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By Zondervan The Story: Read the Bible as One Seamless Story from Beginning to End
Excellent Book
Hardcover
First published January 1, 1996
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7485 people want to read
About the author
Randy Frazee
112 books79 followersRandy Frazee is the lead teaching pastor at Westside Family Church in Kansas City. He is a graduate of Dallas Theological Seminary, and a leader and innovator in Bible engagement, spiritual formation and biblical community. Randy is the architect of The Story and BELIEVE church engagement campaigns as well as the author of His Mighty Strength; Think, Act, Be Like Jesus; What Happens After You Die; The Connecting Church; Making Room for Life; and the coauthor of Real Simplicity with his wife of 40 years, Rozanne.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 655 reviews
October 28, 2013
I understand the criticism of those who say it is an "edited" Bible, leaving out some uncomfortable portions, however THE STORY does not pretend to be "The Bible." Nor is it like the failed Reader's Digest version that came out in the 70s. It is a collection of excerpts to give one the central themes of the Bible, presenting it as one continuous story of humanity's relationship with their God. Read in that way, it works! And it works well! Our church is going through THE STORY series, in classes and sermons and personal reading, and they have taken to it very well. Many people have said, "I've needed this for a long time."
April 26, 2014
It seemed like a good idea. Make an abridged Bible that emphasized the main story from creation to end of time and could be read as a novel. Of course a lot would have to be cut, but even a third of the bible is a lot of material and an amazing chronicle of God's interaction with people over a couple thousand years. Then I read it. I've read the entire bible in various translations several times. I've led groups through "The Bible in 90 Days" (also by Zondervan). And so I was more struck by what was left out than what was kept. Gone are the begats. Also gone are almost all calls for God's people to take care of one another. No call in the Law to be mindful of widows, orphans, and strangers in the land. No prophetic denunciation of oppression of the weak by the powerful or of the poor by the rich. No call from Jesus to love one another (though most of John 13 is included) or to love our enemies (most of the ethical content of the Sermon on the Mount is cut). One would never guess from "The Story" that the prophets denounced anything other than idolatry or that anyone but Paul wrote letters to early Christians. One wouldn't see the chaos that made the Israelite tribes long for a king. Of course some people would celebrate the cuts. Some would commend the near absence of calls for social justice. Others might applaud the removal of the book of James with its insistence that faith must be lived out in righteous action (also cut is the call to bear fruit in John 15). Still the pattern is disturbing. And it makes "The Story" seem like a betrayal of The Bible.
August 13, 2016
The Story was written to help make the Bible more accessible to those who may get lost in the language or who do not have the desire to get the whole message from 1000+ pages.
I think it was pretty good. I can see how it would help some be more comfortable with the journey through the Bible. However, I feel like there was a lot of it that was just a reprint of the source material and, therefore, was not any more accessible than just reading the Bible. If I had to guess, 60% of the people who struggle with the Bible would find this helpful. The rest will probably be just as intimidated.
I think it was pretty good. I can see how it would help some be more comfortable with the journey through the Bible. However, I feel like there was a lot of it that was just a reprint of the source material and, therefore, was not any more accessible than just reading the Bible. If I had to guess, 60% of the people who struggle with the Bible would find this helpful. The rest will probably be just as intimidated.
March 23, 2012
There was a lot of Bible in this relatively short book! I have never read a book about the Bible like this (meaning reads like a story). This was a good big-picture type read of the Bible. I learned a lot and feel when I go back and study parts of the Bible it will make more sense since I have read a broad version. I would recommend this to anyone that wants to know the story of Christ in a compact easy read.
October 3, 2012
Kind of pointless. Just read the Bible. That way you won't get things left out.
December 7, 2011
I came into this book with only a fuzzy concept of the Old Testament. This seemed like just the right thing to give me a clear, chronological picture of events, and it certainly did the trick. However, I had already read much of the New Testament, so I could definitely tell when The Story left out large chunks of it. As a whole, I enjoyed it and I learned a lot. Not only did it read like a page-turner (Imagine that - The Bible as a fast-paced novel!), it was a fantastic tool to gain an understanding of what happened over a great period of time. This is not a replacement of the Bible by any means, but more of a synopsis to use before diving in to the real thing. I have no doubt that people with more Biblical knowledge than I will also find it useful and entertaining.
