Biblical Timeline - Events in Bible History

In the Beginning

Creation

God created the heavens, the earth, and all living things in six days and rested on the seventh. He formed man from the dust of the ground and breathe...

Creation Old Testament

After Creation

The Fall of Man

Adam and Eve disobeyed God by eating the forbidden fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The serpent deceived Eve, and Adam willingly...

Creation Old Testament

c. 3900 BC

Cain and Abel

Cain and Abel, sons of Adam and Eve, brought offerings to God. God accepted Abel's offering but rejected Cain's. In jealousy and rage, Cain murdered h...

Creation Old Testament

c. 2348 BC

The Great Flood

God saw that human wickedness was great on the earth and determined to destroy all life with a flood. Noah, a righteous man, was instructed to build a...

Creation Old Testament

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Noah

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c. 2242 BC

Tower of Babel

After the Flood, humanity gathered on the plain of Shinar and began building a city with a tower reaching to heaven. God confused their languages and...

Creation Old Testament

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Nimrod

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c. 2091 BC

Call of Abraham

God called Abram to leave Ur of the Chaldeans and go to a land He would show him. God promised to make him a great nation, bless him, and through him...

Patriarchs Old Testament

c. 2067 BC

Covenant of Circumcision

God renewed His covenant with Abraham, changing his name from Abram to Abraham and establishing circumcision as the sign of the covenant. God promised...

Patriarchs Old Testament

c. 2067 BC

Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah

God rained fire and brimstone on the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah due to their extreme wickedness. Abraham interceded for the righteous, and God rescu...

Patriarchs Old Testament

c. 2066 BC

Birth of Isaac

Despite Abraham being 100 years old and Sarah 90, God fulfilled His promise and gave them a son, Isaac. His name means "laughter," reflecting Sarah's...

Patriarchs Old Testament

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Abraham, Sarah, Isaac

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c. 2050 BC

Binding of Isaac

God tested Abraham by commanding him to sacrifice Isaac on Mount Moriah. Abraham obeyed in faith, but God provided a ram as a substitute at the last m...

Patriarchs Old Testament

c. 2006 BC

Jacob and Esau

Isaac's twin sons, Esau and Jacob, struggled even in the womb. Esau sold his birthright for a bowl of stew, and Jacob later deceived Isaac to receive...

Patriarchs Old Testament

Jacob, Esau, Isaac...

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c. 1906 BC

Jacob Wrestles with God

On the night before meeting Esau, Jacob wrestled with a mysterious figure until daybreak. The encounter left Jacob with a dislocated hip but also a ne...

Patriarchs Old Testament

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Jacob

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c. 1898 BC

Joseph Sold into Slavery

Joseph, Jacob's favored son, was sold into slavery by his jealous brothers for twenty pieces of silver. He was taken to Egypt where, despite imprisonm...

Patriarchs Old Testament

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Joseph, Jacob

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c. 1876 BC

Israel Moves to Egypt

During a severe famine, Jacob and his entire family moved to Egypt at Joseph's invitation. Pharaoh gave them the land of Goshen. The family of seventy...

Patriarchs Old Testament

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Jacob, Joseph

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c. 1526 BC

Birth of Moses

When Pharaoh ordered all Hebrew baby boys killed, Moses' mother placed him in a basket on the Nile. Pharaoh's daughter found and adopted him. Moses wa...

c. 1446 BC

The Burning Bush

While tending sheep in Midian, Moses encountered God in a burning bush that was not consumed. God revealed His name as "I AM WHO I AM" and commissione...

c. 1446 BC

The Ten Plagues and Passover

God sent ten devastating plagues upon Egypt when Pharaoh refused to let Israel go. The final plague, the death of the firstborn, was averted for Israe...

c. 1446 BC

The Exodus from Egypt

After the tenth plague, Pharaoh released the Israelites. Approximately two million people left Egypt, guided by a pillar of cloud by day and fire by n...

c. 1446 BC

Crossing the Red Sea

Pursued by Pharaoh's army, the Israelites were trapped at the Red Sea. God parted the waters, allowing Israel to cross on dry ground. When the Egyptia...

c. 1446 BC

Giving of the Ten Commandments at Mount Sinai

Three months after the Exodus, Israel arrived at Mount Sinai. God descended on the mountain in fire and smoke, and spoke the Ten Commandments directly...

c. 1446 BC

Golden Calf Incident

While Moses was on Mount Sinai receiving the Law, the Israelites grew impatient and persuaded Aaron to make a golden calf idol. They worshiped it with...

