Old Testament Lore. Norman M. Chansky
Читать онлайн книгу.
was a faultless man righteous in his generations who walked with God.” Gen VI, 9.
“Noah, Noah. Listen to Me.”
Noah felt a strange energy that wouldn’t let him be.
He howled a scream. A nightmare, no a dream.
“Noah, Noah. Listen.” Once again he heard a mystic sound
Within his mind and all around.
He left his bed, fearing his senses had fled.
I AM GOD, the Voice Declared.
Noah was awed but unprepared.
How can that be
That God would be Talking to me?
God Replied,
I Am always by your side.
Why Talk to me, Noah thought.
God Said, You are the one I have Sought:
Someone just and fair is hard to find
Then I Saw that you are gentle and kind.
Noah! Listen! This is what I Have Planned:
I Am Going to Flood the land
Because the people have defiled my Creation.
Everywhere I Look is abomination.
This is what I Ask;
And it is no simple task.
Build an ark strong enough to sail
In seas of a blustering gale.
Noah obeyed God’s Command;
Before relentless waters filled the land
He gathered creatures two by two
Those that walked and those that flew.
And they all entered the ark:
Creatures light; creatures dark.
His family came on board
As the rains gushed and pored.
After many days the creatures were uneasy
And more than a few became queasy.
Because the ark was rocking in each swell
And from the gasses dead fish expel.
Noah kneeled and started to pray,
He hardly knew words to say.
Then these words left his mind
They were the only words he could find.
Dear God Show us Mercy this day
To Forgive is Your Way.
Stop the rain; dry the flood.
Send a wind to scatter the crud.
A spume of water began to subside
And here and there the land was dried.
No longer was there a storm
Instead the sun shone and it was warm.
All beheld a curved beauty bowing above
Every color Sent by God Above.
Noah took a dove in hand
And asked it to scout out the land.
Very soon back it flew
With an olive leaf dipped in dew.
Mrs. Noah raised her voice
With prayer did she rejoice.
Noah, with his mission ended,
Saw that the creatures each other had befriended.
And that generation of Creatures found release
And for many years lived in peace.
Noah’s Tale: Version Two
When the world was still young in years
And each land was probed by pioneers,
New plants and creatures were still arising
In lovely forms, at times, surprising.
Some years the hot sun burned the land
And dried the rich soil to sparkling sand.
In other years the rains each day
Would wash the roots of crops away.
During the times with little to eat,
Life was bitter and rarely sweet.
But instead of working with one another,
People cheated and robbed each other.
They were greedy and selfish as well,
Their very own children they would sell.
This is not what God Had in Mind
When the humans Were first Designed.
Then there arose within God’s Plan
A humble hero, a righteous man.
This modest mortal, Noah, his name,
Who sought no glory and sought no fame.
God called to Noah, “Listen with care.
A flood will come. You must prepare.”
Noah felt a shiver. His spine was a river of chill
When called upon to serve Merciful God’s Will.
God Had Planned to bring on a flood
And Bury the sinners in heaps of mud.
At God’s Command, Noah built a ship
And brought provisions for the trip.
All manner of life did he take,
From land, from sea, and from the lake.
The only mortals who would be saved
Were Noah and his kin who were not depraved.
Then walls of rain fell in force;
Noah wondered what was to be his course.
But God Showed Noah what was to be the way
And Noah went forth without delay.
After many days the spastic waters abated
As Noah’s crew anxiously awaited.
And as the waters purled placidly along
All on board sang a song
“We thank You God for rains suspending
Bringing us to our journey’s ending.
We pledge to You to repair Creation
And treat each other with toleration.”
After the days of endless rain,
A brilliant sun dried the muddied terrain.
It is but a mirage said his wife.
No replied Noah I see signs of life.
A honeyed coo rose from a dove of peace
And with Noah’s caress was given release.
The dove went forth, his journey brief,
And returned to Noah with an olive leaf.
This was a sign that to all revealed
That the liquid land had finally healed.
When the ark docked