Genesis 6:5-8:22
New American Standard Bible
5 Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of mankind was great on the earth, and that (A)every intent of the thoughts of [a]their hearts was only evil continually. 6 So (B)the Lord was sorry that He had made mankind on the earth, and He was (C)grieved [b]in His heart. 7 Then the Lord said, “(D)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 (E)I am sorry that I have made them.” 8 But (F)Noah (G)found favor in the eyes of the Lord.
9 These are the records of the generations of Noah. Noah was a (H)righteous man, [c](I)blameless in his generation. Noah (J)walked with God. 10 And Noah fathered three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
11 Now the earth was (K)corrupt in the sight of God, and the earth was (L)filled with violence. 12 And God looked on the earth, and behold, it was corrupt; for [d](M)humanity had corrupted its way upon the earth.
13 Then God said to Noah, “(N)The end of [e]humanity has come before Me; for the earth is filled with violence because of [f]people; and behold, I am about to destroy them with the earth. 14 Make for yourself an ark of [g]gopher wood; you shall make the ark with compartments, and [h]cover it inside and out with pitch. 15 This is how you shall make it: the length of the ark shall be [i]three hundred cubits, its width fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits. 16 You shall make a [j]window for the ark, and finish it to a [k]cubit from [l]the top; and put the door of the ark on the side; you shall make it with lower, second, and third decks. 17 Now behold, (O)I Myself am bringing the flood of water upon the earth, to destroy all flesh in which there is the breath of life, from under heaven; everything that is on the earth shall perish. 18 But I will establish (P)My covenant with you; and (Q)you shall enter the ark—you, your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives with you. 19 (R)And of every living thing of all flesh, you shall bring two of every kind into the ark, to keep them alive with you; they shall be male and female. 20 (S)Of the birds according to their kind, and of the animals according to their kind, of every crawling thing of the ground according to its kind, two of every kind will come to you to keep them alive. 21 As for you, take for yourself some of every (T)food that is edible, and gather it to yourself; and it shall be food for you and them.” 22 (U)So Noah did these things; according to everything that God had commanded him, so he did.
The Flood
7 Then the Lord said to Noah, “Enter the ark, you and all your household, for you alone I have seen to be (V)righteous before Me in this generation. 2 You shall take [m]with you [n]seven pairs of every (W)clean animal, a male and his female; and two of the animals that are not clean, a male and his female; 3 also of the birds of the sky, [o]seven pairs, male and female, to keep their [p]offspring alive on the face of all the earth. 4 For after (X)seven more days, I will send rain on the earth for (Y)forty days and forty nights; and I will wipe out from the face of the land (Z)every living thing that I have made.” 5 So (AA)Noah acted in accordance with everything that the Lord had commanded him.
6 Now Noah was (AB)six hundred years old when the flood of water [q]came upon the earth. 7 Then (AC)Noah and his sons, his wife, and his sons’ wives with him entered the ark because of the waters of the flood. 8 (AD)Of clean animals and animals that are not clean and birds and everything that crawls on the ground, 9 they all went into the ark to Noah [r]by twos, male and female, as God had commanded Noah. 10 Now it came about after (AE)the seven days, that the waters of the flood [s]came upon the earth. 11 In the (AF)six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all (AG)the fountains of the great deep burst open, and the [t]floodgates of the sky were opened. 12 (AH)The rain [u]fell upon the earth for forty days and forty nights.
13 On this very same day (AI)Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth, the sons of Noah, and Noah’s wife and the three wives of his sons with them, entered the ark, 14 they and every animal according to its kind, and all the livestock according to [v]their kind, and every crawling thing that crawls on the earth according to its kind, and every bird according to its kind, [w]all sorts of birds. 15 So they went into the ark to Noah, (AJ)by twos of all flesh in which there was the breath of life. 16 Those that entered, male and female of all flesh, entered as God had commanded him; and the Lord closed the door behind him.
17 Then the flood [x]came upon the earth for (AK)forty days, and the water increased and lifted up the ark, so that it rose above the earth. 18 The water prevailed and increased greatly upon the earth, and the ark [y]floated on the [z]surface of the water. 19 And the water prevailed more and more upon the earth, so that all the high mountains [aa]everywhere under the heavens were covered. 20 The water prevailed [ab]fifteen cubits higher, (AL)and the mountains were covered. 21 So (AM)all [ac]creatures that moved on the earth perished: birds, livestock, animals, and every swarming thing that swarms upon the earth, and all mankind; 22 of all that was on the dry land, all (AN)in whose nostrils was the breath of the spirit of life, died. 23 So He wiped out [ad]every living thing that was upon the face of the land, from mankind to animals, to crawling things, and the birds of the sky, and they were wiped out from the earth; and only (AO)Noah was left, together with those that were with him in the ark. 24 (AP)The water prevailed upon the earth for 150 days.
