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The Story of Noah

This is the account of Noah and his family. Noah was a righteous man, the only blameless person living on earth at the time, and he walked in close fellowship with God. 10 Noah was the father of three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

11 Now God saw that the earth had become corrupt and was filled with violence. 12 God observed all this corruption in the world, for everyone on earth was corrupt. 13 So God said to Noah, “I have decided to destroy all living creatures, for they have filled the earth with violence. Yes, I will wipe them all out along with the earth!

14 “Build a large boat[a] from cypress wood[b] and waterproof it with tar, inside and out. Then construct decks and stalls throughout its interior. 15 Make the boat 450 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet high.[c] 16 Leave an 18-inch opening[d] below the roof all the way around the boat. Put the door on the side, and build three decks inside the boat—lower, middle, and upper.

17 “Look! I am about to cover the earth with a flood that will destroy every living thing that breathes. Everything on earth will die. 18 But I will confirm my covenant with you. So enter the boat—you and your wife and your sons and their wives. 19 Bring a pair of every kind of animal—a male and a female—into the boat with you to keep them alive during the flood. 20 Pairs of every kind of bird, and every kind of animal, and every kind of small animal that scurries along the ground, will come to you to be kept alive. 21 And be sure to take on board enough food for your family and for all the animals.”

22 So Noah did everything exactly as God had commanded him.

The Flood Covers the Earth

When everything was ready, the Lord said to Noah, “Go into the boat with all your family, for among all the people of the earth, I can see that you alone are righteous. Take with you seven pairs—male and female—of each animal I have approved for eating and for sacrifice,[e] and take one pair of each of the others. Also take seven pairs of every kind of bird. There must be a male and a female in each pair to ensure that all life will survive on the earth after the flood. Seven days from now I will make the rains pour down on the earth. And it will rain for forty days and forty nights, until I have wiped from the earth all the living things I have created.”

So Noah did everything as the Lord commanded him.

Noah was 600 years old when the flood covered the earth. He went on board the boat to escape the flood—he and his wife and his sons and their wives. With them were all the various kinds of animals—those approved for eating and for sacrifice and those that were not—along with all the birds and the small animals that scurry along the ground. They entered the boat in pairs, male and female, just as God had commanded Noah. 10 After seven days, the waters of the flood came and covered the earth.

11 When Noah was 600 years old, on the seventeenth day of the second month, all the underground waters erupted from the earth, and the rain fell in mighty torrents from the sky. 12 The rain continued to fall for forty days and forty nights.

13 That very day Noah had gone into the boat with his wife and his sons—Shem, Ham, and Japheth—and their wives. 14 With them in the boat were pairs of every kind of animal—domestic and wild, large and small—along with birds of every kind. 15 Two by two they came into the boat, representing every living thing that breathes. 16 A male and female of each kind entered, just as God had commanded Noah. Then the Lord closed the door behind them.

17 For forty days the floodwaters grew deeper, covering the ground and lifting the boat high above the earth. 18 As the waters rose higher and higher above the ground, the boat floated safely on the surface. 19 Finally, the water covered even the highest mountains on the earth, 20 rising more than twenty-two feet[f] above the highest peaks. 21 All the living things on earth died—birds, domestic animals, wild animals, small animals that scurry along the ground, and all the people. 22 Everything that breathed and lived on dry land died. 23 God wiped out every living thing on the earth—people, livestock, small animals that scurry along the ground, and the birds of the sky. All were destroyed. The only people who survived were Noah and those with him in the boat. 24 And the floodwaters covered the earth for 150 days.

The Flood Recedes

But God remembered Noah and all the wild animals and livestock with him in the boat. He sent a wind to blow across the earth, and the floodwaters began to recede. The underground waters stopped flowing, and the torrential rains from the sky were stopped. So the floodwaters gradually receded from the earth. After 150 days, exactly five months from the time the flood began,[g] the boat came to rest on the mountains of Ararat. Two and a half months later,[h] as the waters continued to go down, other mountain peaks became visible.

After another forty days, Noah opened the window he had made in the boat and released a raven. The bird flew back and forth until the floodwaters on the earth had dried up. He also released a dove to see if the water had receded and it could find dry ground. But the dove could find no place to land because the water still covered the ground. So it returned to the boat, and Noah held out his hand and drew the dove back inside. 10 After waiting another seven days, Noah released the dove again. 11 This time the dove returned to him in the evening with a fresh olive leaf in its beak. Then Noah knew that the floodwaters were almost gone. 12 He waited another seven days and then released the dove again. This time it did not come back.

