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8 But God remembered Noah and all of the wild and domesticated animals with him in the ark. When it was time, God sent the wind to blow over all of the earth, and the waters began to subside. 2 The subterranean waters from the depths of the earth and the casements of the heavens were again closed. The drenching rains that once fell from above finally stopped. 3 All of the waters gradually receded from the land. At last, after 150 days, the waters abated; 4 and on the 17th day of the 7th month, the ark at last came to rest on the mountains of Ararat. 5 The waters continued to recede until the 10th month. On the 1st day of the 10th month, the tops of the mountains began to appear.
6 After 40 more days, Noah opened a window he had built into the ark, 7 and he sent one of the ravens out into the sky. The raven flew back and forth until all of the waters had dried up on the land. 8 He then sent out a dove to see if the waters had subsided from the surface of the land. 9 But the dove found no place to land safely, and it returned to the ark. The waters were still covering the surface of the whole earth. So Noah put out his hand and brought the dove back into the ark. 10 Noah waited another seven days, and then he sent the dove out again from the ark. 11 This time the dove came back to him in the evening, and there, in its beak, was a freshly plucked olive leaf. So Noah knew then that the waters had begun to retreat from the land. 12 For good measure, Noah waited another seven days. Once more, he sent out the dove. This time, it didn’t return.
13 On the 1st day of the 1st month in Noah’s 601st year, the waters had dried up from the land. Noah removed the covering of the ark, looked out, and saw that the land was nearly dry. 14 By the 27th day of the 2nd month, the earth was completely dry. 15 God came to Noah with a message.
Eternal One (to Noah): 16 It’s time. Leave the ark now, you and your wife, your sons, and your sons’ wives. 17 Release every animal with you on the ark—everything of flesh: birds, animals, and every creeping thing—so that they may be fruitful, multiply in great numbers, and fill the land and the sky again.
18 So Noah left the ark with his sons, his wife, and his sons’ wives. 19 And every animal, every small creeping thing, and every bird—everything that moves on the earth—left the ark with him as new families—a new generation.
20 Once he was back on dry land, Noah built an altar—a special offering table—for the Eternal One. He took some of every ritually acceptable animal and of every acceptable bird, and he gave them to God on the altar as a burnt offering. 21 When the Eternal smelled the delicious aroma of the sacrifice, He was moved.
Eternal One (to Himself): Never again will I curse the ground because of humankind, even though every thought of the mind and inclination of the heart is set on evil from the time they are young. Never again will I destroy every living creature as I have done. 22 As long as the earth endures, nothing will put a stop to planting and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night.
9 God spoke a blessing over Noah and his sons.
Eternal One: Be fruitful, multiply, and populate the earth! 2 All the animals on the earth, all the birds in the sky, all the creatures that creep along the ground, and all the fish of the sea will now be afraid and run from you; they have been handed over to you. 3 Every living thing that moves will be available to you as food. Just as I once gave you the green plants to eat, I now give you everything. 4 But listen carefully: Do not eat any meat with its life-blood still in it. 5 More than that, do not spill the blood of any human. If anyone spills your blood, I will hold him responsible. It makes no difference whether it is a man or an animal, both will be accountable to Me! If someone murders a fellow human being, then I will require his life in return.
6 Whoever sheds the blood of a human,
that person’s blood will be shed in return by another
for God made humanity in His own image.
7 Now all of you, be fruitful and multiply; spread out and populate the earth.
All life is sacred. Human life is especially so. Protecting it is of utmost importance to God. He takes this so seriously and personally because He made humanity to reflect Him. We are His earthly representatives, made in His image. To murder another person is to mount an attack on the One who created him.
8 But God was not finished. He had more to say both to Noah and his sons.
Eternal One: 9 Look, for I am now going to make a pact, a special covenant, with you and all your descendants. 10 This covenant also extends to every living creature in the world—the birds, the domesticated animals, and every wild animal on the earth—as many as emerged with you from the ark. 11 As part of this covenant, I promise you I will never again wipe out all living flesh by means of flooding waters. Never again will a flood destroy the earth. 12 As a sign of this perpetual covenant I now make between Me and you and all living creatures along with you, as well as all future generations, 13 I will hang a rainbow among the clouds. It will serve as a sign of the covenant between Me and the earth. 14 And from now on, whenever a cloud rises over the earth and a rainbow appears in the sky, 15 I will remember My covenant—My promise I have made between Me and you and all living creatures. No waters will ever again turn into a flood powerful enough to destroy all living creatures. 16 When that rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember this eternal covenant I have made with all living creatures.
