wood

the length of it shall be 300 cubits the

breadth of its 50 cubits

the height of it 30 cubits

rooms shalt thou make in the ark

and a window and a door set in the side

thereof

tar it within and without with pitch

thus no it did

according to all that god commanded him

and the lord said unto noah

for that i have seen thee righteous

before me in this generation

come thou in all thy house into the ark

for behold i shall bring a flood of

waters to destroy the breath of life

under heaven

and everything that is in the earth

shall die

but with thee will i establish my

covenant

thou and thy sons and thy wife

and thy sons wives with thee

now

of every living thing of all flesh

two of every sort must thou bring into

the ark

male and female

fowls of the air and every beast on the

earth after his kind two of every sort

shall come with thee to keep them alive

and take thou with thee of all food that

is eaten gather it to thee it shall be

for food for thee and for them

do thou keep life

upon the face of all the earth

for i will cause it to rain forty days

and forty nights

and every living substance that i have

made

will i destroy

and noah went in and his sons shem and

ham

and japeth and his wife

and his son's wives with him

into the ark and of beasts and the fowls

and if everything upon the earth there

went in two by two as god commanded noah

two and two of all flesh they went in

male and female and the lord shot them

in

and it came to pass after seven days

that the waters of the flood were upon

the earth all the fountains of the great

deep were broken up and the windows of

heaven were opened and the rain was upon

the earth forty days

and forty nights and the waters

increased and bore up the ark and it was

lifted as the waters prevailed and the

ark went upon the face of the waters

till all the high hills under heaven

were covered

15 cubits upward and the mountains were

covered

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and all died that moved upon the earth

foul and beast and creeping thing

and every man

all died

they were destroyed from the earth

and noah only remained alive and they

that were with him in the ark and the

waters prevailed

but god remembered noah and the ark

he made a wind to pass over the earth

and at last the windows of heaven were

stopped

and the rain restrained

and the fountains of the deep also

and it came to pass at the end of forty

days

that noah opened the window of the ark

and he sent forth a dove

to see

if the waters were dried up

but the dove found no rest for her foot

on the face of the whole earth

so she returned to him

he

put out his hand and took her into the

ark

and he stayed yet another seven days and

again he sent forth the dove

and in the evening

she came to him in low

in her beak was an olive leaf plucked

off

so noah knew

that the waters were abated from the

earth

he opened the ark and behold

the face of the ground was dry the ark

rested on the mountains of ararat

and god spoke unto noah saying

go forth upon the earth

bring with thee every living thing out

of the ark

though noah went forth and all the

creatures with him and builded an altar

under the lord

and god blessed noah and his sons and

said to them

be

fruitful and replenish the earth

for behold i establish my covenant with

you

and with your seed after you

never will i again smite everything

living

as i have done

neither shall there any more be a flood

to destroy the earth

and for my token of the covenant which i

make between me and thee

and all upon the earth after thee for

every generation

i do set my bow in the cloud

and it shall come to pass when i bring a

storm over the earth

that the rainbow shall be seen in the

cloud

and i will look upon it

and i will remember

the waters shall no more become a flood

and out of the ark was the whole earth

overspread

and the lord smelled a sweet saber

and said in his heart

i will not again curse the ground for

man's sake

while the earth remaineth

seedtime and harvest and cold and heat

and summer and winter

and day and night

shall not cease

i will destroy man whom i created from

the face of the earth

i repent that i made them

so god condemns the people he made in

his own image

except for one

noah the first man in the bible to show

the special individuality that separates

humanity from the rest of god's

creatures

again and again we find them in the old

testament the one just man who will do

better bear the burden

mark the path for mankind

the next of these special men we find in

genesis is noah's distant descendant an

old very old childless man

he seems a strange choice yet god picks

him he sends him to a new land to be the

father of nations

abraham

a towering figure in the old testament

his example of the power of faith is a

testament in itself resonating through

the generations

walk thou before me

god says and be perfect

again

sacrifice is the theme

[Music]

now of the sons of noah shem

ham and japheth after the flood

under them were sons born

in their lands

in their families

and by these were the nations divided

the lord scattered them abroad over the

face of all the earth

the generations of noah

they journeyed far and the lord dwelt in

their tents

they took them wives and begat nations

now of the seed of shem was terror who

begat abram in the land of er

and the lord appeared unto abram and

said

get thee from thy country

and from thy kindred

and from thy father's house to a land

that i will throw thee

under thy seed will i give this land

and abram took sarah his wife and all

their substance and went forth

but there was famine and the land could

not bear him

so abram journeyed on through egypt and

the south and returned at last to canaan

and the lord said unto abram

lift up now thine eyes and look

for all the land which thou seest to

thee will i give it and to thy seed

forever

arise

walk through the land and see

then abram beheld all the plain of

hebrew well watered as the garden of the

lord and he dwelt there

and built an altar

saying

i lift up my hand unto the lord the

possessor of heaven and earth

now abram's wife bought him no children

and they waxed old but believed in the

lord

and when abram was 90 and 9 the lord

came to him in a vision and said to him

i am the lord that brought thee out of

her to give thee this land

but know that thy seed shall be a

stranger in a land that is not theirs

and shall serve there four hundred years

and abram fell on his face

but god talked with him saying fear not

i am thy shield

the almighty god

walk thou before me and be perfect

thou shalt keep the way of the lord

and i will know it

then the lord said neither shall thou be

called abram any more thy name shall be

abraham

for a father of many nations will i make

thee

and abraham said

lord god what will thou give me seeing

i go childless behold

thou hast given me no seed

the lord said

kings shall come out of thee

and he brought him forth saying

look now toward heaven and count the

stars if thou be able to number them

so shall thy seed be

and abraham lifted his eyes and looked

but sarah

laughed in her heart thinking

shall a child be born to him that is old

and the lord said nay

but thou didst laugh

is anything too hard for the lord

thou shalt bear him a son

he shall call his name isaac i will make

him a great nation

and the lord went his way but god did as

he had spoken for sarah conceived and

bore his son under abraham and they

called their son isaac he held him and

kissed him and said

the smell of my son is as the smell of

the field which the lord hath planted

and he planted the grove and called

there in the name of the lord

so the child grew but it came to pass

after that

god did test

abraham he came to his tent in the heat

of the day and said to him

abraham

take now thy son

thine only son isaac

whom thou lovest

and get the into the land of moriah

and on a mountain i will tell thee of

offer him there for a burnt offering

so

abraham rose up early in the morning and

saddled his ass and took two of his men

with him

and isaac his son

and the wood

for the offering

and went

as god told him

and on the third day abraham

lifted his eyes and

saw the place

far off

he said to the young men

witchy here with the ass i and the lad

will go yonder and worship and

come again to you

and abraham took the wood of the

offering and laid it on isaac his son to

carry

and he took

in his hand a knife

and they went

both of them together

and isaac spoke to abraham saying

my father

he said

my son

and isaac said

here is the wood for the fire but where

is the lamb for the offering

and abraham said

my son god will

provide himself

a lamb

so they went together and came to the

place which god had told him of

abraham built an altar there and laid

the wood in order

and he took isaac his son and bound him

and laid him on the altar and abraham

stretched forth his hand and took the

knife to slay his son

and the angel of the lord called out to

him out of heaven abraham abraham lay

not thy hand upon the lad saith the lord

for now he knows

that thou fearest god

and because thou hast not withheld thy

son

thy only son

he will bless thee as the stars of

heaven

and in thy seed shall all the nations of

the earth be blessed because thou obeyed

his voice

so abraham took up his son

and returned saying

who can measure the spirit of the lord

what man knows his plan

[Music]

isaac was born of a 99 year old man and

a barren mother by the will of god god

required abraham to offer his only

begotten son as a sacrificial lamb

a looming prelude to jesus some

thousands of years later

sacrifice runs like blood through both

testaments of the bible but isaac is

spared from his father's knife by an

angel of the lord because god has plans

for him abraham is the turning point god

chooses him to become the father of his

people promising isaac and his

descendants

a great destiny

[Music]