13 Noah was now 601 years old. On the first day of the new year, ten and a half months after the flood began,[i] the floodwaters had almost dried up from the earth. Noah lifted back the covering of the boat and saw that the surface of the ground was drying. 14 Two more months went by,[j] and at last the earth was dry!

15 Then God said to Noah, 16 “Leave the boat, all of you—you and your wife, and your sons and their wives. 17 Release all the animals—the birds, the livestock, and the small animals that scurry along the ground—so they can be fruitful and multiply throughout the earth.”

18 So Noah, his wife, and his sons and their wives left the boat. 19 And all of the large and small animals and birds came out of the boat, pair by pair.

Footnotes

  1. 6:14a Traditionally rendered an ark.
  2. 6:14b Or gopher wood.
  3. 6:15 Hebrew 300 cubits [138 meters] long, 50 cubits [23 meters] wide, and 30 cubits [13.8 meters] high.
  4. 6:16 Hebrew an opening of 1 cubit [46 centimeters].
  5. 7:2 Hebrew of each clean animal; similarly in 7:8.
  6. 7:20 Hebrew 15 cubits [6.9 meters].
  7. 8:4 Hebrew on the seventeenth day of the seventh month; see 7:11.
  8. 8:5 Hebrew On the first day of the tenth month; see 7:11 and note on 8:4.
  9. 8:13 Hebrew On the first day of the first month; see 7:11.
  10. 8:14 Hebrew The twenty-seventh day of the second month arrived; see note on 8:13.

These are Noah’s descendants. In his generation, Noah was a moral and exemplary man; he[a] walked with God. 10 Noah had three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth. 11 In God’s sight, the earth had become corrupt and was filled with violence. 12 God saw that the earth was corrupt, because all creatures behaved corruptly on the earth.

13 God said to Noah, “The end has come for all creatures, since they have filled the earth with violence. I am now about to destroy them along with the earth, 14 so make a wooden ark.[b] Make the ark with nesting places and cover it inside and out with tar. 15 This is how you should make it: four hundred fifty feet long, seventy-five feet wide, and forty-five feet high. 16 Make a roof[c] for the ark and complete it one foot from the top.[d] Put a door in its side. In the hold below, make the second and third decks.

17 “I am now bringing the floodwaters over the earth to destroy everything under the sky that breathes. Everything on earth is about to take its last breath. 18 But I will set up my covenant with you. You will go into the ark together with your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives. 19 From all living things—from all creatures—you are to bring a pair, male and female, into the ark with you to keep them alive. 20 From each kind of bird, from each kind of livestock, and from each kind of everything that crawls on the ground—a pair from each will go in with you to stay alive. 21 Take some from every kind of food and stow it as food for you and for the animals.”

22 Noah did everything exactly as God commanded him.

The Lord said to Noah, “Go into the ark with your whole household, because among this generation I’ve seen that you are a moral man. From every clean animal, take seven pairs, a male and his mate; and from every unclean animal, take one pair, a male and his mate; and from the birds in the sky as well, take seven pairs, male and female, so that their offspring will survive throughout the earth. In seven days from now I will send rain on the earth for forty days and forty nights. I will wipe off from the fertile land every living thing that I have made.”

Noah did everything the Lord commanded him.

Noah was 600 years old when the floodwaters arrived on earth. Noah, his sons, his wife, and his sons’ wives with him entered the ark to escape the floodwaters. From the clean and unclean animals, from the birds and everything crawling on the ground, two of each, male and female, went into the ark with Noah, just as God commanded Noah. 10 After seven days, the floodwaters arrived on the earth. 11 In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day—on that day all the springs of the deep sea erupted, and the windows in the skies opened. 12 It rained on the earth forty days and forty nights. 13 That same day Noah, with his sons Shem, Ham, and Japheth, Noah’s wife, and his sons’ three wives, went into the ark. 14 They and every kind of animal—every kind of livestock, every kind that crawls on the ground, every kind of bird[e] 15 they came to Noah and entered the ark, two of every creature that breathes. 16 Male and female of every creature went in, just as God had commanded him. Then the Lord closed the door behind them.[f]

17 The flood remained on the earth for forty days. The waters rose, lifted the ark, and it rode high above the earth. 18 The waters rose and spread out over the earth. The ark floated on the surface of the waters. 19 The waters rose even higher over the earth; they covered all of the highest mountains under the sky. 20 The waters rose twenty-three feet high, covering the mountains. 21 Every creature took its last breath: the things crawling on the ground, birds, livestock, wild animals, everything swarming on the ground, and every human being. 22 Everything on dry land with life’s breath in its nostrils died. 23 God wiped away every living thing that was on the fertile land—from human beings to livestock to crawling things to birds in the sky. They were wiped off the earth. Only Noah and those with him in the ark were left. 24 The waters rose over the earth for one hundred fifty days.