17 Look for the rainbow, and remember My promise. With it I sign the covenant I have made between Me and all the living creatures residing on the earth.
18 Now Noah’s sons who came out of the ark were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. (Ham, by the way, was the father of Canaan.) 19 Yes, these three, Noah’s sons, went on to populate the entire earth.
20 Now Noah became a farmer and decided to plant a vineyard. 21 One day he drank too much of the wine he had made and fell into a deep, drunken sleep in his tent. As he lay there stark naked, 22 Ham (the father of Canaan) peeked in and saw his father’s exposed body. After leaving the tent, he told his two brothers what he had seen. 23 So Shem and Japheth took a large cloak and laid it across their shoulders, and they walked backward into the tent. They never looked behind, as they covered their father’s nakedness. Out of respect, they purposely kept their faces turned away, so they wouldn’t see their father lying there naked. 24 When Noah regained consciousness and realized what his youngest son had done, 25 he uttered this curse:
Noah: A curse upon your son, Canaan!
May he become the lowest of servants to his brothers.
26 May the Eternal One, the God of Shem, be blessed,
and let Canaan be his slave!
27 May God make plenty of room for Japheth’s family
and give them homes among Shem’s tents.
And let Canaan be his slave also!
Noah’s words are not idle words. As the story unfolds, the importance of this curse becomes clear. But as the ancients knew, and we now have forgotten, words have power. It was with a word that God created the heavens above and the earth below. Now Noah’s words create a new reality, a harsh reality for Ham and his children.
28 From the time the flood was over, Noah lived another 350 years. 29 In all, Noah lived 950 years, and then he died.
10 Here is the account of the descendants of Noah’s three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth, who fathered many children after the flood.
2 The descendants of Japheth were Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, and Tiras. 3 Now the descendants of Gomer were Ashkenaz, Riphath, and Togarmah. 4 The descendants of Javan were Elishah, Tarshish, Kittim, and Dodanim. 5 The descendants of Japheth became the peoples who settled the coastal and island regions. They developed their own languages, their own families and cultures, and they would eventually become separate peoples.
6 The descendants of Ham were Cush, Mizraim, Put, and Canaan. 7 Cush’s descendants were Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah, and Sabteca. The descendants of Raamah were Sheba and Dedan. 8 Cush also fathered Nimrod, who was the first man on earth to be known as a powerful warrior. 9 He was also a skillful hunter before the Eternal One. That’s why you often hear people say, “So-and-so is like Nimrod, a skillful hunter before the Eternal.” 10 The center of his kingdom was in Babel, Erech, Accad, and Calneh; all are located in the land of Shinar. 11 From there, he traveled into Assyria and established the cities of Nineveh, Rehoboth-Ir, Calah, 12 and Resen, which lies between Nineveh and Calah—and that is one magnificent city! 13 Now Mizraim fathered Ludim, Anamim, Lehabim, Naphtuhim, 14 Pathrusim, Casluhim (the ancestor of the people known as the Philistines), and Caphtorim.
15 Canaan fathered Sidon (his firstborn), Heth, 16 the Jebusites, the Amorites, the Girgashites, 17 the Hivites, the Arkites, the Sinites, 18 the Arvadites, the Zemarites, and the Hamathites. Soon all of the families of Canaan’s descendants would spread abroad. 19 As a result, the territory of the Canaanites extended from Sidon in the direction of Gerar all the way to Gaza; and in the direction of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim all the way to Lasha. 20 All of these are descendants of Ham, who grew from a few initial families into a great people with their own languages, lands, and nations.
21 Now Shem (Japheth’s older brother) fathered a great number of children as well. He was the patriarch of all of the people of Eber. 22 His descendants include Elam, Asshur, Arpachshad, Lud, and Aram. 23 Aram’s descendants were Uz, Hul, Gether, and Mash. 24 Now Arpachshad fathered Shelah, and Shelah fathered Eber. 25 Eber had two sons: one was named Peleg, which means “division,” because in his days, the earth was divided into many languages, and his brother’s name was Joktan. 26 Joktan fathered Almodad, Sheleph, Hazarmaveth, Jerah, 27 Hadoram, Uzal, Diklah, 28 Obal, Abimael, Sheba, 29 Ophir, Havilah, and Jobab. All of these peoples were descended from Joktan. 30 They lived in the territory that extended from Mesha in the direction of Sephar to the eastern hill country. 31 Shem’s descendants also grew from a few initial families to become a great people with their own languages, lands, and nations.
