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.

20 Then Noah built an altar to the Lord(BW) and, taking some of all the clean animals and clean(BX) birds, he sacrificed burnt offerings(BY) on it. 21 The Lord smelled the pleasing aroma(BZ) and said in his heart: “Never again will I curse the ground(CA) because of humans, even though[g] every inclination of the human heart is evil from childhood.(CB) And never again will I destroy(CC) all living creatures,(CD) as I have done.

22 “As long as the earth endures,
seedtime and harvest,(CE)
cold and heat,
summer and winter,(CF)
day and night
will never cease.”(CG)

God’s Covenant With Noah

Then God blessed Noah and his sons, saying to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth.(CH) The fear and dread of you will fall on all the beasts of the earth, and on all the birds in the sky, on every creature that moves along the ground, and on all the fish in the sea; they are given into your hands.(CI) Everything that lives and moves about will be food for you.(CJ) Just as I gave you the green plants, I now give you everything.(CK)

“But you must not eat meat that has its lifeblood still in it.(CL) And for your lifeblood I will surely demand an accounting.(CM) I will demand an accounting from every animal.(CN) And from each human being, too, I will demand an accounting for the life of another human being.(CO)

“Whoever sheds human blood,
    by humans shall their blood be shed;(CP)
for in the image of God(CQ)
    has God made mankind.

As for you, be fruitful and increase in number; multiply on the earth and increase upon it.”(CR)

Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him: “I now establish my covenant with you(CS) and with your descendants after you 10 and with every living creature that was with you—the birds, the livestock and all the wild animals, all those that came out of the ark with you—every living creature on earth. 11 I establish my covenant(CT) with you:(CU) Never again will all life be destroyed by the waters of a flood; never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth.(CV)

12 And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant(CW) I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come:(CX) 13 I have set my rainbow(CY) in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. 14 Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow(CZ) appears in the clouds, 15 I will remember my covenant(DA) between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life.(DB) 16 Whenever the rainbow(DC) appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant(DD) between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth.”

17 So God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant(DE) I have established between me and all life on the earth.”

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
  7. Genesis 8:21 Or humans, for

These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God.

10 And Noah begat three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

11 The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.

12 And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.

13 And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.

14 Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch.

15 And this is the fashion which thou shalt make it of: The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, the breadth of it fifty cubits, and the height of it thirty cubits.

16 A window shalt thou make to the ark, and in a cubit shalt thou finish it above; and the door of the ark shalt thou set in the side thereof; with lower, second, and third stories shalt thou make it.

17 And, behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, from under heaven; and every thing that is in the earth shall die.

18 But with thee will I establish my covenant; and thou shalt come into the ark, thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons' wives with thee.

19 And of every living thing of all flesh, two of every sort shalt thou bring into the ark, to keep them alive with thee; they shall be male and female.

20 Of fowls after their kind, and of cattle after their kind, of every creeping thing of the earth after his kind, two of every sort shall come unto thee, to keep them alive.

21 And take thou unto thee of all food that is eaten, and thou shalt gather it to thee; and it shall be for food for thee, and for them.

22 Thus did Noah; according to all that God commanded him, so did he.

And the Lord said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark; for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation.

Of every clean beast thou shalt take to thee by sevens, the male and his female: and of beasts that are not clean by two, the male and his female.

Of fowls also of the air by sevens, the male and the female; to keep seed alive upon the face of all the earth.

For yet seven days, and I will cause it to rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights; and every living substance that I have made will I destroy from off the face of the earth.

And Noah did according unto all that the Lord commanded him.

And Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters was upon the earth.

And Noah went in, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons' wives with him, into the ark, because of the waters of the flood.

Of clean beasts, and of beasts that are not clean, and of fowls, and of every thing that creepeth upon the earth,

There went in two and two unto Noah into the ark, the male and the female, as God had commanded Noah.

10 And it came to pass after seven days, that the waters of the flood were upon the earth.

11 In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened.

12 And the rain was upon the earth forty days and forty nights.

13 In the selfsame day entered Noah, and Shem, and Ham, and Japheth, the sons of Noah, and Noah's wife, and the three wives of his sons with them, into the ark;

14 They, and every beast after his kind, and all the cattle after their kind, and every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind, and every fowl after his kind, every bird of every sort.