May 1, 2018
This book weaved together the story of the bible so beautifully. Although it was not a word for word account of the bible (we would just read the bible if that were the case), it puts the story together. I actually learnt a lot about the bible and how some things fit together. I tool a while to finish this book and read other books in between, but every time I cam back to it I felt so enlightened...
I must say though, the old testament was A LOT of history but I actually got to understand how everything fits together!! The Isrealites though were so exhausting😓 always whining about something or the other! The new testament really brought it all together. This book promised to show "the bible as one continuing story of God and his people" and that it did!!
I must say though, the old testament was A LOT of history but I actually got to understand how everything fits together!! The Isrealites though were so exhausting😓 always whining about something or the other! The new testament really brought it all together. This book promised to show "the bible as one continuing story of God and his people" and that it did!!
March 7, 2014
This book is a useful tool for study of the Bible. It is not, despite the cover, "selections from the New International Version." It is selected Biblical stories rewritten in modernized American English.
It's useful because it allows the student to follow the narrative lines of the Bible. Most of the historical annotations inserted by the original Biblical authors are stripped out.
The book fails, in my opinion, in two important respects. First, it does not include annotations that parallel its text with the originals. Readers cannot go back to the original Bible and see for themselves what the original stories looked like. Second, it sometimes blurs together accounts that are quite distinct in the original. For example, it runs together chapters one and two of Genesis as though they combine for a single story. In fact, they're two distinct stories of the creation.
That said, The Story enables non-theologians to get a clear picture of the Bible as a narrative. This is a good step toward understanding the Bible as a holy book.
It's useful because it allows the student to follow the narrative lines of the Bible. Most of the historical annotations inserted by the original Biblical authors are stripped out.
The book fails, in my opinion, in two important respects. First, it does not include annotations that parallel its text with the originals. Readers cannot go back to the original Bible and see for themselves what the original stories looked like. Second, it sometimes blurs together accounts that are quite distinct in the original. For example, it runs together chapters one and two of Genesis as though they combine for a single story. In fact, they're two distinct stories of the creation.
That said, The Story enables non-theologians to get a clear picture of the Bible as a narrative. This is a good step toward understanding the Bible as a holy book.
September 3, 2017
This audio version helped me with my study of The Story. However, some of the readers were slow, the last disc had some sort of manufacturing defect, and certain parts--especially Revelation--could have been much more dramatic. As helpful as it was, I'm trading in my copy first chance I get.
April 26, 2015
Smart idea, but it has the risk of being interpreted as a "substitute" for the Bible itself. When its purpose is defined clearly, it could be a great evangelical tool. Certain chapters might give great perspective and clarity to some of the lesser-known parts of the Scriptures. Yet other valuable parts of Scripture are taken out, and some of it feels incomplete.
Some of the language in the commentary contained a little too much slang for my tastes (you really wanna say they "just plain forget," instead of "simply forget"?).
Some of the language in the commentary contained a little too much slang for my tastes (you really wanna say they "just plain forget," instead of "simply forget"?).
December 24, 2023
Amazing!!
Very helpful in clarifying my bible readings.
I will read this yearly.
Very helpful in clarifying my bible readings.
I will read this yearly.
July 14, 2023
Over the last year, we read this as a family at breakfast for ten minutes on weekdays. I read aloud while my kids ate their breakfast. This way, they're quiet and eat more quickly, which enables the teens to make it to their 6:40 buses on time. I eat my breakfast later.
I'm very impressed by The Story. It takes the stories in the Bible and chains them together, while taking certain passages from other books of the Bible inserted out of traditional order in logical ways. I definitely recommend The Story to children and to people who want to get the majority of the content of the Bible in a more accessible, and, dare I say, in a more interesting way. It's certainly a good tool for helping the reader get the big picture. I wouldn't call it a replacement for the Bible, but it's a really great option.
Now we're reading from The Message, which is a translation I've definitely never read all the way through.