The Flood Subsides
8 But (AQ)God remembered Noah and all the animals and all the livestock that were with him in the ark; and (AR)God caused a wind to pass over the earth, and the water subsided. 2 Also (AS)the fountains of the deep and the [ae]floodgates of the sky were closed, and (AT)the rain from the sky was restrained; 3 and the water receded steadily from the earth, and at the end (AU)of 150 days the water decreased. 4 Then in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, (AV)the ark rested upon the mountains of Ararat. 5 And the water decreased steadily until the tenth month; in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, the tops of the mountains became visible.
6 Then it came about at the end of forty days, that Noah opened the (AW)window of the ark which he had made; 7 and he sent out a raven, and it [af]flew here and there until the water was dried up [ag]from the earth. 8 Then he sent out a [ah]dove, to see if the water was low on the [ai]surface of the land; 9 but the dove found no resting place for the sole of its foot, so it returned to him in the ark, for the water was on the [aj]surface of all the earth. Then he put out his hand and took it, and brought it into the ark to himself. 10 So he waited another seven days longer; and again he sent out the dove from the ark. 11 And the dove came to him in [ak]the evening, and behold, in its [al]beak was a fresh olive leaf. So Noah knew that the water was low on the earth. 12 Then he waited another seven days longer, and sent out (AX)the dove; but it did not return to him again.
13 Now it came about in the (AY)six hundred and first year, in the first month, on the first of the month, that the water was dried up [am]from the earth. Then Noah removed the covering of the ark, and looked, and behold, the [an]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 [ao](AZ)breed abundantly on the earth, and (BA)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 [ap]by their families from the ark.
20 Then Noah built (BB)an altar to the Lord, and took some of every kind of (BC)clean animal and some of every clean bird and offered (BD)burnt offerings on the altar. 21 The Lord (BE)smelled the soothing aroma, and the Lord said [aq]to Himself, “I will never again (BF)curse the ground on account of man, for (BG)the [ar]intent of man’s heart is evil from his youth; (BH)and I will never again [as]destroy every living thing, as I have done.
22 While the earth remains,
Seedtime and harvest,
Cold and heat,
(BI)Summer and winter,
And (BJ)day and night
Shall not cease.”
Footnotes
- Genesis 6:5 Lit his heart
- Genesis 6:6 Lit to
- Genesis 6:9 Lit complete, perfect; or having integrity
- Genesis 6:12 Lit all flesh
- Genesis 6:13 Lit all flesh
- Genesis 6:13 Lit them
- Genesis 6:14 I.e., Unknown species of tree
- Genesis 6:14 Or pitch
- Genesis 6:15 About 450 ft. long, 75 ft. wide, and 45 ft. high or 135 m, 23 m, and 14 m
- Genesis 6:16 Or roof
- Genesis 6:16 One cubit is about 18 in. or 45 cm
- Genesis 6:16 Lit above
- Genesis 7:2 Lit to
- Genesis 7:2 Lit seven seven
- Genesis 7:3 Lit seven seven
- Genesis 7:3 Lit seed
- Genesis 7:6 Lit was
- Genesis 7:9 Lit two two
- Genesis 7:10 Lit were
- Genesis 7:11 Or windows of the heavens
- Genesis 7:12 Lit was
- Genesis 7:14 Lit its
- Genesis 7:14 Lit every bird, every wing
- Genesis 7:17 Lit was
- Genesis 7:18 Lit went
- Genesis 7:18 Lit face
- Genesis 7:19 Lit which were under all the heavens
- Genesis 7:20 About 23 ft. or 6.7 m
- Genesis 7:21 Lit flesh
- Genesis 7:23 Lit all existence
- Genesis 8:2 Or windows of the heavens
- Genesis 8:7 Lit went out, going and returning
- Genesis 8:7 Lit from upon
- Genesis 8:8 Lit dove from him
- Genesis 8:8 Lit face
- Genesis 8:9 Lit face
- Genesis 8:11 Lit the time of evening
- Genesis 8:11 Lit mouth
- Genesis 8:13 Lit from upon
- Genesis 8:13 Lit face
- Genesis 8:17 Or swarm
- Genesis 8:19 Or according to their kind
- Genesis 8:21 Lit to His heart
- Genesis 8:21 Or inclination
- Genesis 8:21 Lit strike
Genesis 6:5-8:22
The Message
Noah and His Sons
5-7 God saw that human evil was out of control. People thought evil, imagined evil—evil, evil, evil from morning to night. God was sorry that he had made the human race in the first place; it broke his heart. God said, “I’ll get rid of my ruined creation, make a clean sweep: people, animals, snakes and bugs, birds—the works. I’m sorry I made them.”
8 But Noah was different. God liked what he saw in Noah.
9-10 This is the story of Noah: Noah was a good man, a man of integrity in his community. Noah walked with God. Noah had three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
11-12 As far as God was concerned, the Earth had become a sewer; there was violence everywhere. God took one look and saw how bad it was, everyone corrupt and corrupting—life itself corrupt to the core.