now let's go to the story of the man god

sent to egypt

joseph son of jacob lineal descendant of

noah

we first see joseph as a deeply

alienated adolescent a dreamer

like so many teenagers after him

the egypt of joseph was a land of

builders

priests farmers

administrators

and many gods

now they would have to deal with the god

of abraham

and among the sons of isaac was jacob

and his sons were twelve but of them all

jacob loved joseph because he was the

son of his old age

so he made him a coat of many colors

and when his brethren saw that their

father loved him more than all of them

they hated him

then joseph dreamed a dream and he said

to his brethren

hear this i pray you i dreamed we were

binding sheaves in the field and lo my

sheaf arose and stood upright and your

sheaves bowed down the mine

and his brothers said to him

shalt thou indeed

reign over us

and they hated him yet the more

so then in envy they conspired against

him saying

behold this dreamer

come

let us slay him we shall see what

becomes of his dreams but one of them

judah said slay joseph

will let not our hand be upon him

he's our brother

shed not his blood

let us sell him

into egypt

and when joseph was among his brothers

they stripped him of his coat his coat

of many colors and they took him

and sold him to some merchants for 20

pieces of silver to be carried down into

egypt

then they killed a goat and took

joseph's coat and dipped it in the blood

and they took the coat to their father

and said

we found this we

know not if it is joseph's

but jacob knew he said

it is my son's coat

surely some

wild beasts hath devoured him

his sons could not comfort him he said

i shall go down to the grave mourning my

son

and he wept for him

so joseph

was brought down to egypt

and potiphar the captain of the

pharaoh's guard bought him of those

merchants who'd taken him but the lord

was with joseph

the egyptian captain was a good man

joseph found grace in his sight and

served him well

so his master made him overseer over his

house and all that he had

and from that time the lord blessed the

egyptians house for joseph's sake

now joseph was a goodly and well-favored

man

so it was that his master's wife cast

her eyes upon him

lie with me

she said

but he said to her

behold my master's committed all that he

has to my hand he's

kept back nothing from me

but be because thou art his wife

how then can i do this great wickedness

and and sin

against god still she spoke to joseph

day by day

to lie by her to

be with her

so one day joseph went into the house

about his business when none of the men

of the house was there within

and she caught him by his garment saying

lie with me

and he fled and left his garment in her

hand

as her lord came home and saw her

you've brought this hebrew to marcus she

said

he came to lie with me and i cried out

he left his garment with me and

and fled

so the master's wrath was kindled

he put joseph into pharaoh's prison

still

the lord was with joseph

the keeper of the prison committed all

the prisoners to joseph's hand

he had the charge of them

and the lord made all that he did to

prosper

then it came to pass that the pharaoh of

egypt was wroth against his chief

steward and put him into the prison

where joseph was held and the captain of

the guard charged joseph to guard him

well

so when joseph came to him in the

morning and saw that he was sad he asked

wherefore look you sadly

and the steward answered

i have dreamed a dream and none can tell

me its meaning

and joseph said

meanings belong to god

tell me your dream

and the steward said in my dream with

three branches of ripe grapes i took the

grapes and pressed them into pharaoh's

cup

and put the cup in his hand

and joseph

said this is the meaning

the three branches are

three days

within three days shall pharaoh restore

thee to thy place he's steward

as before

but think on me when all shall be well

with thee i pray thee

for indeed i was stolen away out of the

land of the hebrews and here they put me

into this dungeon

though i've done nothing

and on the third day it came to pass as

joseph had foretold

pharaoh freed his steward from the

prison and restored him again to his

place

yet the man forgot joseph

in his dungeon

till there came a time when pharaoh had

a dream of seven cattle coming up out of

the river fat and well favored and they

fed in a meadow

then out of the river behind them came

seven other cattle lean and ill-favored

and they did eat up the seven fat cattle

so pharaoh awoke sore troubled he sent

for all the magicians of egypt and the

wise men as well and told them his dream

but none could tell its meaning

then said his chief steward

i do remember when my lord put me in

prison i dreamed a dream and

a young

hebrew

there told me the meaning and it came to

pass as he told me

i am restored to my office

so pharaoh sent for joseph and they

brought him hastily out of the dungeon

and pharaoh said

i have dreamed a dream and none can

interpret it i have heard said of thee

that thou understand dreams

and joseph answered pharaoh

it is not in me god shall give pharaoh

an answer

so pharaoh told joseph his dream and

joseph said

what god is about to do

he shows thee

behold there come seven years of great

plenty throughout all egypt but then

shall come seven years of famine

the years of plenty shall be forgotten

famine shall consume the land of egypt

now therefore

let pharaoh find a man discreet and wise

in the seven plenteous years let him

gather all the food of those good years

and hold it in store against the

seven years of famine which shall surely

come

so egypt

will not perish

and pharaoh said to joseph

since god hath showed thee all this

none can be so discreet and wise as thou

a man in whom is the spirit of god

by thy word

shall my people be ruled

i will set thee over all the land

only i will be greater than thou

pharaoh took off his ring and put it on

joseph's hand

and arrayed him in fine linen

with a gold chain about his neck

he said

i am pharaoh

but without thee

shall no man lift up his hand in all of

egypt

and it was so joseph went throughout the

land as the hand of pharaoh

he said god hath chosen me to be

fruitful

in the land of my affliction

and in the seven plenteous years the

earth was bountiful but joseph laid up a

fifth part of the food of those years

and stored it against the lean years to

come

so when the famine came over all the

earth

joseph opened all the storehouses

and there was bread in egypt while the

famine waxed soar

now

all countries came into egypt to buy

corn

because the famine was in their lands

and the brothers of joseph

came to

and stood before him

but they knew him not

so joseph said to them

come closer

i pray you

and when they came near he said i am

joseph your brother whom you sold into

egypt

does my father yet live

and they fell down before him

but he said

fear not

am i in the place of god

be not grieved that ye sold me into

egypt

it was not you that put me here but god

ye thought evil against me

but god meant it to bring good

he has made me a lord in the house of

pharaoh

and throughout all egypt

so now haste ye my brothers

to my father

bring him hither

he shall dwell in egypt

and here will i nourish thee

and they went up out of egypt

back again to their father and they told

him

joseph

is yet alive

he is

lord over all egypt

and jacob's heart

trembled

he believed them not but

when he saw the wagons joseph had sent

to carry him

his spirit rose he said

my son

is yet alive

i will go

see him

before i die

and jacob journeyed

with all that he had

and while he slept for the night

god came to him

in the visions of the night saying

jacob

fear not to go down into egypt

for the air i will make of thee a great

nation

thy name shall be called jacob no more

but israel

so

blessed by god

jacob and all his seed

all his sons and his son's sons came

into egypt

when joseph saw his father

they embraced

and wept for a long time

at last joseph said the lord watched

between me and me

when we were absent one from another

israel said only

now let me die

since i have seen thy face

my brethren and my father's house are

come on to me sir joseph

and pharaoh said

all egypt is before thee

in the best of the land shall ye dwell

so the children of israel dwelt in egypt

and multiplied

and these were the twelve tribes of

israel

and joseph

he was a fruitful bow

his hands were made strong by the mighty

god of his fathers

the shepherd

the stone of israel

the descendants of abraham and the

family of jacob whom god renamed israel

come at last to egypt with joseph's

brothers to live in peace and plenty

welcomed by a benign pharaoh

the bible seems to say that these men

flawed as they were survived because

they all of them believed in god and

were striving desperately to do his will

they tried to do their best and keep

their promises

shakespeare says something useful about

that in hamlet

there's a divinity that shapes our ends

refue them how we will

still where does god lift his hand when

for the patriarchs of genesis to know

the purpose behind god's will was

sometimes harder than it was to fulfill

it

[Music]

i'm jordan heston i'm not a priest or a

scholar i'm an actor i tell stories

i want to take you with me on an odyssey

along the way i'll tell you some of the

oldest and greatest stories on earth the

story is from the bible

blurred by the centuries no one can

really mark the birth of the early

stories in the bible or put them firmly

in any time or place

we can't even be sure when the bible

passed beyond the fragile grasp of

simple oral tradition and began at last

to be written down

we do know that in 1947 the oldest

surviving written text of the biblical

stories was found here near the shores

of the dead sea and the hills above this

ancient essene monastery and wadi qumran

i think it's appropriate that the

discovery was made by a shepherd looking

for a lost land

history does not record whether the

shepherd a bedouin named muhammad

ever found his lost lamb but he did

stumble in the most important biblical

discovery of modern times searching in a

cave in this ravine he came across some

nondescript clay jars inside them were

several battered leather bundles wrapped

in decaying linen they seemed worthless

the shepherd almost destroyed them until

he remembered that foreign scholars

sometimes bought the unlikeliest sort of

trash he sold him for a few drop months

inside the bundles were dozens of

parchment scrolls for some time they

drifted through the byzantine black

market in which such artifacts are

traded in the middle east

eventually archaeologists identified the

scrolls as biblical texts written in

hebrew and predating any other such

documents by at least a thousand years

the dead sea scrolls contain almost

every story in the old testament

when god expelled adam and eve from the

idyllic innocence of eden after the fall

their descendants undertook a

generational journey through this desert

land

over the centuries the sands long erased

to the marks of their migrations

but from keynes exile eastward in eden

from the fathers seed through the

countless generations

noah and shem abraham and isaac jacob

and joseph

genesis traces the evolution of the

people god is moving to a new land

in each story god lays his hand on a

single man flawed uncertain but guided

by god

each new patriarch moves to fulfill his

inscrutable purpose

who can measure the spirit of the lord

what man knows his plan

so at last we come to egypt with the

greatest of all the epic dramas in the

hebrew bible the story of moses echoing

also through the christian old testament

in the muslim koran

will inexorably play out

what it must have been like many

millennia ago the height of pharonic

civilization is hard to imagine these

awesome weathered monuments still among

the wonders of the world are only the

bones of ancient egypt

now there would come a new king in egypt

some believe this was ramses ii grandson

of seti

the pyramids were already over a

thousand years old when ramses was born

but ramses would leave his own monuments

all over egypt a legacy to commemorate

his greatness his many victories and

celebrate his own divinity

long before moses was to lead the

children of israel out of bondage free

at last a young man joseph the great

grandson of abraham and grandson of

isaac brought them to a safe haven in

egypt where they would prosper under the

protective reign of a benevolent pharaoh

[Music]

when a new and hostile pharaoh arises to

threaten them

god chooses an infant

he cast into egypt

the seed of a man

the man was moses

the children of israel were fruitful the

land was filled with it

but at last there arose a new king over

egypt and he said

the children of israel are more and

mightier than we

come let us deal wisely lest they

multiply and join against us

therefore he set task masters over them

they made the children of israel serve

bitterly in hard bondage in the fields

making brick

but still they multiplied so pharaoh

charged all his peoples saying these

hebrews shall find no ease

never shall the souls of their feet have

rest

in the morning they shall say would god

it would night and at night they shall

say wood god it will mourning the sword

without and terror within shall destroy

them

and the heart of israel shall be cast

down

now therefore destroy every male among

their little ones every sun that is born

he shall cast into the river

that i may lift up my hand to heaven and

say

i live forever

but now

the spirit of god

moved in the land

yoker bed

wife of amram conceived and bore his son

he was a goodly child

when she saw him she said

he shall live

and she hid him three months and when

she could no longer hide him she made

for him a basket of bulrushes and daubed

it with pitch and put the child there

inside

and she laid it in the reeds at the

river's edge

and his sister hid nearby to see what

would be done to him

now the daughter of pharaoh came down to

bathe in the river with her maidens

she walked by the water and

when she saw the basket among the reeds

she sent her maid to fetch it

when she'd opened it

she saw the child

and behold

the babe wept and she took pity on him

she said

this is one of the hebrews children

i will take this child

he shall be my son

and a prince over all men

because i drew him out of the water

his name shall be called moses

and so at last it came to pass that when

moses was grown

he went out of the city to his brethren

and when he saw an egyptian striking one

of the hebrews moses's anger waxed hot

he lifted his hand and slew the egyptian

then moses said surely when this thing

is known

pharaoh will slay me

so he fled from the wrath of egypt and

came at last to the land of midian

and dwelt there and kept the flocks of

jethro

and jethro gave moses his daughter zifra

and she bore him a son

and moses was content

he said

i have been a stranger in a strange land

but in egypt the children of israel

cried in their bondage

and their cry came up to god

and god heard them

and remembered

now in the desert of midian where moses

kept his flocks he came to the mountain

of god

called sinai

and he looked

and beheld a bush

that burned with fire

but the bush was not consumed

and moses said

i will turn aside to see this great

sight

and when he'd climbed to the place

god called to him out of the midst of

the fire moses

moses

and he said

i am here

and the voice said put off thy shoes

from off thy feet but the place where i

thou standest is holy ground

i am the god of thy fathers

the god of abraham the god of isaac and

the god of jacob

and moses hid his face for he was afraid

to look upon god

and the lord said

i have surely seen the affliction of my

people which are in egypt and heard

their cries

for i know their sorrows

therefore i will send thee moses

and thou shalt bring forth my people to

serve me

upon this mountain

and moses said

who am i lord that i should go to bring

israel out of bondage

behold when i come to the people and say

to them the god of your fathers has sent

me they will not believe me

they shall say what is his name and

how shall i answer them

and god said to moses

i am that i am

thou shalt say i am hath sent me to you

this is my name forever

and they will believe thee

now therefore go

[Music]

and i will be with thee

sinai a cruel desert of rocks and ragged

mountains

in ancient times this wasteland was a

crossroads where bedouin shepherds

wandered a safe refuge for a man fleeing

from the wrath of pharaoh

for moses this was his testing time in

the wilderness

in this cauldron of heat and isolation

a man moses comes face to face with god

the first step on a journey that would

change the world

[Music]

put our very shoes from off thy feet for

the place where on our standist is holy

ground

surely holy ground to jews and

christians

but also to muslims because of their

reverence from moses they call it jabal

musa

the mountain of moses

that's how far the shadow of the man

moses reaches he was a man remember

none of the three religions that reveres

him calls him divine he was a man

and flawed

as all of us

body was also surely a great man

law giver and deliverer to the jews

warrior prophet to muslims first among

the prophets to christians the man of

whom jesus said

if ye believe moses

so shall ye believe me

[Music]

uh

driven into exile and content in

marriage to a shepherd's daughter

moses is drawn up the slopes of mount

sinai to see the bush that burns but is

not consumed

here in this

empty stoney land from a burning

cauldron of power

energy and light

moses hears the voice of god commanding

him to deliver his people

who am i lord says moses that i should

bring israel out of bondage

a good question for a simple shepherd

exodus describes him as slow of speech

but he goes

armed only with his unwavering faith the

god of israel would deliver his people

but first moses must act

[Music]

so moses went and returned into egypt

with his wife and his sons

and the staff of god in his hand

and with his brother aaron

he went into pharaoh

and said

thus saith the lord god of israel

let my people go

and pharaoh said

who is this god

that i should obey his voice

i know not thy god

neither will i let israel go

you would keep these people from their

labor with your vain words

they are idle

i do

you would make them rest

therefore there shall be more work for

them

go tell them thus saith pharaoh

i shall not give you straw to make brick

as before

let them gather straw for themselves

but the tally of brick must not lessen

go now

and work

and when moses and aaron came forth from

pharaoh the people turned from them

saying wherefore did you sow

you put a sword in their hands to slay

slayes and moses said in his heart

lord

why hast thou sent me

in thy name

the lord said to moses

i will make thee as a god pharaoh

go again to him

take my staff and stretch forth thy hand

upon the river

you shall multiply my wonders in the

land

and in this shall they know

that i am the lord

and moses did as the lord commanded

he lifted up his staff in the sight of

pharaoh

and struck the waters

and all the river turned to blood

throughout all the land of egypt the

waters turned to blood

and the fish died and the river stank

and the egyptians could not drink but

the heart of pharaoh was hardened

he hearkened not

so moses said to him

that thou mayest know there is none like

unto the lord and he smote the dust of

the earth with his staff

and the dust became lice

pharaoh's magicians could do nothing

there were lice upon man and beast and

the frogs came up out of the river and

covered the land and they died in the

houses in heaps

then there came swarms of flies the land

stank and the cattle died

the people were stricken with sores save

only the children of israel

and the ministers of pharaoh said

this is the finger of god

but pharaoh would not listen he drove

moses and aaron from his presence

then did moses stretch forth his hand to

heaven

and the lord rained hail upon the earth

fire ran along the ground and there was

a thick darkness over all the land for

three days the earth was covered and the

green things broken

and pharaoh's ministers cried to him how

long shall this man be on us let them go

that they may serve their god

knowest thou not yet that egypt is

destroyed

then pharaoh called for moses and said

take away from me this death

moses spread his hands

and the thunder

ceased and he said

how long will thou refuse to humble

thyself

thus saith the lord of israel

let my people go

and pharaoh said get thee from me

so moses said

yet will the lord bring

one more plague upon egypt

about midnight will the lord smite your

firstborn

from pharaoh on his throne to the

captives in his dungeons

and against the children of israel shall

not a dog move his tongue

and pharaoh said in great anger take

heed you see my face no more for on the

day you see my face again you shall

surely die

and moses said

thou hast spoken well

i will see thy face no more

and he turned

and went out from the city

then moses called all the elders of

israel and said to them

this day shall be the beginning to you

the lord hath spoken

make ready to eat in haste this night of

unleavened bread and lamb

let each man take of the blood of the

lamb

and mark the door of his house

and none shall go out till the morning

for tonight will the lord smite the

egyptians

when he sees the mark upon your door

he will not suffer the destroyer to come

in but will pass over your house

and this day shall ye remember forever

and the people bowed their heads and did

as the lord commanded

and at midnight

it came to pass as moses said

all the firstborn of egypt were struck

there was not a house where there was

not one dead

and a great cry rose up we'd be all dead

men

and pharaoh rose up in the night and

called from his throne get you forth

from among my people go serve your god

and be gone

and moses said

we will go

with our young

with our old

with our sons and with our daughters

with our flocks and with our herds will

we go

we have seen this day

that god liveth

the children of israel did go

up out of egypt in a mixed multitude on

foot with their flocks and herds and

moses said to the people

hear o israel

remember this day

when the strong hand of the lord brings

you out of bondage

the lord went before them as a pillar of

cloud to lead the way

by night a pillar of fire

so they came at last through the desert

to the red sea

and camped there

but then pharaoh was told where they

fled

and his heart was turned again he said

why have we done this to let israel go

so he took his chariot and all the

chariots of egypt with captains over

everyone and pursued the children of

israel

in camping by the sea

now when they beheld hero's host draw

near they were sore afraid and cried out

to moses were there no graves in egypt

has start taking us away to die in the

wilderness

but moses said hold your peace

the lord shall fight for you

moses stretched out his hand over the

sea and the waters were divided

and made the sea dry land

the children of israel went in the midst

and the waters were a wall and the right

in the left

the egyptians pursued all pharaohs host

after them through the sea

then moses said fear not

stand still

and see the salvation of the lord

again he stretched forth his

hand the waters returned

over all the hosts

all died

not one remained

and moses cried

who is like unto thee

oh lord

thou didst blow with thy wind

and the sea covered them

who shall live

and now does this

thou hast borne us out of egypt

as an eagle bears his young upon his

wings

[Music]

