But God remembered(A) Noah and all the wild animals and the livestock that were with him in the ark, and he sent a wind over the earth,(B) and the waters receded. Now the springs of the deep and the floodgates of the heavens(C) had been closed, and the rain(D) had stopped falling from the sky. The water receded steadily from the earth. At the end of the hundred and fifty days(E) the water had gone down, and on the seventeenth day of the seventh month(F) the ark came to rest on the mountains(G) of Ararat.(H) 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(I) Noah opened a window he had made in the ark and sent out a raven,(J) and it kept flying back and forth until the water had dried up from the earth.(K) Then he sent out a dove(L) 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.(M) 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,(N) 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(O) 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.(P) 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.”(Q)

18 So Noah came out, together with his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives.(R) 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(S) and, taking some of all the clean animals and clean(T) birds, he sacrificed burnt offerings(U) on it. 21 The Lord smelled the pleasing aroma(V) and said in his heart: “Never again will I curse the ground(W) because of humans, even though[a] every inclination of the human heart is evil from childhood.(X) And never again will I destroy(Y) all living creatures,(Z) as I have done.

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

Footnotes

  1. Genesis 8:21 Or humans, for

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.

The Lord’s Covenant With Abram

15 After this, the word of the Lord came to Abram(A) in a vision:(B)

“Do not be afraid,(C) Abram.
    I am your shield,[a](D)
    your very great reward.[b](E)

But Abram said, “Sovereign Lord,(F) what can you give me since I remain childless(G) and the one who will inherit[c] my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?(H) And Abram said, “You have given me no children; so a servant(I) in my household(J) will be my heir.”

Then the word of the Lord came to him: “This man will not be your heir, but a son who is your own flesh and blood will be your heir.(K) He took him outside and said, “Look up at the sky and count the stars(L)—if indeed you can count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring[d] be.”(M)

Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.(N)

He also said to him, “I am the Lord, who brought you out(O) of Ur of the Chaldeans(P) to give you this land to take possession of it.”(Q)

But Abram said, “Sovereign Lord,(R) how can I know(S) that I will gain possession of it?”(T)

So the Lord said to him, “Bring me a heifer,(U) a goat and a ram, each three years old,(V) along with a dove and a young pigeon.(W)

10 Abram brought all these to him, cut them in two and arranged the halves opposite each other;(X) the birds, however, he did not cut in half.(Y) 11 Then birds of prey came down on the carcasses,(Z) but Abram drove them away.

12 As the sun was setting, Abram fell into a deep sleep,(AA) and a thick and dreadful darkness came over him. 13 Then the Lord said to him, “Know for certain that for four hundred years(AB) your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own and that they will be enslaved(AC) and mistreated there. 14 But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will come out(AD) with great possessions.(AE) 15 You, however, will go to your ancestors(AF) in peace and be buried at a good old age.(AG) 16 In the fourth generation(AH) your descendants will come back here,(AI) for the sin of the Amorites(AJ) has not yet reached its full measure.”

17 When the sun had set and darkness had fallen, a smoking firepot with a blazing torch(AK) appeared and passed between the pieces.(AL) 18 On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram(AM) and said, “To your descendants I give this land,(AN) from the Wadi[e] of Egypt(AO) to the great river, the Euphrates(AP) 19 the land of the Kenites,(AQ) Kenizzites, Kadmonites, 20 Hittites,(AR) Perizzites,(AS) Rephaites,(AT) 21 Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites and Jebusites.”(AU)

Footnotes

  1. Genesis 15:1 Or sovereign
  2. Genesis 15:1 Or shield; / your reward will be very great
  3. Genesis 15:2 The meaning of the Hebrew for this phrase is uncertain.
  4. Genesis 15:5 Or seed
  5. Genesis 15:18 Or river

15 After these things the word of the Lord came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.

And Abram said, Lord God, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus?

And Abram said, Behold, to me thou hast given no seed: and, lo, one born in my house is mine heir.

And, behold, the word of the Lord came unto him, saying, This shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir.

And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be.

And he believed in the Lord; and he counted it to him for righteousness.

And he said unto him, I am the Lord that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give thee this land to inherit it.

And he said, Lord God, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it?

And he said unto him, Take me an heifer of three years old, and a she goat of three years old, and a ram of three years old, and a turtledove, and a young pigeon.

10 And he took unto him all these, and divided them in the midst, and laid each piece one against another: but the birds divided he not.

11 And when the fowls came down upon the carcases, Abram drove them away.

12 And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and, lo, an horror of great darkness fell upon him.

13 And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years;

14 And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance.

15 And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old age.

16 But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full.

17 And it came to pass, that, when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold a smoking furnace, and a burning lamp that passed between those pieces.

18 In the same day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates:

19 The Kenites, and the Kenizzites, and the Kadmonites,

20 And the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Rephaims,

21 And the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.