Want to know which Old Testament story's had the number one slot for thousands of years? It could be ...
* Moses, a massive Biblical star and leader of the biggest escape attempt of all time; he gets the This Is Your Life treatment
* Noah, 600 years old, an animal lover and round-the-world yachtsman; his lad Shem spills the beans
* David & Goliath's big fight sensation; our big fight special carries exclusive interviews.
With top ten fact sections including prophet problems, wily women and bloodthirsty Biblical ways, here are the 10 best Bible stories - ever!

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So the story goes, everywhere God looked he saw wickedness. Not just wicked actions, but wicked thoughts as well. What sort of wickedness? You want all the gory details? Bad luck. The Book of Genesis doesn't spell out what sort of wickedness, except for one particular thing - violence:

"So God said to Noah, I am going to put an end to all people, for the earth is filled with violence because of them." (Genesis 6:13)

Who was Noah? Together with his family, Noah was the one person in the world who God thought wasnt an absolute stinker.
So, God decides start again. He decides to bring a great flood and destroy every living thing except for Noah, his wife, his three sons - Shem, Ham, and Japheth - and their wives. Not unreasonably, he gives Noah a little bit of warning. Preparing for a calamity takes time, after all.

Here's how the story might have been told by one of Noah's sons ...

OUR DAD - by Shem, son of Noah

Let's be honest, when it all started we wondered whether Dad was going a bit funny in the head. He was 600 years old, after all, and the brain-box does fade a bit as the years go by, doesnt it?
Anyway, there we were at his birthday party, and what does he come out with? A chorus of Happy Birthday To Me?

Nothing like it.

"I'm going to make a boat," he says.
Mum says, "Thats nice, dear. It'll keep you out of mischief."
"Yeah!" said my brothers, Ham and Japheth. "We can sail it on the pond!"
We all thought he was talking about a model boat, something he was going to knock up in the shed. It was only when he spread the plans across the table that we found out what he was really thinking of ...