[Applause]

[Music]

thou hast borne us out of egypt as an

eagle bears his young upon his wings

moses's clarion shouted triumph and

thanksgiving is one of the most glorious

lines in the bible

it marks the fulfillment of god's

promise to deliver the children of

israel from their

generations of bitter bondage and

pharaoh's breakfast

it justifies the wisdom of god's

judgment in plucking a slow-spoken

shepherd from the slopes of sinai to

serve as his mighty hand in this awesome

undertaking

i met a traveler from an antique land

who said two vast and trunkless legs of

stone stand in the desert near them in

the sand the shattered visage lies whose

frown and wrinkled limp and sneer of

cold command tell that it's sculpter

well those passions read which yet

survive

and on the pedestal these words appear

my name is azamandias king of kings look

on my works ye mighty and despair

nothing beside

remains boundless and bare the lone and

level sands stretch far away

the subject of shelley's famous poem was

the shattered visage of the great

pharaoh ramses whose throne name osir

matre became azamandius over the

centuries

and fueled the great poet's imagination

though acting as the hand of god

moses might himself have seemed to be

the eagle that bore the israelites out

of egypt

he'd stood steadfast against the wrath

of pharaoh calmed the people through the

plagues god reigned on egypt and

sustained their spirits through that

fearful night of the first passover

he'd led the children of israel out of

bondage and through the red sea

destroying pharaoh's chariot army

now pharaoh was dead and the israelites

were free only the wilderness lay ahead

of them

[Music]

so moses brought israel through the

wilderness

they went many days and found no water

the people were sore afraid

but moses said to them

ye murmur in your tents

yet you have seen how the lord sustains

you as a man to carry his son in all the

ways that you go

he knoweth thy walking through this

great wilderness

you have lacked nothing

the lord brings you onto a good land a

land of brooks of water

fountains and depths that spring out of

valleys and hills that land drinketh of

the rain of heaven

he will give you water in due season the

first rain and the last he humbles you

and suffers you to thirst that he might

make you know that man does not live by

bread only

the lord did not choose you because you

were more in number than any people for

ye were the fewest

but because the lord loved you he

redeemed you

from the hand of pharaoh

he leads you through a wilderness of

scorpions and drought where there is no

water who can bring forth water out of

flint so beware lest you forget him

who brought you forth

out of egypt

but still the people wept all that night

crying what shall we drink

would god we had died in egypt wherefore

as the lord brought us into this land to

perish here

let us make a captain and return into

egypt

and moses said here now ye rebels

must we fetch you water out of the rock

and he lifted his hand and with his

staff struck the rock twice

and the water came out

sweet and abundant

and the people drank and camped there by

the waters

and the lord spoke to moses saying

i have heard the murmuring of israel

i will reign food from the heavens for

you speak to them and say

so and

in the morning

it was so

on the ground lay food like the frost

and moses said

this is the bread the lord hath given

you

it is mannon take it and eat

and they did so they took the food of

the lord and the taste of it was like

honey

so the multitude went on

the many thousands of israel

journeying to the land which the lord

had promised through days of gladness

and solemn days

and the glory of the lord was on them

through all their journeys

but at last the people wept again and

chided moses saying who shall give us

meat to eat

we did eat in egypt freely fish

cucumbers

and the melons but now there is nothing

but this manner

and moses heard them and said to the

lord

what shall i do with these people

have i conceived them

they be almost ready to stone me

did i father them that thou should say

to me carry them in thy bosom

they weep to me saying give us meat

where should i have meat for all these

people

so the flocks and the herds be slain for

them or all the fish of the sea

[Music]

i am not able to bear all this it is too

heavy for me

but the lord said to moses

is the lord's hand waxed short

thou shalt see now whether my word shall

come to pass or not

and moses went out and told the people

the lord will give you meat and you

shall eat not one day or ten but a month

until it comes out your nostrils because

you wept before him saying why came we

out of egypt

but miriam and aaron spoke against moses

they said

hath the lord indeed spoken

only to moses

and there a young man ran and told moses

and joshua said

my lord moses forbid them

but moses said

thus thou envy me

would god that all the people were

prophets so the lord would put his

spirit upon them

and moses and the elders went into the

camp

but there came forth a wind now

and the lord spoke suddenly to moses and

aaron

and miriam

here now my words

if there were a prophet among you i

would make myself known to him

my servant is moses

to him will i speak

then moses said to them

oh ye have heard the voice of god

i stand between the lord and you lest he

be afraid

god is not a man

that he should lie

if he's spoken and shall he not make it

good

because he loved your fathers he brought

you out of egypt therefore rise up

israel

we have stayed long enough in this place

turn you and take your journey to the

great river

strong is thy dwelling place

you have set your nest

in a rock

only take heed

lest ye forget your god

then

after three months

they came at last to the wilderness of

sinai and camped there before the

mountain

and it came to pass in the morning

that there were thunders in a thick

cloud over the mountain

then came the voice of a trumpet

and the people trembled and the mountain

quaked

but moses said fear not

god is come

to pull you

and he climbed up into the thick

darkness

where god was

he stayed many days and many nights

cloud covering

the glory of the lord

but when he came not down

the people gathered before aaron

said to him up aaron you shall make us

gods to go before us as for this moses

we know not what has become of him

so aaron said to them

break off the golden rings from the ears

of your wives

and your daughters

bring them to me and the people did so

they stripped off their ornaments all

the spoils of egypt and brought them to

aaron and he beat the gold into plates

and fashioned a golden calf

and said

this be thy god

o israel

yet

far off in the mountain

moses drew near where god was

and heard him

now hearken moses

i teach you

that they may live

i declare unto you my ten commandments

let them not depart from thy heart all

the days of thy life

but teach them

then these words the lord spoke with a

great voice

i am the lord thy god thou shalt have no

other gods before me

thou shalt not make unto thee

any graven image

thou shalt not take the name of the lord

thy god in vain

remember the sabbath day

to keep it holy

honor thy father and thy mother

that thy days may be long in the land

thou shalt not kill

thou shalt not commit adultery

thou shalt not steal

thou shalt not bear false witness

thou shalt not covet anything

that is thy neighbors

and the lord spoke with moses as a man

speaks to his friend

and when he'd made an end he gave him

two tablets of stone

written with the finger of god

and the writing

was the word of god

[Music]

throughout the last four books of moses

god gives him very specific and detailed

instruction on many matters chapters on

the construction of the ark of the

covenant details of worship and

sacrifice

pages of specific tribal law and

punishment

all of which moses commits to memory

it's interesting to note that throughout

the entirety of both testaments the

bible god only writes down his

instructions once

when he delivers his ten commandments to

moses

having declared his commandments with a

great voice god gives moses two stone

tablets

written with the finger of god

the phrase written in stone has since

become a common idiom for permanence

you're not likely to change something

carved in stone especially in god's hand

that seems to be what god has in mind

moses is to make these commandments

preeminent over god's other

pronouncements

[Music]

interwoven with christ's 11th

commandment that you love one another

the commandments are the common

foundation for the ethical philosophy of

western civilization

this stone may have been worn down a

little over the centuries but the

covenant remains

again we see across the centuries the

power of the written word

as the new testament will tell us later

in the beginning was the word

moses is also a tragic figure of classic

dimension

a tragic hero by definition is a great

man brought down by a fatal flaw in his

own nature

after his triumph in delivering the

israelites from bondage at god's command

and direction

moses led them through the years of

wandering in the wilderness of sin

for moses this must have been an

internal odyssey as well

he was struggling under the stress of a

burden of command unmatched in history

he had to hold the confidence of a

fractious people keeping their spirits

high through the deprivation of the

desert yet above all always responding

to the precise instructions of the lord

god

somewhere in those

desperate years his iron will or his own

self-doubt or perhaps his pride

hubris the fatal failing of great men

brought him into conflict with god he

delivered the law and the children of

israel to the very banks of the jordan

within sight of his goal

but he was only to look across the river

at a promised land that god would deny

him

moses remains one of the last and

greatest voices of god until christ

[Music]

and the lord spoke with moses as a man

speaks to his friend

and when he'd made an end he gave him

two tablets of stone

written with the finger of god

and the writing

was the word of god

so moses turned and went down from the

mount

and his face shone

so he came to where joshua waited who

said there is a noise of war in the camp

but moses heard the voice of god who

said

go get thee down for thy people have

corrupted themselves

and they came to the camp

where the people drank and played naked

before the golden calf and moses saw

this in his anger waxed hot

he cried out

hath the lord brought you out of the

iron furnace to be unto him as ye are

this day

i call heaven and earth to witness

how ye have set before you now

life

and good

and death and evil

he that is on the lord's side

let him come to me

and moses cast the tablets from his

hands and broke them beneath the golden

calf

and the people feared and the wicked

fell on their faces

but then the fire went out from the lord

the earth opened and swallowed all they

went down alive and the pit closed upon

them

they died before the lord till at last

moses stood between the dead and the

living saying now pardon this people

that beseech thee thy mercy

hold off thy fierce wrath o lord

or blot me from thy book

[Music]

and the plague was stayed

but the lord's anger was kindled

against israel

he made them wander in the wilderness

forty years

until all the generation that had done

evil

was consumed

but at last

there came a morning on the plains of

moab when the lord spoke to moses

rise up

moses

rise up

get thee up this mountain

and behold the land which i give unto

israel

thou shalt see that land before thee

but thou may not go there

thou shalt be gathered unto me

i shall give thee

rest

and moses said

let the congregation of the lord be not

his sheep which have no shepherd

set before them a

man who can lead them

and the lord said

take joshua

put some of thine honor upon him and

they will put thy name upon the children

so moses turned towards the camp

he was old

but his eye was not dim

he said

how goodly are thy tents

oh israel

then he called the elders to him saying

here

o israel

thou art to pass over jordan

this day

i have led you 40 years in the

wilderness where ye groped at noon day

as the blind grope in darkness

ye have been a rebellious people from

the day that i know you

yet ye are my people

and behold here this day is the stars of

heaven for multitude

may the lord god make ye a thousand

times many more than you are

may he bless you and keep you and none

make you afraid

then moses called joshua

he laid his hands on him and said

be strong and of good courage

for thou must lead this people

into the new land

the lord was angry with me

for your sake

he said that i may not

go

over jordan i must die in

this land

but you shall go over

all shall go and possess that good land

and when the lord shall have brought

thee to that land he swore to thy

fathers a land of wheat and honey where

you shall like nothing with houses full

of all good things which he build not

and vines and olive trees which ye plant

not

when ye shall have eaten and are full

then keep thou these words in thy heart

let not the people forget what your eyes

have seen

love ye therefore the stranger for ye

were strangers in egypt

when you cut harvest in the field and

forget a sheaf go not again to get it

let it be

for the stranger

for the fatherless and the widow

so you shall remember that ye were

slaves in egypt

between your brethren and the stranger

judge righteously for all men our

brothers

be not afraid

if you turn aside from god then the

anger of the lord shall smoke against

you

but if you seek the lord

you shall find him

if you seek with all your heart and all

your soul

the lord thy god is a merciful god

when ye are in tribulation if you turn

to the lord he will not forsake you

and as truly as i live

all the earth shall be filled with the

glory of the lord

now go proclaim liberty throughout all

the lands unto all the inhabitants

thereof

thus moses blessed israel

and they hearkened unto him

then

joshua

led the host

over jordan jordan

[Music]

and moses

went up

into the mountain of nebo

and the lord showed him all the promised

land

from gilead

and judea

unto the utmost

sea then god said to him

this

is thy place

so moses died there

no man knows his sepulcher even unto

this day

but there arose not a prophet since in

israel like unto moses

whom the lord knew

face to face

[Music]

behold his mighty hand

so god at last brings his people to that

good land he promised first to abraham

the exodus can be described as the core

of the jewish experience as a people a

nation and a faith

it was god's promise fulfilled with

moses as the instrument of his will

revered by three religions sacred to

none this flawed and angry man showed

god and the world the capacity of the

human spirit

and there arose not a prophet since in

israel

like unto moses

whom the lord knew

face to face

i'm jordan heston i'm not a priest

scholar i'm an actor i tell stories

i want to take you with me on an odyssey

along the way i'll tell you some of the

oldest greatest stories on earth stories

from the bible

[Music]

in the beginning was the word

john chapter 1 verse 1.