I'm very impressed by The Story. It takes the stories in the Bible and chains them together, while taking certain passages from other books of the Bible inserted out of traditional order in logical ways. I definitely recommend The Story to children and to people who want to get the majority of the content of the Bible in a more accessible, and, dare I say, in a more interesting way. It's certainly a good tool for helping the reader get the big picture. I wouldn't call it a replacement for the Bible, but it's a really great option.
Now we're reading from The Message, which is a translation I've definitely never read all the way through.
July 10, 2014
If you have ever wanted to read the Bible from start to finish but found the length daunting and the "begats" boring, this is the book for you. "The Story" contains all the big stories of the Old Testament and New Testament in 31 chapters using the New International Version (NIV). When parts are skipped, the author summarizes in italics what happened. I read "The Story" as part of a nine-month Episcopal church Bible study group, and it's ideal for this if you're looking for such a resource. But you can also read this on your own, and at the end you will have a sound overview of the Bible. Note: If you decide to read the Bible cover to cover, including all the "begats," it will take you about three years if you read one chapter a day. I know. I did it.
February 20, 2024
Read this with my son over the course of ages 9-10. I will never forget the experience.
January 19, 2012
Once I got used to the things that bothered me (see "first impressions" below), it wasn't too bad. I still wish it had been more than the NIV, more descriptive, more "current," but it's obviously a Zondervan thing, so I'll have to wish for Tyndale or Eugene Peterson to copy the idea (if they haven't already, I honestly have no idea).
I'm glad I listened to the whole thing and got a glimpse of the entire Bible as a story. It's not a foreign concept by any means, but since it's so long, it was nice to go through a shorter, condensed version. That said, it definitely didn't cover the entire Bible as in every single book or chapter, but I think it was a good overview.
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First impressions: Sigh. I should've listened to a sample. A long time ago I bought the NIV Bible on Audible because the whole thing was only one credit, which is a really good deal considering I only paid $14.95 for the credit. I listened to it a bit, but it is dramatized, which I thought would be a good thing at the time. It has music in the background, and everything is read very epically. But it just felt over-the-top, although I guess maybe that is appropriate for the reading of the Bible.
So I saw this book and got it thinking that it would read more like something written now (sort of like The Message except better). Not so much. It's just chunks of the NIV with short segments that help one story segue to the next or summary of a story that they aren't using the NIV for. And it's read with the background music and epic voices, and it just sounds kind of ridiculous sometimes. I kid you not, there were laughable background sounds of a woman giving birth that I could've done without. And like I said, it's just the NIV. So at the risk of sounding like a terrible Christian, I wish they would've taken the liberty to fill in gaps with descriptions of emotions, thoughts, intentions, and setting, and made the dialogue more relatable. I'm not listening to this to do a study; I'm listening it for the story (which is the title of the book). So maybe I'm terrible, but I wish it read more like a story written within the last thirty years.
It turns out that this wasn't really what I was looking for at all, but I'll keep going for the remaining 14 hours or so... I hope I can get more into it as I get used to it and as I get to stories that I'm not as familiar with.
I'm glad I listened to the whole thing and got a glimpse of the entire Bible as a story. It's not a foreign concept by any means, but since it's so long, it was nice to go through a shorter, condensed version. That said, it definitely didn't cover the entire Bible as in every single book or chapter, but I think it was a good overview.
-------------------------
First impressions: Sigh. I should've listened to a sample. A long time ago I bought the NIV Bible on Audible because the whole thing was only one credit, which is a really good deal considering I only paid $14.95 for the credit. I listened to it a bit, but it is dramatized, which I thought would be a good thing at the time. It has music in the background, and everything is read very epically. But it just felt over-the-top, although I guess maybe that is appropriate for the reading of the Bible.
So I saw this book and got it thinking that it would read more like something written now (sort of like The Message except better). Not so much. It's just chunks of the NIV with short segments that help one story segue to the next or summary of a story that they aren't using the NIV for. And it's read with the background music and epic voices, and it just sounds kind of ridiculous sometimes. I kid you not, there were laughable background sounds of a woman giving birth that I could've done without. And like I said, it's just the NIV. So at the risk of sounding like a terrible Christian, I wish they would've taken the liberty to fill in gaps with descriptions of emotions, thoughts, intentions, and setting, and made the dialogue more relatable. I'm not listening to this to do a study; I'm listening it for the story (which is the title of the book). So maybe I'm terrible, but I wish it read more like a story written within the last thirty years.