God remembered Noah, all those alive, and all the animals with him in the ark. God sent a wind over the earth so that the waters receded. The springs of the deep sea and the skies[g] closed up. The skies held back the rain. The waters receded gradually from the earth. After one hundred fifty days, the waters decreased; and in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day, the ark came to rest on the Ararat mountains. The waters decreased gradually until the tenth month, and on the first day of the tenth month the mountain peaks appeared.

After forty days, Noah opened the window of the ark that he had made. He sent out a raven, and it flew back and forth until the waters over the entire earth had dried up. Then he sent out a dove to see if the waters on all of the fertile land had subsided, but the dove found no place to set its foot. It returned to him in the ark since waters still covered the entire earth. Noah stretched out his hand, took it, and brought it back into the ark. 10 He waited seven more days and sent the dove out from the ark again. 11 The dove came back to him in the evening, grasping a torn olive leaf in its beak. Then Noah knew that the waters were subsiding from the earth. 12 He waited seven more days and sent out the dove, but it didn’t come back to him again. 13 In Noah’s six hundred first year, on the first day of the first month, the waters dried up from the earth. Noah removed the ark’s hatch and saw that the surface of the fertile land had dried up. 14 In the second month, on the twenty-seventh day, the earth was dry.

15 God spoke to Noah, 16 “Go out of the ark, you and your wife, your sons, and your sons’ wives with you. 17 Bring out with you all the animals of every kind—birds, livestock, everything crawling on the ground—so that they may populate the earth, be fertile, and multiply on the earth.” 18 So Noah went out of the ark with his sons, his wife, and his sons’ wives. 19 All the animals, all the livestock,[h] all the birds, and everything crawling on the ground, came out of the ark by their families.

Footnotes

  1. Genesis 6:9 Heb Noah
  2. Genesis 6:14 Or ark of gopher wood, an unknown species of tree
  3. Genesis 6:16 Or window
  4. Genesis 6:16 Heb uncertain
  5. Genesis 7:14 LXX; MT every bird, every winged thing
  6. Genesis 7:16 Heb lacks the door.
  7. Genesis 8:2 Or the windows of the skies
  8. Genesis 8:19 LXX; MT lacks all the livestock.

Noah and the Flood

This is the account(A) of Noah and his family.

Noah was a righteous man, blameless(B) among the people of his time,(C) and he walked faithfully with God.(D) 10 Noah had three sons: Shem,(E) Ham and Japheth.(F)

11 Now the earth was corrupt(G) in God’s sight and was full of violence.(H) 12 God saw how corrupt(I) the earth had become, for all the people on earth had corrupted their ways.(J) 13 So God said to Noah, “I am going to put an end to all people, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. I am surely going to destroy(K) both them and the earth.(L) 14 So make yourself an ark of cypress[a] wood;(M) make rooms in it and coat it with pitch(N) inside and out. 15 This is how you are to build it: The ark is to be three hundred cubits long, fifty cubits wide and thirty cubits high.[b] 16 Make a roof for it, leaving below the roof an opening one cubit[c] high all around.[d] Put a door in the side of the ark and make lower, middle and upper decks. 17 I am going to bring floodwaters(O) on the earth to destroy all life under the heavens, every creature that has the breath of life in it. Everything on earth will perish.(P) 18 But I will establish my covenant with you,(Q) and you will enter the ark(R)—you and your sons and your wife and your sons’ wives with you. 19 You are to bring into the ark two of all living creatures, male and female, to keep them alive with you.(S) 20 Two(T) of every kind of bird, of every kind of animal and of every kind(U) of creature that moves along the ground will come to you to be kept alive.(V) 21 You are to take every kind of food that is to be eaten and store it away as food for you and for them.”

22 Noah did everything just as God commanded him.(W)

The Lord then said to Noah, “Go into the ark, you and your whole family,(X) because I have found you righteous(Y) in this generation. Take with you seven pairs of every kind of clean(Z) animal, a male and its mate, and one pair of every kind of unclean animal, a male and its mate, and also seven pairs of every kind of bird, male and female, to keep their various kinds alive(AA) throughout the earth. Seven days from now I will send rain(AB) on the earth(AC) for forty days(AD) and forty nights,(AE) and I will wipe from the face of the earth every living creature I have made.(AF)

And Noah did all that the Lord commanded him.(AG)

Noah was six hundred years old(AH) when the floodwaters came on the earth. And Noah and his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives entered the ark(AI) to escape the waters of the flood. Pairs of clean and unclean(AJ) animals, of birds and of all creatures that move along the ground, male and female, came to Noah and entered the ark, as God had commanded Noah.(AK) 10 And after the seven days(AL) the floodwaters came on the earth.