32 So these are the families descended from Noah’s sons according to their known genealogies. These cultures would soon spread farther and farther across the earth after the flood.
12 It was not long until powerful people put John in prison. When Jesus learned this, He went back to Galilee. 13 He moved from Nazareth to Capernaum, a town by the sea in the regions of Zebulun and Naphtali. 14 He did this to fulfill one of the prophecies of Isaiah:
15 In the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali,
the road to the sea along the Jordan in Galilee, the land of the outsiders—
16 In these places, the people who had been living in darkness
saw a great light.
The light of life will overtake those who dwelt in the shadowy darkness of death.[a]
17 From that time on, preaching was part of Jesus’ work.
Jesus: Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
By now Jesus desires a community around Him, friends and followers who help Him carry this urgent, precious message to people. His message is not dissimilar to John’s: Turn away from sin; turn toward God. And so He calls a community to join Him. These first beloved followers are called “disciples,” which means “apprentices.” The first disciples are two brothers, Simon and Andrew. They are fishermen.
18 One day Jesus was walking along the Sea of Galilee when He saw Simon (also called Peter) and Andrew throwing their nets into the water. They were, of course, fishermen.
Jesus: 19 Come, follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.
20 Immediately Peter and Andrew left their fishnets and followed Jesus.
21 Going on from there, Jesus saw two more brothers, James the son of Zebedee and his brother John. They, too, were fishermen. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee getting their nets ready to fish. Jesus summoned them, just as He had called to Peter and Andrew, 22 and immediately they left their boat and their father to follow Jesus.
23 And so Jesus went throughout Galilee. He taught in the synagogues. He preached the good news of the Kingdom, and He healed people, ridding their bodies of sickness and disease. 24 Word spread all over Syria, as more and more sick people came to Him. The innumerable ill who came before Him had all sorts of diseases, they were in crippling pain; they were possessed by demons; they had seizures; they were paralyzed. But Jesus healed them all. 25 Large crowds from Galilee, from Jerusalem, from the ten cities called the Decapolis, from Judea, and from the region across the Jordan followed him.
Psalm 4
For the worship leader. A song of David accompanied by strings.
1 Answer my prayers, O True God, the righteous, who makes me right.
I was hopelessly surrounded, and You rescued me.
Once again hear me; hide me in Your favor;
bring victory in defeat and hope in hopelessness.
2 How long will you sons of Adam steal my dignity, reduce my glory to shame?
Why pine for the fruitless and dream a delusion?
[pause][a]
3 Understand this: The Eternal One treats as special those like Him.
The Eternal will answer my prayers and save me.
4 Think long; think hard. When you are angry, don’t let it carry you into sin.
When night comes, in calm be silent.
[pause]
5 From this day forward, offer to God the right sacrifice from a heart made right by God.
Entrust yourself to the Eternal.
6 Crowds of disheartened people ask, “Who can show us what is good?”
Let Your brilliant face shine upon us, O Eternal One, that we may know the undeniable answer.
7 You have filled me with joy, and happiness has risen in my heart, great delight and unrivaled joy,
even more than when bread abounds and wine flows freely.
8 Tonight I will sleep securely on a bed of peace
because I trust You, You alone, O Eternal One, will keep me safe.
Each generation faces strong peer pressure to follow the world’s ways, especially during adolescence. That pressure can twist an innocent young man inside out until he is nearly unrecognizable to those close to him. Once gang mentality takes over, that young man could easily find himself in unexpected and troublesome situations. Wisdom calls, and her voice is clear: Remember your parents’ instruction. Avoid violence and violent people. If you don’t, violence will find you.
20 There’s another voice in town.
It belongs to Lady Wisdom, who calls out in the street.
She cries out in the town square,
21 At the city gates, in the noisy city streets,
you can hear her speaking over the racket.
22 Lady Wisdom: You simple, naive people, how long will you love your feeble ways?
You simpletons, how long will you enjoy making fun of what you don’t understand?
You fools, how long will you hate learning what truly matters?
23 Turn to me and receive my gentle correction;
Watch and I will pour out my spirit on you;
I will share with you my wise words in order to redirect your lives.
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.