The Corruption of Mankind

6 Now it came about, when mankind began to multiply on the face of the land, and daughters were born to them, ² that the sons of God saw that the daughters of mankind were ^[a]beautiful; and they took wives for themselves, whomever they chose. ³ Then the Lord said, “^(A)My Spirit will not ^[b]remain with man forever, ^[c](B)because he is also flesh; ^[d]nevertheless his days shall be 120 years.” ⁴ The ^[e](C)Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of mankind, and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown.

⁵ Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of mankind was great on the earth, and that ^(D)every intent of the thoughts of ^[f]their hearts was only evil continually. ⁶ So ^(E)the Lord was sorry that He had made mankind on the earth, and He was ^(F)grieved ^[g]in His heart. ⁷ Then the Lord said, “^(G)I will wipe out mankind whom I have created from the face of the land; mankind, and animals as well, and crawling things, and the birds of the sky. For ^(H)I am sorry that I have made them.” ⁸ But ^(I)Noah ^(J)found favor in the eyes of the Lord.

¹³ Now it came about in the ^(A)six hundred and first year, in the first month, on the first of the month, that the water was dried up ^[a]from the earth. Then Noah removed the covering of the ark, and looked, and behold, the ^[b]surface of the ground had dried up. ¹⁴ And in the second month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, the earth was dry. ¹⁵ Then God spoke to Noah, saying, ¹⁶ “Go out of the ark, you and your wife and your sons and your sons’ wives with you. ¹⁷ Bring out with you every living thing of all flesh that is with you, birds and animals and every crawling thing that crawls on the earth, that they may ^[c](B)breed abundantly on the earth, and ^(C)be fruitful and multiply on the earth.” ¹⁸ So Noah went out, and his sons and his wife, and his sons’ wives with him. ¹⁹ Every animal, every crawling thing, and every bird, everything that moves on the earth, went out ^[d]by their families from the ark.