15 And they went in unto Noah into the ark, two and two of all flesh, wherein is the breath of life.

16 And they that went in, went in male and female of all flesh, as God had commanded him: and the Lord shut him in.

17 And the flood was forty days upon the earth; and the waters increased, and bare up the ark, and it was lift up above the earth.

18 And the waters prevailed, and were increased greatly upon the earth; and the ark went upon the face of the waters.

19 And the waters prevailed exceedingly upon the earth; and all the high hills, that were under the whole heaven, were covered.

20 Fifteen cubits upward did the waters prevail; and the mountains were covered.

21 And all flesh died that moved upon the earth, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of beast, and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth, and every man:

22 All in whose nostrils was the breath of life, of all that was in the dry land, died.

23 And every living substance was destroyed which was upon the face of the ground, both man, and cattle, and the creeping things, and the fowl of the heaven; and they were destroyed from the earth: and Noah only remained alive, and they that were with him in the ark.

24 And the waters prevailed upon the earth an hundred and fifty days.

And God remembered Noah, and every living thing, and all the cattle that was with him in the ark: and God made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters assuaged;

The fountains also of the deep and the windows of heaven were stopped, and the rain from heaven was restrained;

And the waters returned from off the earth continually: and after the end of the hundred and fifty days the waters were abated.

And the ark rested in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, upon the mountains of Ararat.

And the waters decreased continually until the tenth month: in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, were the tops of the mountains seen.

And it came to pass at the end of forty days, that Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made:

And he sent forth a raven, which went forth to and fro, until the waters were dried up from off the earth.

Also he sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters were abated from off the face of the ground;

But the dove found no rest for the sole of her foot, and she returned unto him into the ark, for the waters were on the face of the whole earth: then he put forth his hand, and took her, and pulled her in unto him into the ark.

10 And he stayed yet other seven days; and again he sent forth the dove out of the ark;

11 And the dove came in to him in the evening; and, lo, in her mouth was an olive leaf pluckt off: so Noah knew that the waters were abated from off the earth.

12 And he stayed yet other seven days; and sent forth the dove; which returned not again unto him any more.

13 And it came to pass in the six hundredth and first year, in the first month, the first day of the month, the waters were dried up from off the earth: and Noah removed the covering of the ark, and looked, and, behold, the face of the ground was dry.

14 And in the second month, on the seven and twentieth day of the month, was the earth dried.

15 And God spake unto Noah, saying,

16 Go forth of the ark, thou, and thy wife, and thy sons, and thy sons' wives with thee.

17 Bring forth with thee every living thing that is with thee, of all flesh, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth; that they may breed abundantly in the earth, and be fruitful, and multiply upon the earth.

18 And Noah went forth, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons' wives with him:

19 Every beast, every creeping thing, and every fowl, and whatsoever creepeth upon the earth, after their kinds, went forth out of the ark.

20 And Noah builded an altar unto the Lord; and took of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and offered burnt offerings on the altar.

21 And the Lord smelled a sweet savour; and the Lord said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man's sake; for the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more every thing living, as I have done.

22 While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.

And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth.

And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth, and upon every fowl of the air, upon all that moveth upon the earth, and upon all the fishes of the sea; into your hand are they delivered.

Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things.

But flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat.

And surely your blood of your lives will I require; at the hand of every beast will I require it, and at the hand of man; at the hand of every man's brother will I require the life of man.

Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man.

And you, be ye fruitful, and multiply; bring forth abundantly in the earth, and multiply therein.

And God spake unto Noah, and to his sons with him, saying,

And I, behold, I establish my covenant with you, and with your seed after you;

10 And with every living creature that is with you, of the fowl, of the cattle, and of every beast of the earth with you; from all that go out of the ark, to every beast of the earth.

11 And I will establish my covenant with you, neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood; neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth.

12 And God said, This is the token of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations:

13 I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth.

14 And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud:

15 And I will remember my covenant, which is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh.

16 And the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth.

17 And God said unto Noah, This is the token of the covenant, which I have established between me and all flesh that is upon the earth.