Genesis 6-9

Christian Standard Bible

Sons of God and Daughters of Mankind

6 When mankind began to multiply on the earth and daughters were born to them, ² the sons of God^(A) saw that the daughters of mankind were beautiful, and they took any they chose as wives for themselves.^{(B) 3} And the Lord said, “My Spirit will not remain^[a] with^[b] mankind forever,^(C) because they are corrupt.^[c](D) Their days will be 120 years.” ⁴ The Nephilim^[d] were on the earth both in those days and afterward, when the sons of God came to the daughters of mankind, who bore children to them. They were the powerful men of old, the famous men.

Judgment Decreed

⁵ When the Lord saw that human wickedness was widespread on the earth and that every inclination of the human mind was nothing but evil all the time,^{(E) 6} the Lord regretted that he had made man on the earth,^(F) and he was deeply grieved. ⁷ Then the Lord said, “I will wipe mankind, whom I created, off the face of the earth, together with the animals, creatures that crawl, and birds of the sky—for I regret that I made them.” ⁸ Noah, however, found favor with the Lord.^(G)

God Warns Noah

⁹ These are the family records^(H) of Noah. Noah was a righteous man,^(I) blameless among his contemporaries;^(J) Noah walked with God.^{(K) 10} And Noah fathered three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

¹¹ Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight, and the earth was filled with wickedness.^{[e] 12} God saw how corrupt the earth was, for every creature had corrupted its way on the earth.^{(L) 13} Then God said to Noah, “I have decided to put an end to every creature, for the earth is filled with wickedness because of them; therefore I am going to destroy them along with the earth.

¹⁴ “Make yourself an ark of gopher^[f] wood. Make rooms in the ark, and cover it with pitch inside and outside. ¹⁵ This is how you are to make it: The ark will be 450 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet high.^{[g] 16} You are to make a roof,^[h] finishing the sides of the ark to within eighteen inches^[i] of the roof. You are to put a door in the side of the ark. Make it with lower, middle, and upper decks.

¹⁷ “Understand that I am bringing a flood—floodwaters on the earth^(M) to destroy every creature under heaven with the breath of life in it. Everything on earth will perish. ¹⁸ But I will establish my covenant with you,^(N) and you will enter the ark with your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives. ¹⁹ You are also to bring into the ark two of all the living creatures, male and female, to keep them alive with you. ²⁰ Two of everything—from the birds according to their kinds, from the livestock according to their kinds, and from the animals that crawl on the ground according to their kinds—will come to you so that you can keep them alive. ²¹ Take with you every kind of food that is eaten; gather it as food for you and for them.” ²² And Noah did this. He did everything that God had commanded him.^(O)

Entering the Ark

7 Then the Lord said to Noah, “Enter the ark, you and all your household, for I have seen that you alone are righteous before me in this generation.^{(P) 2} You are to take with you seven pairs, a male and its female, of all the clean animals,^(Q) and two of the animals that are not clean, a male and its female, ³ and seven pairs, male and female, of the birds of the sky—in order to keep offspring alive throughout the earth. ⁴ Seven days from now I will make it rain on the earth forty days and forty nights, and every living thing I have made I will wipe off the face of the earth.” ⁵ And Noah did everything that the Lord commanded him.^(R)

⁶ Noah was six hundred years old when the flood came and water covered the earth. ⁷ So Noah, his sons, his wife, and his sons’ wives entered the ark because of the floodwaters. ⁸ From the animals that are clean, and from the animals that are not clean, and from the birds and every creature that crawls on the ground, ⁹ two of each, male and female, came to Noah and entered the ark, just as God had commanded him. ¹⁰ Seven days later the floodwaters came on the earth.

The Flood

¹¹ In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the sources of the vast watery depths burst open,^(S) the floodgates of the sky were opened,^{(T) 12} and the rain fell on the earth forty days and forty nights. ¹³ On that same day Noah and his three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth, entered the ark, along with Noah’s wife and his three sons’ wives. ¹⁴ They entered it with all the wildlife according to their kinds, all livestock according to their kinds, all the creatures that crawl on the earth according to their kinds, every flying creature—all the birds and every winged creature—according to their kinds. ¹⁵ Two of every creature that has the breath of life in it came to Noah and entered the ark. ¹⁶ Those that entered, male and female of every creature, entered just as God had commanded him. Then the Lord shut him in.

¹⁷ The flood continued for forty days on the earth; the water increased and lifted up the ark so that it rose above the earth. ¹⁸ The water surged and increased greatly on the earth, and the ark floated on the surface of the water. ¹⁹ Then the water surged even higher on the earth, and all the high mountains under the whole sky were covered. ²⁰ The mountains were covered as the water surged above them more than twenty feet.^{[j] 21} Every creature perished—those that crawl on the earth, birds, livestock, wildlife, and those that swarm on the earth, as well as all mankind. ²² Everything with the breath of the spirit of life in its nostrils^(U)—everything on dry land died. ²³ He wiped out every living thing that was on the face of the earth, from mankind to livestock, to creatures that crawl, to the birds of the sky, and they were wiped off the earth. Only Noah was left, and those that were with him in the ark.^{(V) 24} And the water surged on the earth 150 days.