wonderful lines

several centuries before jesus was born

the hebrew prophet isaiah foretold the

coming of the messiah in the older

testament with these words

unto us will a child be born he shall be

called the prince of peace and of his

kingdom there shall be no end

righteousness shall gird his loins the

wolf shall lie down with a lamb

a little child shall lead them and the

earth shall be full of the knowledge of

the lord

he will bear our grief yet we will

esteem him not like sheep we have gone

astray so like a lamb will he be brought

to slaughter

jesus this promised messiah well not

many would even ask at the time though

maybe some of those who were in the

stable that first night and saw the star

thought of isaiah's prophecy

[Music]

the romans built this amphitheater here

at batshian and others like it all

across the empire from scotland to

mesopotamia

in retrospect rome was ideally placed

for the spread of the faith that began

with the birth of a baby of whom no

roman was aware

later if the roman governor in judea

heard of jesus's ministry he had no

interest in it

roman policy was tolerant of the many

religious sects that flourished

throughout the empire

jesus would have been only one of many

wandering preachers in the troublesome

jewish province

of the four men who first wrote the

whole story down matthew mark luke and

john

it's possible that at least one knew the

disciples or may have even been one

himself

late in the fourth century saint jerome

a monk working in bethlehem translated

the first complete edition of the two

testaments from greek in hebrew

into latin

giving the bible growing stature not

only a scripture but his literature

he wrote in contemporary latin so they

called it the vulgate latin bible

it was copied recopied and carried

across europe part of the crucial core

of civilization and jerome was sainted

for his work

even as latin was falling out of use the

monks and priests who carried his

translation were literally spreading the

word

printed and written or spoken

these stories are made to last

they were strong enough to change the

world

all because of a young jewish rabbi who

got in trouble with the authorities and

was crucified

there's been more ink

and blood spilled over this man since

they nailed into the cross than over any

single human being in history

here's how it happened

in the words of john

luke mark

and matthew

in the beginning

was the word

and the word was

with god

and the word

was god

all things were made by him and without

him was nothing

in him was life

and the life was the light of men

there would be a man

that was the true light

that lighteth every man

he was in the world

and the world knew him not

he came onto his own

and his own received him not

who was born

not of the will of man

but of god

so the word was made flesh and dwelt

among us full of grace and truth

the only son of the father

jesus

called the christ

now the birth of jesus was this way

in the days of herod the king of judea

the angel gabriel was sent from god to a

town in galilee named nazareth to a maid

espoused to a man named joseph and the

maiden's name was mary

and the angel came to her and said

hail the lord is with thee

blessed art thou among women

and when she saw him she was troubled

the angel said

fear not mary

for thou hast found favor with god

behold thou shalt conceive in thy womb

and bring forth a son

and call his name jesus

and of his kingdom there shall be no end

and mary said

behold the handmaid of the lord

be it according to thy word

and the angel departed

and mary said

my soul does magnify the lord and my

spirit is rejoiced in my savior

behold

henceforth all generations shall call me

blessed

for he that is mighty hath done to me

great things and holy is his name

he has put down the mighty and exalted

them of low degree

he's filled the hungry with good things

in remembrance of his mercy

to give light to them that sit in

darkness and in the shadow of death

to guide our feet

in the way of peace

now

it came to pass that in those days a

decree went out from caesar augustus

that all the world should be counted

and all went to be tallied everyone to

his own city joseph also went up from

galilee out of nazareth into judea to a

city of david called bethlehem to be

counted with mary his wife who was great

with child

and so it was that while they were there

the days were accomplished that she

should be delivered

and

because there was no room for them in

the inn

she brought forth her firstborn son and

wrapped him in swaddling clothes

and laid him

in a manger

now there were in the same country

shepherds abiding in the field keeping

watch over their flock by night and lo

the angel of the lord came upon them and

the glory of the lord shone round about

them

and they were sore afraid but the angel

said to them

fear not

but behold i bring you good tidings of

great joy

which shall be to all men

for unto you is born this day in the

city of david as savior

which is christ the lord

and this shall be a sign unto you

he shall find the babe wrapped in

swaddling clothes

lying in a manger

and suddenly there was with the angel a

multitude of the heavenly host praising

god and saying glory to god in the

highest and on earth peace

good will toward men

[Music]

and as the angels were going away from

them into heaven the shepherds said one

to another

let us now go to bethlehem and

see this thing which has come to pass

which the lord hath made known to us

and behold there came wise men saying

where is he that is born king for we

have seen his star in the east in

bethlehem

and lo

the star went

before them all

till it came and stood

over where the young child was

when they saw that they rejoiced and

they came with haste

and found mary and joseph and the babe

lying in a manger

and when they came into the stable and

saw the child with mary they fell down

and worshiped him they opened their

treasures and gave to him gifts of gold

and frankincense and myrrh

and when they'd seen him they made known

abroad what was told them of this child

and all that heard them wondered at

these things

but mary

kept all things

and pondered them in her heart

[Music]

and the shepherds returned glorifying

and praising god

and when they were departed

behold the angel of the lord appeared to

joseph in a dream saying

arise

and take the child and his mother

and flee into egypt and be thou there

until i bring me word

for king herod will seek the child

to kill him

so joseph arose and took the child and

his mother by night

and departed into egypt but when he was

in egypt behold the angel appeared again

in a dream saying

arise and go back to the land of israel

for he who sought the child's life

is dead

so with the child and his mother he came

back into israel

and he dwelt in a city called nazareth

so that which was spoken by the prophets

might be fulfilled he shall be called a

nazarene

now there was a man in jerusalem

who was just and devout named simeon and

the holy ghost was upon him

thus it was revealed to him that he

should not see death

until he had seen the christ

and he came into the temple when the

parents brought in the child jesus to do

for him after the custom of the law

then he took him up in his arms and said

lord

now let

thy servant depart in peace

for mine eyes have seen thy salvation

a light to the glory of thy people

israel

and joseph and his mother marveled

so the child grew and waxed strong in

spirit

filled with wisdom

for the grace of god was upon him

now his parents went every year to

jerusalem at the feast of the passover

and when he was 12 years old they went

according to their custom and when

they'd fulfilled the feast as they

returned the child jesus tarried behind

in jerusalem and joseph and his mother

knew not of it

but supposing him to have been in the

company they went a day's journey

and thought him among their kinsfolk and

friends and when they found him not they

turned back again to jerusalem seeking

him

so it came to pass that after three days

they found him in the temple

sitting in the midst of the scholars

both hearing them and asking them

questions

and all that heard him were astonished

and his mother said to him son

why hast thou dealt us with us

behold thy father and i have sought thee

sorrowing

and he said to them

how is it that she sought me

know you not that i must be about my

father's business

[Music]

they understood not what he spoke to

them but he went with them to nazareth

and was still a son to them

so

jesus increased in favor

with god and man

so the word was made flesh and dwelt

among us

full of grace and truth

now they understood not what he spoke to

them yeah i expect so

this boy jesus would have been a very

remarkable child ready by then to turn

to his father's business

this is the temple at capernaum very

liked the kind of synagogue where jesus

spoke up out of turn a voice at the back

of the room that would not be silenced

through the early stories in genesis god

is visibly there

strongly involved controlling events

though less so for the later prophets

but in the new testament jesus seems to

act alone armed with his own divinity

but finding his own way there's no

mention of god's guidance

even as a boy he seems to know his own

road though perhaps not its end

in the old testament god selected

leaders from the men of his people and

guided them down the road he chose

now he sends another messenger his son

to find his own path and teach a new

doctrine

of peace

in places like this

on the shores of galilee

the voice of god echoes through the old

testament

in the new

we hear him only twice

most significantly when his son is

baptized here in the river jordan

the baptist himself was regarded by some

as the messiah

that christ chose to be baptized by him

seems to be his father's wish

in preparation for his ministry

maybe god is pleased with both men

let us gather by the river as the gospel

song has it

and be baptized

[Music]

now in those days when jesus was about

30 years of age there came john the

baptist preaching all round about jordan

with the voice of one crying in the

wilderness

make ye ready the way of the lord

make his path straight

every valley shall be filled and every

mountain in hills shall be brought low

the crooked shall become straight and

the rough way smooth

and all men shall see the salvation of

god

and the people wondered in their hearts

about john whether happily

he might be the christ

but john answered them

i indeed baptize you

but he that comes after me is mightier

than i

after me comes a man who was before me

and i knew him not whose shoes i am not

worthy to tie

he shall baptize you with the holy

spirit

and jesus came from galilee to john to

be baptized in the jordan

john hindered him saying

comes thou to me

i need to be baptized by thee

but jesus answered

suffer it still

for it thus becomes us

so jesus was baptized and as he came up

from the waters

the heavens were rent asunder and a

voice came saying

lord my beloved son in thee i am well

pleased

then jesus full of the holy spirit was

led from jordan into the wilderness

to be tempted by satan

he was there forty days and forty nights

and ate nothing

and when he hungered

then the tempter came and said to him

if thou be the son of god command this

stone that it become bread

and jesus answered him

it is written that man shall not live by

bread alone but by every word of god

so satan brought him to jerusalem and

set him on a pinnacle of the temple

and said to him

if thou be the son of god

cast thyself down from here

for it is written he shall give his

angels charge over thee to keep thee

and in their hands they shall bear thee

up lest thou dash thy foot against the

stone

jesus answered it is said

thou shalt not tent

the lord thy god

then the devil taking him up to a high

mountain

showed him all the kingdoms of the world

in all their glory in one moment of time

and the devil said

to thee will i give all this

that power is mine

and whomsoever i will

i give it

if thou therefore wilt

worship me

all shall be thine

and jesus said to him

get thee behind me satan

it is written thou shalt worship the

lord thy god

and him only

and the devil departed

and behold angels came and ministered

unto jesus and he returned in the power

of the spirit

into galilee

and they went out of fame of him through

all the region and he taught in the

synagogues being glorified by all

from that time jesus began to preach and

to say

repent

for the kingdom of heaven is at hand

and he came to nazareth where he'd been

brought up and as his custom was he went

into the synagogue on the sabbath day

and stood up to read

and he was given the book of the prophet

isaiah

when he opened it

he found the place where it was written

the spirit of the lord

is upon me

because he has anointed me to preach the

gospel to the poor

he has sent me to heal the brokenhearted

to preach deliverance to the captives

and recovering of sight to the blind

to set free them that are bruised to

preach

the acceptable year of the lord

and all wondered at these words

and they said why is not this the

joseph's son

is not this the carpenter the son of

mary the brother of james and joseph and

judah and simon

and are not his sisters here with us

they were offended

but jesus said to them

a prophet is not without honor but in

his own country

and among his own kin

and in his own house

now

in the synagogue there was a man

possessed by the spirit of an unclean

devil who cried out with a loud voice

let us alone what have we to do with

thee thou jesus of nazareth hath thou

come to destroy us

i know thee o thou art the holy one of

god

but jesus said hold thy peace and come

out of him

and the devil threw the man down and

came out of him

and heard him no more

and they were all amazed

saying

what a word is this

he commands the unclean spirits and they

come out

can it be that they know him for the

christ

so the fame of him went round about into

every place

now when the sun was setting all those

that were sick came to him and he laid

his hands on everyone and healed them

and when it was day he departed into the

desert the people sought to stay in that

he should not leave them but he said

i must preach the kingdom of god to

other cities also for therefore am i

said

and he preached in the synagogues of

galilee

passing by the sea of galilee he saw

simon and andrew his brother casting a

net into the sea for they were fishers

and jesus said to them

come ye after me and i will make you

fishers of men

and they left their nets

and followed him

then another came and said

noah stop me

and jesus said

i saw thee before

when i was under a fig tree

and the man said thou art truly the son

of god

then jesus answered

because i said i saw thee under a fig

tree

believeth thou

verily thou shall see greater things

than these

and to another he said

what seek ye

and the man answered

we have found him

so jesus said

come

follow me

he called unto him whom he would and

they went

and of those disciples he chose twelve

simon whom he called peter and andrew

his brother james and john philip and

bartholomew matthew and thomas james the

son of elfaeus and simon called zelotes

and judas the brother of james

and judas iscariot

who also

was the traitor

this is the monastery of saint george

built at the foot of the cliff where

it's believed jesus struggled with satan

during his testing time in the

wilderness

throughout history in many cultures

including our own wilderness is a

testing ground a solitary rite of

passage for young males in both

testaments of the bible and in some

other faiths as well it's far more than

that

it is a crucible to try men's souls

as with many monasteries this bleak

desert location was chosen as a safe

place to preserve and protect the

mounting pages of holy rip the monks

gathered here over the ages

[Music]