It turns out that this wasn't really what I was looking for at all, but I'll keep going for the remaining 14 hours or so... I hope I can get more into it as I get used to it and as I get to stories that I'm not as familiar with.
February 2, 2012
The Story is a (somewhat) compact version of the stories in the Bible. Of course it starts with Adam and Eve and goes all the way through to Revelations.
Although it covers the main points it does leave out a few stories and passages. But that was okay with me because I read this book with the intention that I was only going to get the "meat and potatoes" out of it. I had already planned to get the "gravy" directly from the Bible (KJV) after reading this.
In summation, this book gives you a pretty good understanding of what happens in the Bible. It's the story-like Cliff Notes version of the Bible. That said, I would recommend it to those who want a general knowledge of what's in the Bible.
..I gave it 4 stars because it gave me what I needed to know from the Bible without the irrelevant details. Now when I read the actual Bible, I can read it not for a story but for a deeper meaning and understanding of the passages. Hope this helps!
P.S: There are some parts that are a little dragged out, boring, (Judges, Kings, and the letters Paul wrote to the church) and redundant so be aware of that.
Although it covers the main points it does leave out a few stories and passages. But that was okay with me because I read this book with the intention that I was only going to get the "meat and potatoes" out of it. I had already planned to get the "gravy" directly from the Bible (KJV) after reading this.
In summation, this book gives you a pretty good understanding of what happens in the Bible. It's the story-like Cliff Notes version of the Bible. That said, I would recommend it to those who want a general knowledge of what's in the Bible.
..I gave it 4 stars because it gave me what I needed to know from the Bible without the irrelevant details. Now when I read the actual Bible, I can read it not for a story but for a deeper meaning and understanding of the passages. Hope this helps!
P.S: There are some parts that are a little dragged out, boring, (Judges, Kings, and the letters Paul wrote to the church) and redundant so be aware of that.
November 17, 2012
My church just finished going through this book together (in the worship services and in weekly small group discussions). It's not a replacement for the Bible, it's simply meant as a tool to encourage fuller engagement with the Bible.
And it was extremely effective in our community -- it raised biblical literacy, encouraged deeper worship, and allowed us a venue for asking some really tough and wonderful questions.
If you're someone who has always been interested in the Bible but for one reason or another felt a little intimidated (by the Bible or by church), then this is a great series to try out. You'll learn a ton and have the opportunity to grow closer to God, if you'd like.
And it was extremely effective in our community -- it raised biblical literacy, encouraged deeper worship, and allowed us a venue for asking some really tough and wonderful questions.
If you're someone who has always been interested in the Bible but for one reason or another felt a little intimidated (by the Bible or by church), then this is a great series to try out. You'll learn a ton and have the opportunity to grow closer to God, if you'd like.
August 1, 2019
While I appreciate the fact they put the stories in chronological order, I can't get behind this. By doing the 'highlights' of the Bible (mostly just the more famous Bible stories), they are neglecting important parts (such as Job!!) and not focusing on the main point of the Bible: God's character.
If you want to really witness to someone with the Bible, don't use this; give the person an actual Bible and offer to read it with them.
Christians need to stop trying to go for the quickest results (which this would be under) but instead need to work on building relationship.
If you want to really witness to someone with the Bible, don't use this; give the person an actual Bible and offer to read it with them.
Christians need to stop trying to go for the quickest results (which this would be under) but instead need to work on building relationship.
January 20, 2016
I went into this expecting it to be a novel-ish version of the bible because I had heard it was, but it wasn't - actually, it's the bible rewritten so it's in chronological order and more easily understandable. So it wasn't exactly what I was looking for, but it was still very interesting and good to read. However, I felt that the authors comments in italics were - at least to me - more distracting than helpful and so I quickly started skimming over them or skipping them altogether.
December 9, 2025
Good overview of the Bible with helpful commentary.