c. 1445 BC

Building of the Tabernacle

God gave Moses detailed instructions for building the Tabernacle, a portable sanctuary where God's presence would dwell among His people. The people c...

c. 1444 BC

Twelve Spies and the Wilderness Wandering

Moses sent twelve spies to explore Canaan. Ten returned with fearful reports, while only Joshua and Caleb urged faith. The people rebelled, and God co...

c. 1406 BC

Death of Moses and Commissioning of Joshua

After forty years of leading Israel, Moses was permitted to view the Promised Land from Mount Nebo but not enter it. He died at 120 years old, and God...

c. 1406 BC

Crossing the Jordan River

God miraculously stopped the flow of the Jordan River during flood season, allowing Israel to cross on dry ground into the Promised Land. Twelve stone...

c. 1406 BC

Fall of Jericho

God instructed Joshua to march around Jericho with the army and priests once daily for six days, and seven times on the seventh day. When the people s...

c. 1375-1050 BC

Period of the Judges

After Joshua's death, Israel entered a cycle of sin, oppression, crying out to God, and deliverance through judges. Key judges included Deborah, Gideo...

Deborah, Gideon, Samson...

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c. 1100 BC

Story of Ruth and Boaz

Ruth, a Moabite widow, chose to stay with her Israelite mother-in-law Naomi, declaring "Your God will be my God." In Bethlehem, she met Boaz, a kinsma...

c. 1070 BC

Samuel's Calling

The boy Samuel, dedicated to God by his mother Hannah, served in the tabernacle under Eli the priest. God called Samuel by name in the night, establis...

c. 1050 BC

Saul Anointed as First King

Despite God's warning about the costs of monarchy, the people demanded a king like other nations. Samuel anointed Saul, a tall Benjamite, as Israel's...

United Kingdom Old Testament

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Saul, Samuel

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c. 1024 BC

David and Goliath

The young shepherd David, armed with only a sling and five stones, defeated the Philistine giant Goliath who had defied Israel's army for forty days....

United Kingdom Old Testament

c. 1010 BC

David Becomes King

After Saul's death, David was anointed king over Judah and later all Israel. He conquered Jerusalem, making it his capital, and brought the Ark of the...

United Kingdom Old Testament

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David

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c. 990 BC

David and Bathsheba

King David committed adultery with Bathsheba and arranged the death of her husband Uriah the Hittite. The prophet Nathan confronted David with a parab...

United Kingdom Old Testament

David, Bathsheba, Nathan...

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c. 966-959 BC

Solomon Builds the Temple

Solomon, David's son, built the First Temple in Jerusalem over seven years. At its dedication, the glory of God filled the temple as a cloud. Solomon...

United Kingdom Old Testament

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Solomon

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c. 930 BC

Kingdom Divides

After Solomon's death, his son Rehoboam refused the people's plea for lighter burdens. Ten northern tribes seceded under Jeroboam, forming the kingdom...

Divided Kingdom Old Testament

c. 863 BC

Elijah on Mount Carmel

The prophet Elijah challenged 450 prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel to a contest: whichever god answered by fire was the true God. Baal's prophets crie...

Divided Kingdom Old Testament

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Elijah, Ahab, Jezebel

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c. 850 BC

Elijah Taken to Heaven

Elijah was taken up to heaven in a whirlwind with a chariot and horses of fire, witnessed by his successor Elisha. Elisha received a double portion of...

Divided Kingdom Old Testament

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Elijah, Elisha

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c. 780 BC

Jonah and the Great Fish

God called Jonah to preach repentance to Nineveh, but Jonah fled by ship. God sent a storm, and Jonah was thrown overboard and swallowed by a great fi...

Divided Kingdom Old Testament

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Jonah

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c. 740-681 BC

Isaiah's Ministry

Isaiah prophesied during the reigns of four kings of Judah. He received his commission in a throne-room vision of God's holiness. His prophecies conta...

Divided Kingdom Old Testament

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Isaiah

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722 BC

Fall of Samaria (Northern Kingdom)

After centuries of idolatry and ignoring God's prophets, the northern kingdom of Israel fell to the Assyrian Empire under Shalmaneser V. The Israelite...

Divided Kingdom Old Testament

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Hoshea

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c. 622 BC

Josiah's Reforms

King Josiah, who became king at age eight, instituted sweeping religious reforms after the Book of the Law was discovered in the temple. He destroyed...