the dictionary defines sermon as a

religious discourse delivered in public

by a clergyman as part of a religious

service

jesus wasn't a clergyman and he didn't

speak at formal services though you

could call him a rabbi

that means teacher

i think sermon on the mount seems the

wrong title too

it reads to me more like a

big open camp meeting

must have been quite a crowd

great numbers from all judea it says

they're beginning to hear about this new

young rabbi so they come and they hear

something great

[Music]

now there came great numbers of them

that were troubled from all judea to

hear him and be healed and they were

healed

a whole multitude sought to touch him or

even the hem of his garment such power

came from him then he came down with him

and stood on a level place on a mountain

with his disciples

and he lifted his eyes and said

blessed are the poor in spirit

for theirs is the kingdom of god

blessed are they that mourn for they

shall be comforted

blessed are the merciful for they shall

obtain mercy

blessed are they that hunger now for

they shall be filled

blessed are they that weep now

for they shall laugh

blessed are the meek

but they shall inherit the earth

blessed are the peacemakers for they

shall be called the children of god

and blessed are ye when men shall hate

you and cast out your name is evil for

my sake

rejoice in that day

for so did they under the prophets

but woe unto you when all men shall

speak well of you

for so did they to the false prophets

woe unto you that laugh now

for ye shall mourn

and weep

woe unto you that are full now for ye

shall hunger

think not i came to destroy the law or

the prophets i come not to destroy

but to fulfill

so i say unto you which hear

love your enemies do good to them which

hate you bless them that curse you

and pray for them that he'll use you

you've heard it said an eye for an eye

and a tooth for a tooth but i say to you

that you resist not evil

whosoever shall smite thee on the right

cheek

turn to him also the other

give to every man that asks of thee

and if him that taketh away thy goods

ask them not back again

as you would that men should do to you

do ye also to them

for if you love those who love you what

thanks have ye

sinners also love those that love them

and if you do good to them of whom ye

hope to receive what thanks have you

sinners do even the same

but love your enemies and do good hoping

for nothing in return

and your reward shall be great

then ye shall be the children of god

be merciful as your father is merciful

judge not

and you shall not be judged condemn not

and you shall not be condemned

forgive

and ye shall be forgiven

give and it shall be given unto you good

measure running over

for with the same measure you use it

shall be measured to you

and he spoke to them in parables saying

can the blind lead the blind

shall not both fall into the ditch

how can satan cast out satan a corrupt

tree cannot bring forth good fruit

so by their fruits shall you know them

do men gather grapes from thorns or

figs from thistles

a good man out of the good treasure of

his heart

brings forth good

and an evil man brings forth evil

straight is the gate and narrow is the

way that leads to eternal life and few

there be that find it

and i say to you

truly

i am the door

seek and you shall find

knock

and it shall be opened to you

if your son shall ask bread of any of

you that is a father

will you give him a stone

if ye know how to give to your children

how much more shall your heavenly father

give

and when you pray

be not like those that stand in the

streets and pray in repetitions thinking

they shall be seen by men

but enter into thine inmost chamber and

pray to thy father

after this manner

our father

which art in heaven

hallowed be thy name

thy kingdom come

thy will be done

on earth as it is in heaven

give us this day our daily bread

and forgive us our trespasses as we

forgive those who trespass against us

and bring us not into temptation but

deliver us from evil

for thine is the kingdom

and the power

and the glory

forever and ever

then a woman in the crowd lifted her

voice and said blessed is the womb that

bore thee

and he said yea

rather blessed are they that hear the

word of god and keep it

why call you me lord lord yet do not the

things i say

hear you then the parable of the sower

behold

the sower went forth to sow and as he

sowed some seeds fell on rocky places

and the birds came and devoured them

thus

when anyone hears the word of the

kingdom of god and understands not

then cometh the evil one and snatches

away that which has been sown in the

rocky places of his art

but he that hears the word and

understands it he verily bears fruit in

his heart a hundred fold

take heed therefore how you hear

but so is the kingdom of god

as if a man should cast seed upon the

earth

and sleeps and rises night and day

and the seed springs and grows

he knows not how

if you say

what is the kingdom of god like

i say unto you

it is like a grain of mustard seed cast

into a garden where it grows into a

great tree and the birds of the air

lodge in its branches

therefore

whoever heareth these words and does

them i liken him unto a wise man who

built his house upon a rock

and the rain descended and the floods

came and the winds blew and beat upon

that house and it fell not for it was

founded

on a rock

and when jesus had ended so

then there came his brethren and his

mother and waiting nearby they sent to

him

where the multitude sat about him and

the people said to him behold thy

mother and i brethren seek for thee

but he answered

who is my mother

or my brethren

and he looked around at those who said

about him and said

behold

my mother

and my brethren for whosoever shall do

the word of god

he is my brother

and my sister and my mother

then jesus went from there

and came into the coasts of judea on the

far side of jordan

and again there came to him great

multitudes and again he taught them

they brought young children to him that

he should touch them and his disciples

rebuked them but when jesus saw this he

was much displeased

he said to them

suffer the little children to come unto

me

forbid them not

for if such is the kingdom of god

verily i say unto you

except ye turn and become his little

children ye can in no way enter that

kingdom and he took the children up in

his arms

and laid his hands on them and blessed

them and said

whosoever shall receive this little

child in my name

receiveth me

and whosoever receiveth me

receiveth not me

but him who sent me

and there were the lame

the blind

the dumb

and the maimed they fell down at his

feet

and he healed them

and all wondered to see the dumb speak

and the maimed hole

the lame walk and the blind sea

and the disciples seeing jesus heal one

who'd been blind from birth said

good master

who did sin

this man or his parents

that he was born blind

and jesus said

why callest thou me good

there is none good but one that is god

neither this man nor his parents sinned

this was so the hand of god should be

made manifest in him

i must do the work of him that sent me

while it is day

the night cometh

when no man can work

then came certain pharisees and they

said to him who had been born blind

how were thine eyes opened

he answered

by a man called jesus he said to me go

to the pool of siloam and wash and i

went and washed and i see

then they said

this man is not of god

because he keepeth not the sabbath day

for it was the sabbath

they said

what sayest thou of him that he hath

opened thine eyes

he said

he's a prophet

then they said

give god the praise

we know that this man is a sinner

he answered whether he be a sinner i

know not but one thing i know that i was

blind and now i see

but they said again what did he to thee

he answered them

i've told you already

wherefore would you hear it again will

ye also be his disciples

then they said thou art his disciple is

for this fellow we know not from whence

he is

the man said why here's a marvelous

thing

ye know not from whence he is

and yet he has opened mine eyes since

the world began never was it heard that

anyone opened the eyes of one that was

born blind

now jesus heard and said to them

i am the light of the world

he that followeth me shall not walk in

darkness

but be free

jesus came again early in the morning to

the temple

and the people came to him and he sat

down taught them

then the pharisees brought in a woman

and he sat her before him

and said

master

this woman was taken in adultery

in the very act

now

moses in the law commanded us that such

should be stoned but

what say is thou

and jesus leaned down and

wrote in the ground with his finger

as if he heard them

not and they asked him again he looked

up and said

that him among you that is without sin

cast the first stone

and they went out

everyone

and jesus was left alone with the woman

he said to her

woman

where now are thy accusers

have no man condemn thee

no man lord

she said

and jesus said

neither do i

go

and sin no more

this is the sea of galilee where jesus

recruited a couple of fishermen

christ recruiting his disciples is one

of my favorite stories in the gospels

there is no record that he actually

recruited in the strictest sense or even

talked to them

he saw them

casting a net fishing and he said

come after me i'll make you fishers of

men

and they came

instead of heeding the pharisees warning

or threat jesus leads his little band to

jerusalem he goes immediately to the

temple probably climbing these very

steps to the temple mount where he

drives out the money changers

devout jews were forbidden to pay the

temple tax with roman coins because

they had graven images on them

so they bought plain coins from the

money changers who charged a fee

jesus was outraged that they were making

money from the service of god on the

most sacred spot in the city

his provocative act however was a

dangerous challenge to religious

authority

there's both anguish and anger behind

his vision of the destruction of the

temple

o jerusalem

jerusalem

ye stone the prophets

less than 40 years later the romans did

level the temple along with most of the

city leaving not one stone upon another

as christ had foretold

and they went forth from thence through

galilee where he would not that any man

should know him

for the pharisees it said

get thee hence from here for herod will

kill thee

but jesus answered

here must i walk still

today and tomorrow

and the days following for i know whence

i came and whether i go

but ye know neither whence i came

nor what i do

though he spoke these words

no man took him because his hour was not

yet come

nonetheless many of the multitudes

turned back and walked no more with him

but jesus marked it not because he knew

from the beginning who they would be

that believed not

and also

who would betray him

jesus therefore said to the twelve

would ye also go away

simon peter answered lord

to whom shall we go

thou hast the words of life

thou art the christ

and jesus smiled and said

and thou art peter

upon this rock i will build my church

unto thee will i give the keys of the

kingdom

and even death shall not prevail against

it

he told his disciples how he must go

into jerusalem saying to them

the son of man shall be delivered

into the hands of man

they understood not

but they were afraid

and jesus said to them

foxes have holes and the birds of heaven

have nests but the son of man hath

nowhere to lay his head if any man would

come after me

let him leave all and take up his cross

and follow me

then peter said

lo we have left all

we have followed thee

and jesus answered there is no man that

has left house or brethren or sisters or

father or mother or wife or children for

my sake but he shall receive eternal

life

in the world to come

but many that are first shall be last

and the last first

for whosoever would save his life shall

lose it

and whosoever shall lose his life for my

sake shall find

it and what shall a man get

for his life

so when at last they had come into

jerusalem all the city was moved saying

who is this

this is jesus the prophet of nazareth of

galilee

and jesus went into the temple of god

cast out all of them that sold and

bought in the temple he overthrew the

tables of the money changers and the

seats of them that sold doves

and said to them it is written my

father's house shall be called a house

of prayer

ye have made it a den of thieves

and as he went out from the temple one

of his disciples said

behold how it is adorned with goodly

stones

and jesus said

as for these things

behold

there shall not be left one stone upon

another

all shall be thrown down

and they asked him master but

when shall these things be and what sign

will there be

and jesus sighed deep in his spirit and

said

why do you seek a sign

dearly i say unto you there shall be no

sign

when you see a cloud rise out of the

west you say there comes rain and so it

is

and when you see the south wind blow you

say there will be heat and so it comes

you could read the signs of the sky and

the earth

how is it you cannot read the signs

of this time

suppose you that i am come to give peace

on earth

i tell you no

but rather division

there shall be houses divided son

against father and father against son

and ye shall hear of wars and rumors of

wars for all these things must come to

pass but the end is not yet

for nation shall rise against nation and

kingdom against kingdom

and there shall be famines and

pestilences and earthquakes

all these are the beginning of sorrows

oh jerusalem

jerusalem

you kill the prophets

and stone them which are sent to thee

i would have gathered thy children

together

and you would not

behold your house

shall be left desolate

and you shall not see me until the time

comes when you shall say

blessed is he that cometh in the name of

the lord

take ye heed

behold i have foretold you all things

and in those days after that tribulation

the sun shall be darkened and the moon

shall not give her light the stars of

heaven shall fall

and then shall we see the son of man

coming in clouds with glory and the

great sound of a trumpet

and then shall he send his angels and

shall gather all nations from the four

winds from the uttermost parts of the

earth

and all shall be before him

then shall the sun say come

he blessed of my father

inherit the kingdom prepared for you

from the foundation of the world

for i was hungry

and ye gave me meat

i was thirsty and ye gave me drink

i was a stranger and ye took me in naked

and ye clothed me

i was sick

and he visited me i was in prison and ye

came to me

then shall the righteous say lord we did

not these things unto thee

and the son shall answer them in as much

as ye have done this unto one of the

least of my brethren

ye have done this to me

take ye heed i say when all these things

be done

heaven and earth shall pass away

but my words shall not pass away

but of that day and that hour knowest no

man no not the angels in heaven

therefore take ye heed watch

and pray

we know not when the time is

the son of man is as a man taking a far

journey who left his house and gave to

every man his work and his watch

watch she therefore

for ye know not when the master cometh

at even or at midnight

at cockcrow or in the morning

and what i say unto you

i say unto all

watch

what i say unto you

i say unto all

watch

[Music]

jesus's dark prophecy fills his

followers with fear

many abandon him leading him to walk to

his destiny alone

heaven and earth shall pass away he says

but my words

shall not pass away

i'm jordan heston i'm not a priest or a

scholar i'm an actor i tell stories

i want to take you with me on an odyssey

along the way i'll tell you some of the

oldest and greatest stories on earth the

stories from the bible

[Music]

i come now to the tragic and triumphant

coda the new testament

the passion crucifixion and resurrection

and we return full circle to the city of

jerusalem where our story begins

and ends

[Music]

oh

[Music]