All the people rating it 1 star because they took out some boring parts or some good stories are pharisees
All the people rating it 1 star because they took out some boring parts or some good stories are pharisees
February 16, 2020
I used this book to guide my daily Bible reading, and really enjoyed going through the Bible in this way! This book helped me to get a broader understanding of the Bible as one continuous story of God’s creation and how he is redeeming his people. I also feel that I have gained a much better understanding of the historical timeline and context of the Bible through reading this, especially the Old Testament.
December 31, 2021
I am getting ready to read the entire Bible in 2022. The Story was the perfect warm-up for a deeper dive into the Word. I enjoyed that this book made it easy to read the Bible, it took out the long lists and accounts of names that is always tough to get through, and it kept in all the important passages and stories that were necessary to tell the story of Jesus. I will come back to this in the future; it is such a great read!
April 9, 2012
I've never read the bible cover to cover so this was a good first stepping stone for me. I don't know enough to know what it left out and now it's given me a good fundamental starting point and enough interest to want to go deeper.
June 19, 2012
I read this book to go along with on ongoing sermon series at our church. Between the book itself and the sermons that accompanied it, I learned a lot and understand parts of the Bible that were foreign to me beforehand.
September 3, 2017
While nothing could compare with the entire Bible, this book is a good devotional, and helps you see God's Word as a complete story. However, if you haven't read the Good Book in its entirety, you should; there's a lot of important content that was left out of this, such as the General Epistles.
June 13, 2022
Read about one chapter/week since last September for a Bible study (my first) class. My first attempt at reading the Bible. This was an easier (still not easy -those names!) Chronological version. Learned much. There was a video for each chapter with the author as speaker -he was fabulous (Randy Fraser)
December 26, 2023
It was interesting and definitely a good introduction to the bible. However, some of the ‘transitions’ summarising omitted Scriptures were near-laughable in how badly they were written. And considering it was supposed to be an ‘accessible’ Bible, I found much of it confusing and unclear, and I had to google things to make sense of it.
Despite the near overwhelming threats of this book to change my life and thought-processes, it failed to convert me so there’s that too.
Despite the near overwhelming threats of this book to change my life and thought-processes, it failed to convert me so there’s that too.
January 9, 2020
This was an interesting experience. I kept finding myself thinking, "Oh, but we're missing so much depth by skipping this detail!" Which I'd say is a testament to the incredible cohesion of the lengthy epic that is the Bible.
Don't misunderstand me; I think this is a quality abridgment that presents the overall storyline well. If it interests you, go for it. Just know, if you've picked this up because you're struggling to get through the whole Bible, there is so much more fantastic stuff to be discovered. Honest.
If you enjoyed this and want to try something more comprehensive, I recommend The Daily Bible® -- in Chronological Order. It has some similar features - a chronological arrangement, avoiding repetition, using the NIV translation - and includes almost all of the source material.
One other note: I actually listened to the audiobook version. I'm not usually an audiobook person; I tend to zone out and miss pieces, and in situations where I have time to listen to them, I would rather listen to music. But this audiobook was beautiful. There was atmospheric music and relevant sound effects. The readers gave each speaker their own voice (no small feat). And they spoke with appropriate emotion! We miss so much when the Bible is read in the monotone we usually hear. But I suppose that's a rant for another place. I think I enjoyed this more because I listened to it than I would have reading it, and that's a first for me.
Don't misunderstand me; I think this is a quality abridgment that presents the overall storyline well. If it interests you, go for it. Just know, if you've picked this up because you're struggling to get through the whole Bible, there is so much more fantastic stuff to be discovered. Honest.
If you enjoyed this and want to try something more comprehensive, I recommend The Daily Bible® -- in Chronological Order. It has some similar features - a chronological arrangement, avoiding repetition, using the NIV translation - and includes almost all of the source material.
One other note: I actually listened to the audiobook version. I'm not usually an audiobook person; I tend to zone out and miss pieces, and in situations where I have time to listen to them, I would rather listen to music. But this audiobook was beautiful. There was atmospheric music and relevant sound effects. The readers gave each speaker their own voice (no small feat). And they spoke with appropriate emotion! We miss so much when the Bible is read in the monotone we usually hear. But I suppose that's a rant for another place. I think I enjoyed this more because I listened to it than I would have reading it, and that's a first for me.
October 22, 2020
A helpful way to get an overview of the Bible. Enjoyable for those who want a new way to read the Bible. Would be good for new Christians or a Bible study for new believers or young believers.
The commentary that weaves the parts of the actual Bible together wasn't exactly neutral, at times showing biases toward certain interpretations. Would have liked it more if they'd stayed neutral.
I was a little disappointed that The End skipped over all the bad stuff in Revelation and went straight to the good and glorious ending, and then they include "...if anyone takes words away from this scroll of prophecy, God will take away from that person any share in the tree of life..." Eh-hem. The bad and scary parts are important too. Read the full Revelation in any other Bible.
The final Epilogue is not part of the Bible but is added commentary. Should have been in the same font and italics as the rest of the added commentary throughout the book, IMO, just to make that clear. Hopefully this book with not cause any misunderstandings or confusion for anyone who is not already very familiar with the Bible.
But for an "abbreviated Bible" (that's my term), I would recommend it to those who want to read the highlights of the most fantastic true story in history that is still playing out, and for new or young Christians who want an overview ... as long as you understand this is not the full Bible.
I read a few pages each morning as my daily time in the Bible. It worked well for that.
The commentary that weaves the parts of the actual Bible together wasn't exactly neutral, at times showing biases toward certain interpretations. Would have liked it more if they'd stayed neutral.
I was a little disappointed that The End skipped over all the bad stuff in Revelation and went straight to the good and glorious ending, and then they include "...if anyone takes words away from this scroll of prophecy, God will take away from that person any share in the tree of life..." Eh-hem. The bad and scary parts are important too. Read the full Revelation in any other Bible.
The final Epilogue is not part of the Bible but is added commentary. Should have been in the same font and italics as the rest of the added commentary throughout the book, IMO, just to make that clear. Hopefully this book with not cause any misunderstandings or confusion for anyone who is not already very familiar with the Bible.
But for an "abbreviated Bible" (that's my term), I would recommend it to those who want to read the highlights of the most fantastic true story in history that is still playing out, and for new or young Christians who want an overview ... as long as you understand this is not the full Bible.
I read a few pages each morning as my daily time in the Bible. It worked well for that.
May 5, 2023
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”
“I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come.”
This was an interesting way to read an abridged version of the scriptures. What I really liked about it was the way it was told in a chronological order - this definitely gave it a story feel and to understand God’s plan from creation to the fall to His chosen people to exile to prophets to Jesus to death/resurrection to the start of the church and Paul’s ministry to Revelation. This made me excited to once again read the Bible in full and will do a chronological reading next time.
Now, with that said, this version is not perfect. Because it is abridged, you miss out on some parts of the Bible that are noticeable - Job, Jonah, and James probably the most noticeably missing. And then some key passages from the New Testament missing, most notably the beginning of Romans 6 which beautifully describes grace and baptism being the death/burial/resurrection of Jesus that we participate in.
The important thing here as you read this story is that this was never meant to replace the Bible. If anything, this should make the reader hungry for more of God’s word and this should be treated as more of a supplement to it. But again, I did like the chronological feel to it. And I thought most of the italicized sections that the authors added in brought a lot of things together as a segue to the next part of scripture.
“I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come.”
This was an interesting way to read an abridged version of the scriptures. What I really liked about it was the way it was told in a chronological order - this definitely gave it a story feel and to understand God’s plan from creation to the fall to His chosen people to exile to prophets to Jesus to death/resurrection to the start of the church and Paul’s ministry to Revelation. This made me excited to once again read the Bible in full and will do a chronological reading next time.
Now, with that said, this version is not perfect. Because it is abridged, you miss out on some parts of the Bible that are noticeable - Job, Jonah, and James probably the most noticeably missing. And then some key passages from the New Testament missing, most notably the beginning of Romans 6 which beautifully describes grace and baptism being the death/burial/resurrection of Jesus that we participate in.
The important thing here as you read this story is that this was never meant to replace the Bible. If anything, this should make the reader hungry for more of God’s word and this should be treated as more of a supplement to it. But again, I did like the chronological feel to it. And I thought most of the italicized sections that the authors added in brought a lot of things together as a segue to the next part of scripture.
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