Divided Kingdom Old Testament

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Josiah

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586 BC

Fall of Jerusalem

Nebuchadnezzar's Babylonian army besieged and conquered Jerusalem, destroying Solomon's Temple and the city walls. The people of Judah were carried in...

Nebuchadnezzar, Zedekiah, Jeremiah

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586-516 BC

Babylonian Exile

The people of Judah lived in Babylonian captivity for seventy years as Jeremiah had prophesied. During this time, they preserved their faith without a...

Daniel, Ezekiel, Jeremiah

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c. 580 BC

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the Fiery Furnace

Three young Jewish exiles refused to bow to Nebuchadnezzar's golden image. They were thrown into a furnace heated seven times hotter than normal, but...

Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego...

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c. 539 BC

Daniel in the Lion's Den

Daniel, a faithful Jewish exile in Babylon, refused to stop praying to God despite a royal decree forbidding it. He was thrown into a den of lions, bu...

c. 538 BC

Return under Zerubbabel

After Cyrus the Great of Persia conquered Babylon, he issued a decree allowing the Jews to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the Temple. Zerubbabel led...

Return from Exile Old Testament

c. 473 BC

Esther Saves the Jewish People

Queen Esther, a Jewish woman married to Persian King Ahasuerus, risked her life to expose Haman's plot to annihilate the Jewish people. Her courage an...

Return from Exile Old Testament

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Esther, Mordecai, Haman

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c. 458 BC

Ezra Returns and Restores the Law

Ezra, a priest and scribe, led a second wave of returnees from Babylon to Jerusalem. He was grieved to find that the people had intermarried with paga...

Return from Exile Old Testament

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Ezra

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c. 445 BC

Nehemiah Rebuilds the Walls of Jerusalem

Nehemiah, cupbearer to the Persian king, received permission to return to Jerusalem and rebuild its broken walls. Despite fierce opposition from Sanba...

Return from Exile Old Testament

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Nehemiah

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c. 430 BC

Malachi's Prophecy

Malachi, the last Old Testament prophet, rebuked Israel for corrupt worship, unfaithfulness, and spiritual apathy. He prophesied the coming of a messe...

Return from Exile Old Testament

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Malachi

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c. 430-5 BC

Intertestamental Period

The four hundred years between Malachi and the birth of Christ saw Persia's fall to Greece, Alexander the Great's conquests, the Maccabean revolt, and...

Intertestamental Old Testament

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Judas Maccabeus

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c. 5-4 BC

Birth of Jesus Christ

Jesus, the Son of God, was born to the Virgin Mary in Bethlehem, fulfilling Micah's prophecy. Angels announced His birth to shepherds, and a star guid...

Life of Christ New Testament

c. 4 BC

Flight to Egypt

After the Magi visited the infant Jesus, an angel warned Joseph in a dream to flee to Egypt because King Herod planned to kill the child. The holy fam...

Life of Christ New Testament

Jesus, Mary, Joseph...

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c. AD 26

Jesus' Baptism

Jesus came from Galilee to be baptized by John the Baptist in the Jordan River. As He came up from the water, heaven opened, the Spirit descended on H...

Life of Christ New Testament

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Jesus, John the Baptist

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c. AD 26

Temptation in the Wilderness

After His baptism, the Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness where He fasted forty days and was tempted by Satan. Jesus resisted every temptation by qu...

Life of Christ New Testament

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Jesus

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c. AD 27

Sermon on the Mount

Jesus delivered His most comprehensive teaching on a mountainside in Galilee. The sermon includes the Beatitudes, the Lord's Prayer, teaching on love...

Life of Christ New Testament

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Jesus

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c. AD 27

Jesus Calls the Twelve Apostles

After a night of prayer, Jesus chose twelve men from His followers to be apostles: Simon Peter, Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Tho...

Life of Christ New Testament

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Jesus, Peter, James...

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c. AD 29

Feeding of the Five Thousand

Jesus miraculously multiplied five loaves of bread and two fish to feed a crowd of over five thousand men, plus women and children. Twelve baskets of...

Life of Christ New Testament

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Jesus, Andrew, Philip

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c. AD 29

Transfiguration

Jesus took Peter, James, and John up a high mountain where He was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun and His garments became white...

Life of Christ New Testament

Jesus, Peter, James...

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c. AD 30

Raising of Lazarus

Jesus raised His friend Lazarus from the dead after Lazarus had been in the tomb for four days. Jesus wept at the tomb, then called out "Lazarus, come...