after the fall of rome christianity was

ideally placed in time and space to

flourish through the abandoned structure

of the roman empire but the bible was

still not widely disseminated

nevertheless christian monks in britain

began preaching in the saxon tongue

as britain grew the bible was translated

several times into the maturing richness

of the english language king alfred the

great was credited with personally

translating part of one version

here's moses exhorting the israelites in

old english

abraham scott from shafter freya sosa

speared with modern man roth there

micklin hand

in modern english that's

it is the eternal god of abraham

creation's lord

who this camp protects

valiant and powerful with that mighty

hand

the 15th century brought a major

milestone in human history the invention

of the printing press

the awesome power of the written word

was multiplied a thousand thousand times

when it could be duplicated

and circulated

this was of

lasting

immeasurable benefit to the world

and as it happened to the christian

faith

what do you think was the very first

book johan gutenberg ever printed on his

new machine

of course the gutenberg latin bible in

1456

by the 16th century thanks to gutenberg

the bible was available to anyone who

could read if you read latin

william tyndale made the first

definitive translation into english and

published it but the english church

prescribed its circulation

suspicious of the inherent power of the

printed word written in language people

could understand

a bishop bought most of tyndale's stock

and burned it i'm glad so tyndale i'll

have money to print more and the world

will cry out at the burning of god's

word

in the end they burn tyndale

then henry viii authorized the

publication of an entirely new

translation based on tyndale's work

he called it the great bible and ordered

it distributed to every parish church in

england so that

all manner of persons rich poor priests

and laymen lords and ladies husbands

wives may learn all things

later there were enough restrictions on

this freedom to make one

robert williams right in the fly leaf of

his copy

i keep sheep i bought this book price 14

pennies when it was proclaimed that

shepherds might not read it i pray god

amends that blindness

his prayer was answered

before long under henry and his daughter

elizabeth the first the great bible was

read all over britain

elizabeth was succeeded by james the

first scots king of england soon after

he took the throne he decided to

commission a new definitive english

translation of the bible classically

educated himself he appointed six

different panels of 47 scholars in all

who do the work they met separately in

westminster oxford and cambridge each

group working on different chapters for

a new english text based on both greek

and hebrew sources as well as the extant

english translations it was to replace

when this was done each panel sent

representatives with its new text to a

fourth panel which wove it all into a

final text to be submitted to king james

it was worth the work

in 1611 after seven years of effort the

king james bible was published and aside

from its ecclesiastical purpose

was recognized as a great work of

literature

it's described not only as a

monument of english prose but is the

only great work of art ever created by a

committee

after nearly four centuries it's still

used in english-speaking churches all

around the world

just as important the king james bible

along with shakespeare has helped shape

the language itself

this means more and more as the use of

english grows throughout the world

becoming the lingua franca of our time

if it can be said of any single

published work

this is surely

the bible

why is the king james translation so

good so

clearly the best

what makes any writing good

strong simple sentences vivid active

verbs and nouns

colorful images

good dialogue

when it's as good as this

it also touches the heart

now let's begin the end of the story

or the end of the beginning

when jesus and his disciples entered the

city the time of quiet preaching was

passed jerusalem was not a quiet city

pilate the roman governor had to deal

with the zealots and other rebel groups

the priests of israel had to deal with

false prophets who distracted the people

the new ideas of jesus were not yet

widely understood or accepted but they

were popular

that made him dangerous

all four gospels describe the gathering

storm as jesus

surely now knowing his destiny goes to

meet it

the pharisees a strict jewish sect at

the time would certainly have found

christ's preaching objectionable

smelling danger

maybe blood in the air

some of christ's followers begin to fade

away

though his original disciples stand fast

for the moment

[Music]

now there was much murmuring among the

multitude concerning him

some said he's a good man but others

said nay but he leads the people astray

still jesus went up into the temple and

taught saying

my teaching is not mine

but here's who sent me

if any man wills he shall know whether i

be of god or whether i speak for myself

some therefore said

is this he whom they seek to kill

hello he speaks openly and they say

nothing to him

can it be that the rulers know that

this is the christ

but some answered we know whence this

man is but when the christ cometh no one

knows whence he is

jesus said ye know me and know whence i

am

but i am not come of myself but from him

whom you know not

now the pharisees heard the multitude

murmuring and the chief priests sent

officers to take him where he stood

but when they heard him cry if any man

thirst

let him come to me and drink

some of these men said

this is of a truth

the prophet

this is the christ

still some said what does the christ

come out of galilee if not the

scriptures said that the christ cometh

out of bethlehem

still

no man would lay a hand on him

the chief priest said to them why did

you not bring him are ye also led astray

the officers answered

there was never a man who spoke so

now after this jesus appointed other

disciples and sent them two and two into

every city and place

and he said to them

the harvest is at hand but the laborers

are few

therefore go your ways yet beware

i send you forth as lambs in the midst

of wolves

still into whatever city ye enter say to

them the kingdom of god is nigh i send

you to tread upon serpents and scorpions

yet nothing shall hurt you

for your names are written in heaven

now

the feast of unleavened bread brunei

which is called the passover and many

went up out of the country to jerusalem

to purify themselves

they asked there for jesus in the temple

saying

what think he

that he will not come

for the priests had commanded that if

any man knew where he was he should tell

it that they might take him

so the pharisees took counsel how they

might do this

and they sent forth spies saying

master

we know thou art true and teaches the

way of god and charis not for anyone

tell us therefore

what thinks thou

is it lawful to give tribute to caesar

or not

and jesus said to them

show me a penny and they brought him a

penny and he said

whose is this image and superscription

and they said

caesars

and he said

then render unto caesar the things that

are caesars

and unto god the things that are god's

so they held their peace and went away

now since the passover was at hand the

priests and the scribes and the elders

of the people gathered together in the

palace of the high priest who was called

caiaphas and consulted how they might

take jesus by craft and kill him

but they said not on the feast day lest

a tumult arise among the people

now jesus was in bethany at this time

in the house of simon the leper

and as he sat at meat the woman mary

magdalene came with an alabaster box of

precious ointment and

poured it on his head

when judas iscariot saw this he said

to what purpose is this waste this

ointment might have been sold for much

money to give to the poor

and they all murmured against her but

jesus said to them

why trouble you the woman

just wrought a good work

the poor ye have always with you

but me you have not always

she has poured this ointment for my

burial

and i say verily wheresoever this gospel

shall be preached in the whole world

there this also shall be told

what this woman

hath done

and

satan

entered into judas though he was one of

the twelve

and he went away to the chief priests

and said to them

what will you give me

if i deliver him to you

they weighed and gave him

30 pieces of silver

and from that moment

he sought to betray jesus

[Music]

this is the hall of the last supper the

room's been rebuilt often most recently

by the crusaders but this is said to be

the place where jesus gathered his

disciples for that fateful dinner the

night of his betrayal

i said before

jerusalem's a city crowded with

spiritual significance

one floor down lies the tomb of david

ancient king of israel

do you suppose jesus knew that

more important does he see the web of

plots around him the small traps laid he

handles the question of paying roman

taxes easily enough

does he know judas will defect even

before judas does

in these last scenes these central

issues the core of the new testament

is jesus the messiah

my teaching is not mine but his that

sent me he says and with these words

seals his fate

but

first is the feast day passover he will

not be taken then the priests say lest

there be an uproar among the people

so there's time for a quiet meal with

the disciples the breaking of bread and

wine

the first communion

and for jesus the last passover

now the first day of the feast the

disciples did as jesus had appointed

them and made ready the passover

and when it was evening he came with a

twelve and satted meat

and as they did eat jesus rose from the

supper and took a towel and girded

himself and poured water and began to

wash the disciples feet and to wipe them

so he came to peter who said lord

thou shall never wash my feet

and jesus answered

if i wash thee not thou hast no part

with me

what i do thou knowest not now

but thou shalt hereafter

year clean

but not all are clean

so he sat down again and said

know you what i've done

you call me

master and lord and ye say well but

still i say to you that one of you shall

betray me

his hand

is with me on the table

twelve looked at one another doubting

and said to him one by one lord

is it i

and he answered

he that dips his hand with me in this

dish

the same shall betray me the son of man

goeth

as it is written then judas said

master

is it i

jesus answered

thou hast said

what thou doest do quickly

now no man at the table knew what he

spoke to judas who went out straight

away

and it was night

when he was gone jesus said

children

yet a little while i am with you so now

a new commandment i give unto you that

you love one another even as i have

loved you

by this shall all men know ye

peter then said

lord wither goes though

jesus answered whither i go thou canst

not follow

peter said

lord why can i not follow thee i will

lay down my life for thee

jesus answered

wilt thou lay down

thy life

for me

first sit down and count the cost ye

know not what ye ask

peter said even if i must die with thee

i will not deny thee and jesus answered

verily

verily i say unto thee the shall

not crow

till thou hast denied me

thrice

for i say

this which is written

must be fulfilled

so he took bread

and blessed and broke it and gave it to

them and said

take eat

this is my body

and he took the cup and gave thanks and

gave it to them and they all drank of it

and he said this is my blood of the new

testament which i shed for you

but i will no more drink of the fruit of

the vine until that day that i drink it

new in the kingdom of god

let not your heart be troubled in my

father's house are many mansions if it

were not so i would have told you

and if i go

i come again

that where i am there ye may be also and

whither i go ye know the way

thomas said to him lord

we know not wither thou goest

how know we the way

jesus said i am the way

and the truth

and the life

no one cometh unto the father but by me

philip said

lord

show us the father jesus said

have i been with you so long

and thus thou not know me philip

i am the father

you know him

he abides with you

i will not leave you desolate

get a little while and the world beholds

me no more but ye behold me

because i live ye shall live also

let not your heart be fearful if you

love me

rejoice because i go

and now

i have told you

i will speak with you no more

for the world cometh

arise

let us go hence

that the world may know

that i love the father

and when they had sung a hymn they went

out to the mount of olives

and jesus said to them

behold the hour cometh

yea is come

that ye shall be scattered every man

and leave me alone

in the world you shall have tribulation

but be of good cheer

i have overcome the world

so they came at last to a place named

gethsemane

and jesus said to his disciples

g here while i pray

and watch

and he went forward a little and

fell in the ground

and he said

oh my father if they'll be willing

take away this cup from me

nevertheless not what i will but what

thou wilt be done

and in an agony he prayed

and his sweat was his great drops of

blood falling down to the ground

and as he rose up from prayer

he found the disciples sleeping

and he said to peter what

could you not watch with me one hour

the spirit indeed is willing but the

flesh is weak

and again he went away

and prayed

and spoke the same words

and when he turned

he found him asleep again for their eyes

were heavy

and he said to them

sleep on now

take your rest

it is enough the hour is come

behold

the son of man is taken

and while he spoke

judas came and with him a band of

soldiers with swords and torches

jesus therefore went forth and said

whom seeky

they answered jesus of nazareth

and judas came to him and said

hail master

and kissed him

and jesus said friend

do that for which thou had come

then they came and laid hands on him and

took him

now peter had a sword and drew it and

struck one of the high priest's servants

and jesus said put up thy sword

this cup the father hath given me

shall i not drink it

so the chief captain bound him

and jesus said to him

are you come out to take me as a thief

with swords

when i was daily with you in the temple

you stretched forth no hand against me

but this is your hour

and this is done

then the disciples

forsook him

and fled

[Music]

the events of that final supper and the

night in the garden are full of

terror and betrayal and faith and

friendship

and wonder

christ who's faced this from almost the

beginning has to decide what to tell the

12 of them and how

that done he wants most to get it over

do it he says to judas

jesus comforts the 11 loyal apostles

that are left then goes to the garden to

meet the soldiers

maybe he thinks they'll be waiting there

with swords

one strong bloody stroke and it would be

done

but they're not the garden's empty he

must wait

for the first time in the entire

testament his will falters

perhaps for one moment he's not the

christ but the man struggling this

mortality and praise please don't let it

end this way

this is said to be the very garden

this the very rock where jesus prayed

for strength from this moment he is who

he is he smiles at his sleeping friends

he

can they really have been sleeping

that's the sort of human frailty that to

me rings true

jesus calls his betrayer friend he

greets the soldiers like guests in his

garden he practices what he preached

they take him and his disciples run away

every man of them runs away

this is the via dolorosa in the old city

of jerusalem the buildings are more

recent but these stones are original

jesus may have stumbled here as he

dragged his cross up towards the hill of

golgotha to his destiny

there's still the trial to come

and the cross the lines of inevitability

are closing towards a climax which

perhaps could be foreseen but not

avoided

i think jesus knows this now

philippians says it very well

christ equal with god was made in the

likeness of men

as a man he was obedient unto death

even the death of the cross

[Music]