11 In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life,(AM) on the seventeenth day of the second month(AN)—on that day all the springs of the great deep(AO) burst forth, and the floodgates of the heavens(AP) were opened. 12 And rain fell on the earth forty days and forty nights.(AQ)

13 On that very day Noah and his sons,(AR) Shem, Ham and Japheth, together with his wife and the wives of his three sons, entered the ark.(AS) 14 They had with them every wild animal according to its kind, all livestock according to their kinds, every creature that moves along the ground according to its kind and every bird according to its kind,(AT) everything with wings. 15 Pairs of all creatures that have the breath of life in them came to Noah and entered the ark.(AU) 16 The animals going in were male and female of every living thing, as God had commanded Noah.(AV) Then the Lord shut him in.

17 For forty days(AW) the flood kept coming on the earth, and as the waters increased they lifted the ark high above the earth. 18 The waters rose and increased greatly on the earth, and the ark floated on the surface of the water. 19 They rose greatly on the earth, and all the high mountains under the entire heavens were covered.(AX) 20 The waters rose and covered the mountains to a depth of more than fifteen cubits.[e][f] (AY) 21 Every living thing that moved on land perished—birds, livestock, wild animals, all the creatures that swarm over the earth, and all mankind.(AZ) 22 Everything on dry land that had the breath of life(BA) in its nostrils died. 23 Every living thing on the face of the earth was wiped out; people and animals and the creatures that move along the ground and the birds were wiped from the earth.(BB) Only Noah was left, and those with him in the ark.(BC)

24 The waters flooded the earth for a hundred and fifty days.(BD)

But God remembered(BE) Noah and all the wild animals and the livestock that were with him in the ark, and he sent a wind over the earth,(BF) and the waters receded. Now the springs of the deep and the floodgates of the heavens(BG) had been closed, and the rain(BH) had stopped falling from the sky. The water receded steadily from the earth. At the end of the hundred and fifty days(BI) the water had gone down, and on the seventeenth day of the seventh month(BJ) the ark came to rest on the mountains(BK) of Ararat.(BL) The waters continued to recede until the tenth month, and on the first day of the tenth month the tops of the mountains became visible.

After forty days(BM) Noah opened a window he had made in the ark and sent out a raven,(BN) and it kept flying back and forth until the water had dried up from the earth.(BO) Then he sent out a dove(BP) to see if the water had receded from the surface of the ground. But the dove could find nowhere to perch because there was water over all the surface of the earth; so it returned to Noah in the ark. He reached out his hand and took the dove and brought it back to himself in the ark. 10 He waited seven more days and again sent out the dove from the ark. 11 When the dove returned to him in the evening, there in its beak was a freshly plucked olive leaf! Then Noah knew that the water had receded from the earth.(BQ) 12 He waited seven more days and sent the dove out again, but this time it did not return to him.

13 By the first day of the first month of Noah’s six hundred and first year,(BR) the water had dried up from the earth. Noah then removed the covering from the ark and saw that the surface of the ground was dry. 14 By the twenty-seventh day of the second month(BS) the earth was completely dry.

15 Then God said to Noah, 16 “Come out of the ark, you and your wife and your sons and their wives.(BT) 17 Bring out every kind of living creature that is with you—the birds, the animals, and all the creatures that move along the ground—so they can multiply on the earth and be fruitful and increase in number on it.”(BU)

18 So Noah came out, together with his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives.(BV) 19 All the animals and all the creatures that move along the ground and all the birds—everything that moves on land—came out of the ark, one kind after another.

Footnotes

  1. Genesis 6:14 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.
  2. Genesis 6:15 That is, about 450 feet long, 75 feet wide and 45 feet high or about 135 meters long, 23 meters wide and 14 meters high
  3. Genesis 6:16 That is, about 18 inches or about 45 centimeters
  4. Genesis 6:16 The meaning of the Hebrew for this clause is uncertain.
  5. Genesis 7:20 That is, about 23 feet or about 6.8 meters
  6. Genesis 7:20 Or rose more than fifteen cubits, and the mountains were covered