Life of Christ New Testament

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Jesus, Lazarus, Mary...

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c. AD 30

Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem

Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey's colt as crowds waved palm branches and shouted "Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!" Thi...

Life of Christ New Testament

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Jesus

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c. AD 30

The Last Supper

On the night before His crucifixion, Jesus shared a final Passover meal with His disciples. He washed their feet, instituted the Lord's Supper with br...

Life of Christ New Testament

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Jesus, Peter, John...

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c. AD 30

Crucifixion of Jesus Christ

Jesus was arrested, tried, and condemned to death by crucifixion. He was nailed to a cross at Golgotha between two criminals. Darkness covered the lan...

Life of Christ New Testament

c. AD 30

Resurrection of Jesus Christ

On the third day after His crucifixion, Jesus rose bodily from the dead. Angels announced the empty tomb to the women who came with burial spices. Jes...

Life of Christ New Testament

Jesus, Mary Magdalene, Peter...

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c. AD 30

Ascension of Jesus

Forty days after His resurrection, Jesus led His disciples to the Mount of Olives. After commissioning them to be His witnesses to the ends of the ear...

Life of Christ New Testament

c. AD 30

Day of Pentecost

Ten days after the Ascension, the Holy Spirit descended on the gathered believers with the sound of rushing wind and tongues of fire. They spoke in va...

Early Church New Testament

c. AD 34

Stephen Martyred

Stephen, one of the first seven deacons and a man full of the Holy Spirit, was arrested for preaching about Jesus. He delivered a powerful sermon trac...

Early Church New Testament

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Stephen, Saul

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c. AD 34

Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch

The Spirit directed Philip to the road from Jerusalem to Gaza, where he encountered an Ethiopian eunuch reading Isaiah 53. Philip explained that the p...

Early Church New Testament

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Philip

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c. AD 34-35

Conversion of Paul

Saul of Tarsus, a Pharisee zealously persecuting Christians, was traveling to Damascus when a blinding light from heaven struck him down. The risen Je...

Early Church New Testament

c. AD 40

Peter's Vision and Cornelius

God gave Peter a vision of unclean animals being declared clean, preparing him to visit the Gentile centurion Cornelius. When Peter preached at Cornel...

Early Church New Testament

c. AD 46-48

Paul's First Missionary Journey

Paul and Barnabas set out from Antioch on the first organized missionary journey, traveling through Cyprus and southern Asia Minor (modern Turkey). Th...

Early Church New Testament

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Paul, Barnabas, John Mark

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c. AD 49

Council of Jerusalem

The early Church gathered to resolve whether Gentile converts must follow the Mosaic Law, especially circumcision. After hearing testimonies from Pete...

Early Church New Testament

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Peter, Paul, James...

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c. AD 49-52

Paul's Second Missionary Journey

Paul, accompanied by Silas, Timothy, and Luke, traveled through Asia Minor and into Europe for the first time. He preached in Philippi, Thessalonica,...

Early Church New Testament

Paul, Silas, Timothy...

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c. AD 53-57

Paul's Third Missionary Journey

Paul spent over two years in Ephesus, where the word of God spread throughout the Roman province of Asia. He wrote several epistles during this journe...

Early Church New Testament

Paul, Apollos, Priscilla...

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c. AD 57

Paul Arrested in Jerusalem

Upon returning to Jerusalem, Paul was falsely accused of bringing a Gentile into the temple. A mob seized him, and Roman soldiers rescued him. Paul ga...

Early Church New Testament

c. AD 59-60

Paul's Voyage to Rome

Paul was sent by ship to Rome as a prisoner to stand trial before Caesar. The voyage was beset by a terrible storm and shipwreck on Malta, but Paul en...

Early Church New Testament

c. AD 60-62

Paul in Rome

Paul lived in Rome under house arrest for two years, freely preaching the kingdom of God and teaching about Jesus Christ. He received visitors, wrote...

Early Church New Testament

AD 70

Destruction of the Second Temple

In AD 70, Roman legions under Titus besieged and destroyed Jerusalem and the Second Temple, fulfilling Jesus' prophecy that not one stone would be lef...

Early Church New Testament

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Titus

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c. AD 95

Revelation Written

The apostle John, exiled on the island of Patmos, received a series of visions from the risen Christ. He wrote the book of Revelation, the final book...

Early Church New Testament

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John

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