The Flood Recedes

8 God remembered Noah,^(W) as well as all the wildlife and all the livestock that were with him in the ark. God caused a wind to pass over the earth,^(X) and the water began to subside. ² The sources of the watery depths and the floodgates of the sky were closed, and the rain from the sky stopped.^{(Y) 3} The water steadily receded from the earth, and by the end of 150 days the water had decreased significantly.^{(Z) 4} The ark came to rest in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on the mountains of Ararat.^(AA)

⁵ The water continued to recede until the tenth month; in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, the tops of the mountains were visible. ⁶ After forty days Noah opened the window of the ark that he had made, ⁷ and he sent out a raven. It went back and forth until the water had dried up from the earth. ⁸ Then he sent out a dove to see whether the water on the earth’s surface had gone down, ⁹ but the dove found no resting place for its foot. It returned to him in the ark because water covered the surface of the whole earth. He reached out and brought it into the ark to himself. ¹⁰ So Noah waited seven more days and sent out the dove from the ark again. ¹¹ When the dove came to him at evening, there was a plucked olive leaf in its beak. So Noah knew that the water on the earth’s surface had gone down. ¹² After he had waited another seven days, he sent out the dove, but it did not return to him again. ¹³ In the six hundred first year,^[k] in the first month, on the first day of the month, the water that had covered the earth was dried up. Then Noah removed the ark’s cover and saw that the surface of the ground was drying. ¹⁴ By the twenty-seventh day of the second month, the earth was dry.

The Lord’s Promise

¹⁵ Then God spoke to Noah, ¹⁶ “Come out of the ark, you, your wife, your sons, and your sons’ wives with you. ¹⁷ Bring out all the living creatures that are with you—birds, livestock, those that crawl on the earth—and they will spread over the earth and be fruitful and multiply on the earth.”^{(AB) 18} So Noah, along with his sons, his wife, and his sons’ wives, came out. ¹⁹ All the animals, all the creatures that crawl, and all the flying creatures—everything that moves on the earth—came out of the ark by their families.

²⁰ Then Noah built an altar to the Lord. He took some of every kind of clean animal and every kind of clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar. ²¹ When the Lord smelled the pleasing aroma,^(AC) he said to himself, “I will never again curse the ground^(AD) because of human beings, even though the inclination of the human heart is evil from youth onward.^(AE) And I will never again strike down every living thing as I have done.^(AF)

God’s Covenant with Noah

9 God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.^{(AH) 2} The fear and terror of you will be in every living creature on the earth, every bird of the sky, every creature that crawls on the ground, and all the fish of the sea. They are placed under your authority. ³ Every creature that lives and moves will be food for you;^(AI) as I gave the green plants, I have given you everything.^{(AJ) 4} However, you must not eat meat with its lifeblood in it.^{(AK) 5} And I will require a penalty for your lifeblood;^[l] I will require it from any animal^(AL) and from any human; if someone murders a fellow human, I will require that person’s life.^(AM)

⁷ But you, be fruitful and multiply; spread out over the earth and multiply on it.”^(AP)

⁸ Then God said to Noah and his sons with him, ⁹ “Understand that I am establishing my covenant^(AQ) with you and your descendants after you, ¹⁰ and with every living creature that is with you—birds, livestock, and all wildlife of the earth that are with you—all the animals of the earth that came out of the ark. ¹¹ I establish my covenant with you that never again will every creature be wiped out by floodwaters; there will never again be a flood to destroy the earth.”^(AR)

¹² And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant^(AS) I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all future generations: ¹³ I have placed my bow in the clouds,^(AT) and it will be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. ¹⁴ Whenever I form clouds over the earth and the bow appears in the clouds, ¹⁵ I will remember my covenant^(AU) between me and you and all the living creatures: water will never again become a flood to destroy every creature. ¹⁶ The bow will be in the clouds, and I will look at it and remember the permanent covenant^(AV) between God and all the living creatures on earth.” ¹⁷ God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant that I have established between me and every creature on earth.”

Prophecies about Noah’s Family

¹⁸ Noah’s sons who came out of the ark were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Ham was the father of Canaan. ¹⁹ These three were Noah’s sons, and from them the whole earth was populated.^(AW)

²⁰ Noah, as a man of the soil, began by planting^[m] a vineyard. ²¹ He drank some of the wine, became drunk, and uncovered himself inside his tent. ²² Ham, the father of Canaan, saw his father naked and told his two brothers outside.^{(AX) 23} Then Shem and Japheth took a cloak and placed it over both their shoulders, and walking backward, they covered their father’s nakedness. Their faces were turned away, and they did not see their father naked.

²⁴ When Noah awoke from his drinking and learned what his youngest son had done to him, ²⁵ he said:

²⁶ He also said:

²⁸ Now Noah lived 350 years after the flood. ²⁹ So Noah’s life lasted 950 years; then he died.