13 God said to Noah, “It’s all over. It’s the end of the human race. The violence is everywhere; I’m making a clean sweep.
14-16 “Build yourself a ship from teakwood. Make rooms in it. Coat it with pitch inside and out. Make it 450 feet long, seventy-five feet wide, and forty-five feet high. Build a roof for it and put in a window eighteen inches from the top; put in a door on the side of the ship; and make three decks, lower, middle, and upper.
17 “I’m going to bring a flood on the Earth that will destroy everything alive under Heaven. Total destruction.
18-21 “But I’m going to establish a covenant with you: You’ll board the ship, and your sons, your wife and your sons’ wives will come on board with you. You are also to take two of each living creature, a male and a female, on board the ship, to preserve their lives with you: two of every species of bird, mammal, and reptile—two of everything so as to preserve their lives along with yours. Also get all the food you’ll need and store it up for you and them.”
22 Noah did everything God commanded him to do.
7 Next God said to Noah, “Now board the ship, you and all your family—out of everyone in this generation, you’re the righteous one.
2-4 “Take on board with you seven pairs of every clean animal, a male and a female; one pair of every unclean animal, a male and a female; and seven pairs of every kind of bird, a male and a female, to insure their survival on Earth. In just seven days I will pour rain on Earth for forty days and forty nights. I’ll make a clean sweep of everything that I’ve made.”
5 Noah did everything God commanded him.
6-10 Noah was 600 years old when the floodwaters covered the Earth. Noah and his wife and sons and their wives boarded the ship to escape the flood. Clean and unclean animals, birds, and all the crawling creatures came in pairs to Noah and to the ship, male and female, just as God had commanded Noah. In seven days the floodwaters came.
11-12 It was the six-hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month that it happened: all the underground springs erupted and all the windows of Heaven were thrown open. Rain poured for forty days and forty nights.
13-16 That’s the day Noah and his sons Shem, Ham, and Japheth, accompanied by his wife and his sons’ wives, boarded the ship. And with them every kind of wild and domestic animal, right down to all the kinds of creatures that crawl and all kinds of birds and anything that flies. They came to Noah and to the ship in pairs—everything and anything that had the breath of life in it, male and female of every creature came just as God had commanded Noah. Then God shut the door behind him.
17-23 The flood continued forty days and the waters rose and lifted the ship high over the Earth. The waters kept rising, the flood deepened on the Earth, the ship floated on the surface. The flood got worse until all the highest mountains were covered—the high-water mark reached twenty feet above the crest of the mountains. Everything died. Anything that moved—dead. Birds, farm animals, wild animals, the entire teeming exuberance of life—dead. And all people—dead. Every living, breathing creature that lived on dry land died; he wiped out the whole works—people and animals, crawling creatures and flying birds, every last one of them, gone. Only Noah and his company on the ship lived.
24 The floodwaters took over for 150 days.
8 1-3 Then God turned his attention to Noah and all the wild animals and farm animals with him on the ship. God caused the wind to blow and the floodwaters began to go down. The underground springs were shut off, the windows of Heaven closed and the rain quit. Inch by inch the water lowered. After 150 days the worst was over.
4-6 On the seventeenth day of the seventh month, the ship landed on the Ararat mountain range. The water kept going down until the tenth month. On the first day of the tenth month the tops of the mountains came into view. After forty days Noah opened the window that he had built into the ship.
7-9 He sent out a raven; it flew back and forth waiting for the floodwaters to dry up. Then he sent a dove to check on the flood conditions, but it couldn’t even find a place to perch—water still covered the Earth. Noah reached out and caught it, brought it back into the ship.
10-11 He waited seven more days and sent out the dove again. It came back in the evening with a freshly picked olive leaf in its beak. Noah knew that the flood was about finished.
12 He waited another seven days and sent the dove out a third time. This time it didn’t come back.
13-14 In the six-hundred-first year of Noah’s life, on the first day of the first month, the flood had dried up. Noah opened the hatch of the ship and saw dry ground. By the twenty-seventh day of the second month, the Earth was completely dry.
15-17 God spoke to Noah: “Leave the ship, you and your wife and your sons and your sons’ wives. And take all the animals with you, the whole menagerie of birds and mammals and crawling creatures, all that swarming extravagance of life, so they can reproduce and flourish on the Earth.”
18-19 Noah disembarked with his sons and wife and his sons’ wives. Then all the animals, crawling creatures, birds—every creature on the face of the Earth—left the ship family by family.
20-21 Noah built an altar to God. He selected clean animals and birds from every species and offered them as burnt offerings on the altar. God smelled the sweet fragrance and thought to himself, “I’ll never again curse the ground because of people. I know they have this bent toward evil from an early age, but I’ll never again kill off everything living as I’ve just done.
22 For as long as Earth lasts,
planting and harvest, cold and heat,
Summer and winter, day and night
will never stop.”
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson