¹³ So he told Noah:

Cruelty and violence have spread everywhere. Now I'm going to destroy the whole earth and all its people. ¹⁴ Get some good lumber and build a boat. Put rooms in it and cover it with tar inside and out. ¹⁵ Make it 133 meters long, 22 meters wide, and 13 meters high. ¹⁶ Build a roof^[a] on the boat and leave a space of about 44 centimeters between the roof and the sides.^[b] Make the boat three stories high and put a door on one side.

¹⁷ I'm going to send a flood that will destroy everything that breathes! Nothing will be left alive. ¹⁸ But I solemnly promise that you, your wife, your sons, and your daughters-in-law will be kept safe in the boat.^[c]

^19-20 Take into the boat with you a male and a female of every kind of animal and bird, as well as a male and a female of every reptile. I don't want them to be destroyed. ²¹ Store up enough food both for yourself and for them.

^22 (A) Noah did everything God told him to do.

Jesus Chooses His First Disciples

(Matthew 4.18-22; Mark 1.16-20)

5 ^(A) Jesus was standing on the shore of Lake Gennesaret,^[a] teaching the people as they crowded around him to hear God's message. ² Near the shore he saw two boats left there by some fishermen who had gone to wash their nets. ³ Jesus got into the boat that belonged to Simon and asked him to row it out a little way from the shore. Then Jesus sat down^[b] in the boat to teach the crowd.

⁴ When Jesus had finished speaking, he told Simon, “Row the boat out into the deep water and let your nets down to catch some fish.”

^5 (B) “Master,” Simon answered, “we have worked hard all night long and have not caught a thing. But if you tell me to, I will let the nets down.” ^6 (C) They did this and caught so many fish that their nets began ripping apart. ⁷ Then they signaled for their partners in the other boat to come and help them. The men came, and together they filled the two boats so full that they both began to sink.

⁸ When Simon Peter saw this happen, he knelt down in front of Jesus and said, “Lord, don't come near me! I am a sinner.” ⁹ Peter and everyone with him were completely surprised at all the fish they had caught. ¹⁰ His partners James and John, the sons of Zebedee, were surprised too.

Jesus told Simon, “Don't be afraid! From now on you will bring in people instead of fish.” ¹¹ The men pulled their boats up on the shore. Then they left everything and went with Jesus.