now they led jesus away to caiaphas the

high priest and peter followed

afar off

they brought him even into the palace of

the priests where we assembled all the

elders and scribes but peter was

standing without in the court

when they'd kindled the fire he sat with

the servants

and warmed himself

then the chief priests and all the

councils sought for witness against

jesus to put him to death but found none

though many bore witness against him for

they agreed not to gather

but at last came two false men swearing

this fellow said i can destroy the

temple of god and build it in three days

and the high priest arose

and said to him

answers thou nothing

what is it which these men witness

against thee

but jesus held his peace

so the high priest said i command thee

by the living god that thou tell us

art thou the christ

and jesus said

ye say that i am

why ask thou me

ask them that have heard me

they know the things which i said

then the high priest said what need we

any further witnesses we ourselves have

heard from his own mouth

you've heard the blasphemy

what thinky

they answered

he is worthy of death

then the men that held jesus spit in his

face and mocked him and others

blindfolded him and struck him saying

prophesy to us oh christ which is he

that struck thee

now peter still set without

warming himself

when a maid came to him and said

art thou a disciple of this jesus

and he denied saying i know not what the

sayest

and then another maid saw him and said

to them that were there

this fellow was also with the nazarene

and with an oath he denied again i know

not the man

and after a while another that stood by

said to peter

surely thou art one of them

without a galilean thy speech betrays

thee

and he swore man i am not

and at once the crowed

and peter remembered the words of jesus

before the crow

thou shalt deny me thrice

and he went away

and wept

now judas when he knew that jesus was

condemned repented

so he brought back the 30 pieces of

silver to the priests

and said

i have sinned

i have betrayed innocent blood

and they said

what is that to us

see thou to that

so he threw down the pieces of silver in

the temple

and went away

and hanged himself

when the morning was come

all the chief priests and elders of the

people took counsel against jesus to put

him to death

and when they'd bound him

they led him away and delivered him up

to pilate

pilate therefore said to them

what accusation bringing against this

man

they answered

if this man were not an evil doer we

should not have delivered him up to rome

pilate said take him according to your

law

and judge him the priest said

it is not lawful for us to put any man

to death but we found this fellow

perverting the nation and forbidding to

give tribute to caesar saying that he

himself is christ

a king

and pilate asked him

art thou the king of the jews

and jesus answered

thou sayest i am a king

to this end am i come into the world

that i should bear witness unto the

truth

and pilate said to him what is truth

now again the priests accused jesus so

again pilate asked him

answer is thou nothing

behold how many things they accuse thee

of

but jesus no more answered anything

not even one word

so the governor said to the priests

i find no fault in this man

but they were all the more urgent saying

he stirs up the people throughout all

judea

now at this feast the governor was want

to release to the people one prisoner

whomsoever they would so pilate called

together the priests and the people also

though the priests had delivered jesus

to him for judgment

so pilate said to them

he brought me this man

and having examined him before you i

find no fault in him nothing worthy of

death has been done by him

i will therefore chastise him

and release him for your passover

would ye that i release to you this king

of the jews

now there was one named barabas who'd

made rebellion and for this and for

murder lay bound in prison

so now the priests moved the people so

that they cried out

not this man but bearer verse

the governor said to them

which of the two would ye that i

released to you

they said barabbas

pilate said to them

what shall i do then with jesus

and they all cried

let him be crucified

then pilate said why

what evil is he done

but they cried out the more

crucify him

and these voices

prevailed

so pilate

to content the people

released barabbas whom they asked for

and delivered jesus up to their will

the soldiers took him

and scourged him

and they plated a crown of thorns

they put it on his head and arrayed him

in a purple garment

so they brought him out again

and pilate said to the people

behold the man

but they cried out as before away with

him away with him crucify him

when pilate said

shall i crucify your king

they answered we have no king

but caesar

[Music]

and they mocked jesus saying

hale king of the jews

[Music]

so they took the robe from him

and led him away to crucify him

jesus went out bearing the cross for

himself

but as they led him on the way they took

hold of one simon of cyrene and laid the

cross on him to bear it after jesus

and a great company of people followed

after

and women also

be wailing

and lamenting

but jesus

turning to them said

daughters of jerusalem

weep not for me

weep for yourselves

and for your children

for the days are coming when they shall

say blessed are the barren

and the wombs that never bore and the

breasts

that never gave suck

then shall they say to the mountains

fall on us

into the hills cover us

for if they do these things in the green

time

what shall be done in the dry

and when they were come to a place

called golgotha

that is to say the place of the skull

they gave him wine to drink mingled with

gall

when he tasted it he

would not drink

then they crucified him

and sorted his garments casting dice

among them what every man should take

[Music]

with him they crucified two thieves the

one in his right hand and the other on

his left

and now it was the third hour

and they sat up over his head his

accusation

this is jesus the king of the jews

now many read this for the place where

jesus was crucified was near the city

and it was written in hebrew and in

latin and in greek

the priests therefore said to pilate

right not the king of the jews but that

he said i am king of the jews

pilate said to them

what i have written

i have written

and the people stood there

watched him

also the elders

nodding their heads and saying

he saved others

himself he cannot save

let him come down from the cross now

and we will believe him

one of the thieves which were hanged

railed at him saying

if thou be the christ save thyself

and us

but the other rebuked him saying

thus thou not fear god

we received your reward for our deeds

but this man has done nothing

and he said to jesus

lord

when thou comest into thy kingdom

remember me

and jesus said

i say to thee

today

shalt thou be with me

in paradise

there standing by the cross of jesus

for his mother

and his mother's sister mary

and mary magdalene

now it was about the sixth hour

and the darkness came over the whole

land

until the ninth hour

the sun's light failing

and about the ninth hour jesus cried

with a loud voice

my god

my god why hast thou forsaken me

[Music]

and then he said

it is finished

and cried

[Music]

father

into thy hands

[Music]

and thus

he gave up the ghost

[Music]

this is the church of the holy sepulchre

built in the hill of calvary or golgotha

meaning the place of the skull

many believe it to be the sight of the

crucifixion

the story can be told for the awesome

drama it surely is whatever else it may

or may not be

neither pilate nor caiaphas is a villain

both are committed men which is more

than can be said for peter here pilate

as roman governor shows jesus to the

people

homo he says behold the man

the mob rejects his offer of clemency

allowing pilate to wash his hands for

the matter

jesus

hardly speaks he certainly makes no

effort to defend himself or even seek

mercy

he too is committed

to this end am i come into the world

that i should bear witness under the

truth

perhaps pilate's comment is the most

telling

what is truth

and who knows the answer to that

the resurrection has been endlessly

debated but is of course ultimately

neither provable or disprovable it's

said by some to have happened here on

the second day after christ was

crucified

in 1883 general gordon of khartoum

spotted a hill with a strange skull-like

look to it beneath the hill was a garden

which research showed may have belonged

to joseph of aramacia there's a small

tomb carved from the living rock

there's a track where a stone could be

moved to seal the entrance

or rolled away

whether christ's tomb was here or

beneath the church of the holy sepulchre

is for theologians and archaeologists to

debate to me

it doesn't really matter

[Music]

the resurrection is the crux of the new

testament the focal point of the gospels

christ having delivered his message to

mankind and accepted the burden of their

sins comes back from the grave both to

reassure his disciples to forgive

peter's denial

and significantly to provide reliable

living witnesses to his resurrection and

inspire them to spread the word he'd

given them

all four gospels describe this in detail

still to accept this witness requires an

act of faith

the very act of faith which i suspect

was the entire point of christ's

teachings

and the new testament itself

now the sun was darkened and the veil of

the temple was rent entwined from the

top to the bottom

and when the centurion that stood by

overall saw what was done he said truly

this was a righteous man

and all the people that came there smote

their breasts and cried and all that

followed him from galilee and the women

stood afar off beholding these things

and now when the even was come because

it was the day before the sabbath a man

named joseph of arimathea

a good man and righteous who'd also been

a disciple

came and went in boldly to pilate and

asked for the body of jesus and pilate

gave him leave

so joseph took him down from the cross

and wrapped him in fine linen and laid

him in his own new tomb which was hewn

out of a rock

and he rolled a great stone to the door

of the tomb

and mary magdalene and mary the mother

of jesus and also mary who came with him

from galilee

beheld the sepulcher

and how his body was laid

they returned and prepared spices and

ointments and rested on the sabbath day

according to the commandment

now

as it began to dawn on the first day of

the week

they came to the sepulcher the rising of

the sun

and they said among themselves

who shall roll us away this stone from

the door

but when they looked they saw that the

stone was rolled away

in entering into the tomb they saw an

angel sitting on the right side his

appearance was as lightning and his

garment white as snow

and he said to them

why seek the living

among the dead jesus the nazarene who

was crucified

is risen

he is not here

come see the place where the lord lay

so go your way

tell his disciples that he goeth before

you but ye shall see him

as he told

and peter ran and looked wondering at

what was come to pass for they had not

known that he must rise again

and they rose up and returned to

jerusalem rejoicing the lord has risen

mary magdalene

stood still

at the sepulcher

whipping

and as she turned

she saw jesus standing there but she

knew him not

supposing him to be the gardener she

said

they have taken away my lord and i

know not where they've laid him

and jesus said to her

mary

whom see thou

and she said to him

master

so he said to her mary touch me not but

go to my brethren and say i ascend unto

my father and your father

to my god

and your god

and she went and told the disciples that

she had seen the lord and what he'd

spoken but one of them thomas said

unless i see in his hands the print of

the nails and put my finger there

i will not believe

so that evening

jesus came where the disciples were

and stood among them and said

peace be unto you

and to thomas he said

preach hither

thy finger

behold my hands

and thomas answered

my lord

and my god

then jesus said thomas

because you've seen me

ye believe but blessed are those that

have not seen

and believe

and to simon peter he said simon son of

john

lovest thou me

and peter answered yeah lord thou

knowest that i love thee

and jesus said to him

tend my sheep

and to all he said

as the father hath sent me even so i

send you

go ye into all the world and preach the

gospel to the whole creation

[Music]

of the things which jesus did

they should be written everyone

i suppose that even the world itself

could not contain the books which would

be written

[Music]

in the beginning

was the word

and the word was god

and the word endures

words in riches define us they

mark our place

in time

and in the universe

[Music]

the holy land has inspired countless

artists writers and filmmakers over the

years and it's easy to understand why

the lands of the middle east represent

the cradle of western civilization and

the birthplace of its greatest book the

holy bible

when charlton heston first traveled here

in the mid 50s while portraying moses in

the film the ten commandments he too was

captivated

the more he studied for that role the

more determined he became to understand

the texts from which it sprang

over the next forty years he repeatedly

found himself performing biblical

stories in different venues but that

wasn't enough

in his heart he knew he would one day

return to the holy land so he could

better understand the origins of the

stories he had come to know and love

for the next 30 minutes you'll walk with

him as he travels this terrain once

again

you'll come to understand how his

personal odyssey took shape as the

television event

charlton heston presents the bible

i think

the most unusual aspect of this whole

project

is the way we're treating

the stories in the bible

long before the egyptians had invented

papyrus or before the phoenicians had

invented writing for that matter

these stories were being told the way

we're telling them that's what they were

designed for to be told around campfires

in the dark by

by storytellers

who passed them on in an oral tradition

from generation to generation you can

imagine the storyteller

selecting some likely young lad and

saying look you can stay in my tent and

i'll take care of you and see that you

get fed and nobody gives you a hard time

but you've got to learn these stories

because when i die you've got to pass

them on

i think we're doing something absolutely

unusual and i think it you have to be an

actor to do this because that's what i

do

i'm not a rabbi or a priest or a teacher

or a professor or a scientist or a

historian none of those things

and tell stories and these are the best

stories there ever were

the project was ambitious

heston's producers his son fraser heston

and john stronach assembled a crew of 60

and after mapping out a tight five-week

shooting schedule departed for israel

and egypt so that heston could tell

these timeless stories in their original

settings

one of the amazing things about this

production is how it started with this

little kernel of an idea that chuck had

to do the bible and over the last year

and a half it's turned into

his personal odyssey through the holy

land and what's

what was going to be just a short little

documentary is now a major

television event

we wanted to create something about the

bible that has never been done before we

wanted to make a performance piece that

consisted of the bible as a great work

of literature as a great work of art

aside from its

value as a religious document which is

also remarkable but our purpose was

artistic

and the best thing i did on this picture

was hire the director tony westman who

is an old friend of mine a documentary

filmmaker he's won some awards in

canada and he's since become a very

imminent uh director of photography and

television i would like to do an exit

from the jeep

i'm getting a mixed size just kidding

kind of you stop maybe you come up to

about there

you do a little glass around under the

thing like that

like that yes

no words no words when we had the

original redaction that chuck had done

we realized that we had a lot of words

but we had no script we had no film and

we needed a structure in order to make

it work so in the course of shopping

around it was suggested that we have

commentaries so we began to think about

commentaries and writing about things

but we said well what are we going to

say we only have one or two minutes each

time we stop for a little commentary

we realized it needed more than just

telling the stories and i needed to know

more about where the stories took place

and fraser and tony both said why don't

we set this in the course of doing your

research you research all your parts do

it that way we'll get a jeep and give

you here's your sketchbook

and you can go around

and

find out about sinai and about the sea

of galilee

and i played moses but i never crossed

over jordan just like him the purpose

with coming here was the holy land was

the religious center

of the world in terms of the top three

religions and so that became the seminal

idea which really launched the thing

that became the script that we have

today is we began to think of the idea

of a pilgrimage we began to think of

chuck as the person who indeed through

his history as an actor uh began to to

reassert his his thinking not so much in

a dramatic sense as more of a historical

and a literary and poetic sense and so

his long exposure with the with the text

gave him a lovely understanding of the

of the territory of the text and it

became important to uh to communicate

that in a story-like way and so by

having a pilgrimage where he's in fact

coming to the whole event and looking at

these things it became just a natural

kind of a thing

probably one of the most amusing things

that i have to continually laugh about

it's my own ignorance about the bible

now i'm in a crash course trying to

learn not only the bible itself but all

the historical little bits that before

and after that that follow tony brings

to this project a tremendous

sophistication he understands already

understands music understands film as an

art form and history and literature he

had his own personal conversion on mount

sinai during a location scout where he

went up to the top of the mountain and

he said well

i don't know what religion it was but i

really felt that i could feel the

presence of god up there

everyone on the crew recognized the

awesome power of the landscape

and it quickly became clear that the

power of the film would lie not just in

heston's performance on the stage of a

1st century roman amphitheater

but in his on-the-scene commentaries

was not enough to provide a little

background information heston would

invite the viewer to come along as he

immersed himself in the history of the

region and the stories

absolutely

stupid

okay it'll be like this then this is the

beginning tim on action

voice of god how was that

you like that

all right here we go okay let's go

please quiet please

the voice of god echoes through the old

testament

in the new

we hear him only twice

most significantly when his son is

baptized

here the river jordan

the baptist himself was regarded by

psalms the messiah

christ chose to be baptized by him

seems to be his father's wish

in preparation for his ministry

maybe god is pleased with both men

let us gather by the river as the gospel

song has it

and be baptized

i think probably the most

exciting aspect of this whole project

is the fact that chuck is getting a

chance to do something that came

directly out of his own nature and his

own convictions

uh not a part that someone handed him

and said here you are

step into this roll

i think he's been waiting all his life

to do this

now the serpent

was more cunning than any beast which

the lord god had made

and he said to the woman

yea hath god not said ye shall eat of

every tree of the garden

and the woman said

we may eat of the fruit of the trees

which are in the garden but of the fruit

of the tree which is in the midst of the

garden god hath said you shall not eat

of it neither shall you touch it lest

you die

he shall not surely die

said the

serpent for god doth know that in the

day you eat thereof

then your eyes shall be opened and ye

shall be like god

knowing good

and evil

the use of on-screen artwork became

another important facet of the project

there was no shortage of paintings to

choose from

for centuries all the great masters

focused on religious subjects

we started a database it became a

project in its own we had

something like 1500 paintings in our

database and some sculptures and

etchings

which

were either exemplary of certain artwork

painted about specific stories uh

michelangelo's creation of adam etc

or were general paintings which we could

use

like a master shot to illustrate a scene

to illustrate perhaps is a wrong word

too

to photograph something that cannot be

photographed how do you how do you do

the creation

in the bible well we have wonderful

paintings

turner sunsets and o'keefe landscapes

and beer

of yosemite park and things that you

know the natural world things of that

sort

so we got very excited about this and we

realized that this in itself was almost

an entire project

just as these great paintings enhanced

heston's performance the historical

settings added weight to his

commentaries

most important location of all was

jerusalem a holy place not to one but to

three of the world's great religions

the producers needed a base of

operations a setting in which the

stories themselves could be told

eventually they settled upon a recently

discovered roman amphitheater north of

jerusalem

an appropriate location given that rome

controlled jerusalem in the time of

christ and later ensured the spread of

christianity

wonderful thing about this place for

filming a picture like the bible is

that it's a real place it's a real

amphitheater with real stones and people

actually sat in these seats and watched

a performance perhaps not unlike this

one

although on a different subject

two thousand years ago

when you shoot in a place like this

there is an ambience there is a kind of

a thing that you pick up from the stones

just by touching there and it's the same

stones that the romans walked on

something happens it doesn't happen

in a sound stage

we thought about shooting this on a

soundstage at one point this portion the

performance portion

but we realized that

you know what could we do

no matter how much budget we had set

aside for we couldn't begin to duplicate

something like these actual pillars

and among the sons the location was

indeed an essential ingredient of the

producer's vision but it had its

drawbacks

simple shots like this one required a

great deal of planning

the challenges were magnified when water

became the setting

nevertheless the producers knew that

certain shots were crucial

to enhance the commentary about noah and

the flood heston and his crew of 60 set

sail on the red sea

today this body of water bordered by

egypt israel and jordan is one of the

world's most intense political

flashpoints

but it also played a crucial role in the

ancient hebrew culture thus in spite of

the difficulties it posed the producers

realized that no other setting would do

finally after hours of arduous labor

heston and crew got the shots they

needed and in the end it all looked

effortless

the days became even more grueling when

the production moved to the desert

another landscape that figures

prominently in the stories of the bible

filming started each morning before dawn

even as the incessant desert winds moved

horse sand to the faces of heston and

the crew

the sun pushed the temperature to a

searing 125 degrees

by 10 am the heat would become

unbearable and the crew would break from

ten to four find what little relief they

could and then return to complete the

task at hand shooting until nightfall

in this case the script was succinct one

line chuck climbs a lonely sand dune and

sees the pyramids

but getting that single shot took most

of one day

during production the morses of nature

in this harsh yet beautiful environment

tested both heston and his crew

ultimately however it all proved to be

worthwhile

the majesty of this landscape is a

constant presence in the stories of the

bible in many ways it shaped the key

figures of both testaments

i've been asked about working with my

father

many times

in the course of my career

i've made

four or five pictures with him now and i

know him pretty well

we get along very well we're also

friends as well as business associates

and we're colleagues we own a company

together but we also work together as

artists and fortunately we work in

different fields so there's not a

conflict of interest there chuck is an

actor

i'm a director and a writer

and a producer

so we get on pretty well and i think our

relationship is an advantage

like many good creative partnerships

chuck's one fault might be

that he is

so professional

so

concerned about responsibility

he'll sometimes turn into an assistant

director on the set and push himself too

hard and want to push the company move

things along and i'll have to go up and

i'll say chuck you know

let us worry about what time it is

you worry about

the performance you worry about the

creative aspects of it we'll tell you if

we don't have time for another take if

you want another take take the damn take

it doesn't take that much time to do one

extra take what takes time is screwing

around trying to put it back together

when you haven't done it right

in the first place

so i think

chuck's

great strength the other side of that

coin is

his sincere desire to

be both an artist and a professional at

the same time

and i think that

that really shows in his work actually

through the early stories in genesis god

is visibly there

strongly involved controlling events

though less so for the later prophets

well fraser and chuck have

done a lot of films together three or

four actually and

this project is

really

extremely stimulating for both of them

it's uh

was basically chuck's idea to do the

the

bible as

literature

presenting it

as an actor would

and

fraser immediately said that's a great

idea and all of a sudden here we are in

the negev

photographing these glorious mountains

and

i'm tagging along to take pictures as i

always do

i remember when

uh

the indiana jones series came on tv i

was watching the pilot and

i was watching it with some friends and

there's the scene where the young

indiana jones is dragged over to england

he's forced by his parents to read the

classics and i thought well i had to do

that

and then he has to study all the latin

and the greek and all of that well i had

to do that too and then he goes to cairo

and they climb the pyramids and his mom

has a governess and she drags him to the

top of the pyramids and i thought well

my mother dragged me to the top of the

pyramids and she also dragged me to the

mines of yucatan and

all these other wonderful places and

somebody said to me well you must sort

of identify yourself with indiana jones

and i said no no my mother is indiana

jones not me

heston and his crew may not have faced

the dangers encountered by indiana jones

but they did have to overcome many

hazards during production

one scene in the negev desert called for

shots from the top and the bottom of an

80-foot bluff

then there was that business with the

apple

when adam and eve ate the apple they

were no longer simply god's creatures

innocent as animals in the safety of the

garden

since there were no trails the entire

crew including heston had to climb down

through a cleft in the rock using safety

ropes

everyone made it but the danger didn't

end there

a movie crane is balanced with the

utmost care

had the camera end dropped just a bit

below the wheels that balance would be

lost and the camera crew and crane would

have tumbled over the cliff

we've had a lot of excitement with this

film

on the set

and

even off the set

the day that we climbed up on that giant

tell that looks down over the uh the

ruins of betjen

of course chuck felt he had to

climb

climb the stairs instead of taking the

jeep up the back way

it was

it was windy and

cool and very exhilarating on that peak

it all turned out beautifully

over the course of my life i've had the

opportunity to go to many of the places

that some cultures feel are very

spiritual like easter island and machu

picchu and places around south america

and other places

but coming to sinai

i really had the feeling that if there

was ever a place

that god was going to give somebody some

rules this would be it

everyone on the crew embraced the spirit

of discovery that permeates the great

biblical texts from adam and eve onward

inspired by these timeless stories of

hardship and faith the crew felt a

growing sense of purpose

there was an awareness of the spiritual

which made this production unique even

to veterans of the industry

heston of course had experienced all

this before

nearly 40 years earlier the great

director cecil b demille had cast him in

the role of moses

now in a homecoming of sorts he was

returning to the location where he had

shot his first scenes in the ten

commandments and where moses himself is

said to have received the law from the

hand of god

heston may not have found god on that

mountain but in the process of filming

the ten commandments and now charlton

heston presents the bible he certainly

found moses

as in many other aspects of the film we

were very fortunate in that it came

together at a time when we could utilize

a crew that we that we worked with

before tony's been on a couple of other

pictures with fraser and chuck i have

and we're basically all doing whatever

it needs to get it done we're not just

wearing one hat

okay stand by for a picture please

quiet please

turns out i'm the first female first aid

that charlton testing has ever worked

on a movie

but ironically i'm also someone he's

known since i was two years old

the first couple of days were rocky and

uh

i found that charlton hessen was calling

me sir

and then not getting a little flustered

about it so

he being a

or being able to rationalize calling me

sir even though he's known me since i

was a little girl what he actually came

up with is that in the cartoon peanuts

there is a very tomboyish character

named peppermint patty and all the other

characters call for sir so once he found

that motivation he got relaxed about it

i got relaxed about it and he calls me

sir

as well as through some of the israeli

grips

one of them called me sir and then it

said i mean baby

here we came the american group came up

you know 12 000 miles across the ocean

and

met

met the

israeli group and we went to work right

away

and there was an immediate integration

these guys are professionals just the

same sense that we are i mean there's an

equality

of professionalism and knowledge

sometimes a language problem but

but the techniques for filmmaking are

the same whether it's here or in the u.s

or wherever

and

we just went right to work and it's been

a delight you know we sit around at

night you know we all go after we finish

we go take a swim or maybe go down and

have a drink at the bar go out to dinner

it's been a lot of fun i've made some

made some friends here and i know it's

been a reciprocal thing it's been mutual

respect admiration

the mutual respect and team spirit that

permeated the production was something

that heston had come to expect many

years earlier in his book charlton

heston's hollywood he recalls shooting

the scene of a young moses coming down

from mount sinai after his first

encounter with the burning bush

i suddenly had an idea he wrote and i

turned to mr demille and said

i think i should go barefoot in this

scene

demille was silent he had a reputation

for doing things his way and heston knew

that but he felt strongly and so with

trepidation he made his case

god he said had just commanded moses to

take off his shoes because he was

walking on holy ground

moses is excited bewildered

the last thing he would have remembered

to do was to put his shoes back on

when heston finished demille looked at

him for what seemed like an eternity

then said quietly

i think you're right we'll do it put our

first shoes from off thy feet a place

where on our standist is holy ground

movie making for always a lot of people

using a lot of equipment so it's usually

pretty noisy

but a few moments ago i took a

walk

around the edge of this

big rock here

and there's an egyptian temple which is

about

3 000 years old

and for a moment while there

it was absolutely quiet there was not a

sound beyond the sound of my own the

limit of my own hearing

it was really very nice

film locations are indeed noisy chaotic

places but confused never

each man and woman had a very special

job to do

and they did it with grace and precision

in fact

in the course of filming something

remarkable happened

a diverse crew consisting of americans

canadians israelis muslims christians

and jews all banded together in pursuit

of a common goal

that of bringing to life the greatest

stories ever told by one of the greatest

storytellers of our time

what amazes me about this undertaking is

not only the challenge the opportunity

the rewards the satisfaction of doing

this material in this way in these

places

but that i'm the first one to do it

i can't believe nobody else has done it

before

when charlton heston presents the bible

finally premiered on the arts and

entertainment network it was immediately

praised as a monumental achievement

the new york times called heston's

performance powerful while the wall

street journal noted that the film was

steeped in spiritual passion

the success of the project was certainly

due in part to heston's lifelong

fascination with the stories of the old

and new testaments

over the years he had come to know and

understand these magnificent tales

what's more he had come to feel a sense

of awe whenever he spoke the words

attributed to adam moses and other

heroic figures of the bible

the impact of the series must also be

attributed to heston's brilliance as an

actor

few other performers of any generation

could have brought to this project the

subtle intensity that it so richly

deserved

but the true key to this project's

success was the work on which it was

based

as heston and his team so skillfully

demonstrated the stories of the bible

from the tale of creation to the passion

of christ

carry with them a quality that is beyond

description

they strike at the very essence of the

human experience and therefore continue

to speak to us believers and

non-believers alike to this day