The greatest story ever told has always had room for a sequel.

According to Bloomberg, the Roma Downey and Mark Burnett helmed miniseries The Bible will shortly jump from cable to network TV, as NBC has struck a deal for a sequel to the History Channel's unexpected spring hit.

NBC’s version will reportedly be titled A.D.: Beyond the Bible and will begin some time after Christ’s death, with no indication yet where the proposed series will end.

Big budget, undeniably religious programming is an unusual gambit for a major network in these days of reality shows and celebrity cat fights.

But The Bible has already proved it has a major audience. The 10-hour miniseries won a significant following, in part through the inspired marketing idea of screening previews of the show for the religious leaders of U.S. megachurches.

According to Bloomberg the $22 million production and marketing campaign for The Bible led to some of the best ratings of the year. The show commanded more than 10 million viewers at least twice during its initial run.

The terms of the new deal were not disclosed, but NBC reportedly outbid the History Channel for the sequel and it’s believed the numbers are eye-popping.