Print Page Options Listen to Genesis 8

The Flood Subsides

But (A)God remembered Noah and all the animals and all the livestock that were with him in the ark; and (B)God caused a wind to pass over the earth, and the water subsided. Also (C)the fountains of the deep and the [a]floodgates of the sky were closed, and (D)the rain from the sky was restrained; and the water receded steadily from the earth, and at the end (E)of 150 days the water decreased. Then in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, (F)the ark rested upon the mountains of Ararat. And the water decreased steadily until the tenth month; in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, the tops of the mountains became visible.

Then it came about at the end of forty days, that Noah opened the (G)window of the ark which he had made; and he sent out a raven, and it [b]flew here and there until the water was dried up [c]from the earth. Then he sent out a [d]dove, to see if the water was low on the [e]surface of the land; but the dove found no resting place for the sole of its foot, so it returned to him in the ark, for the water was on the [f]surface of all the earth. Then he put out his hand and took it, and brought it into the ark to himself. 10 So he waited another seven days longer; and again he sent out the dove from the ark. 11 And the dove came to him in [g]the evening, and behold, in its [h]beak was a fresh olive leaf. So Noah knew that the water was low on the earth. 12 Then he waited another seven days longer, and sent out (H)the dove; but it did not return to him again.

13 Now it came about in the (I)six hundred and first year, in the first month, on the first of the month, that the water was dried up [i]from the earth. Then Noah removed the covering of the ark, and looked, and behold, the [j]surface of the ground had dried up. 14 And in the second month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, the earth was dry. 15 Then God spoke to Noah, saying, 16 “Go out of the ark, you and your wife and your sons and your sons’ wives with you. 17 Bring out with you every living thing of all flesh that is with you, birds and animals and every crawling thing that crawls on the earth, that they may [k](J)breed abundantly on the earth, and (K)be fruitful and multiply on the earth.” 18 So Noah went out, and his sons and his wife, and his sons’ wives with him. 19 Every animal, every crawling thing, and every bird, everything that moves on the earth, went out [l]by their families from the ark.

20 Then Noah built (L)an altar to the Lord, and took some of every kind of (M)clean animal and some of every clean bird and offered (N)burnt offerings on the altar. 21 The Lord (O)smelled the soothing aroma, and the Lord said [m]to Himself, “I will never again (P)curse the ground on account of man, for (Q)the [n]intent of man’s heart is evil from his youth; (R)and I will never again [o]destroy every living thing, as I have done.

22 While the earth remains,
Seedtime and harvest,
Cold and heat,
(S)Summer and winter,
And (T)day and night
Shall not cease.”

Footnotes

  1. Genesis 8:2 Or windows of the heavens
  2. Genesis 8:7 Lit went out, going and returning
  3. Genesis 8:7 Lit from upon
  4. Genesis 8:8 Lit dove from him
  5. Genesis 8:8 Lit face
  6. Genesis 8:9 Lit face
  7. Genesis 8:11 Lit the time of evening
  8. Genesis 8:11 Lit mouth
  9. Genesis 8:13 Lit from upon
  10. Genesis 8:13 Lit face
  11. Genesis 8:17 Or swarm
  12. Genesis 8:19 Or according to their kind
  13. Genesis 8:21 Lit to His heart
  14. Genesis 8:21 Or inclination
  15. Genesis 8:21 Lit strike

The Flood Recedes

God remembered Noah,(A) as well as all the wildlife and all the livestock that were with him in the ark. God caused a wind[a] to pass over the earth,(B) and the water began to subside. The sources of the watery depths and the floodgates of the sky were closed, and the rain from the sky stopped.(C) The water steadily receded from the earth, and by the end of 150 days the waters had decreased significantly.(D) The ark came to rest in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on the mountains of Ararat.[b](E)

The waters 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. After 40 days Noah opened the window of the ark that he had made, and he sent out a raven. It went back and forth until the waters had dried up from the earth. Then he sent out a dove to see whether the water on the earth’s surface had gone down, but the dove found no resting place for her foot. She returned to him in the ark because water covered the surface of the whole earth. He reached out and brought her 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 her 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 she did not return to him again. 13 In the six hundred and first year,[c] 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[d] that are with you—birds, livestock, those that crawl on the ground—and they will spread over the earth and be fruitful and multiply on the earth.”(F) 18 So Noah, along with his sons, his wife, and his sons’ wives, came out. 19 All wildlife, all livestock, every bird, and every creature that crawls on the earth came out of the ark by their groups.

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,(G) He said to Himself, “I will never again curse the ground(H) because of man, even though man’s inclination is evil from his youth.(I) And I will never again strike down every living thing as I have done.(J)

22 As long as the earth endures,
seedtime and harvest, cold and heat,
summer and winter, and day and night
will not cease.”(K)

Footnotes

  1. Genesis 8:1 Or spirit; Gn 1:2
  2. Genesis 8:4 Turkey or Armenia
  3. Genesis 8:13 = of Noah’s life
  4. Genesis 8:17 Lit creatures of all flesh

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,[a] the boat came to rest on the mountains of Ararat. Two and a half months later,[b] 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,[c] 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,[d] 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.

20 Then Noah built an altar to the Lord, and there he sacrificed as burnt offerings the animals and birds that had been approved for that purpose.[e] 21 And the Lord was pleased with the aroma of the sacrifice and said to himself, “I will never again curse the ground because of the human race, even though everything they think or imagine is bent toward evil from childhood. I will never again destroy all living things. 22 As long as the earth remains, there will be planting and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night.”

Footnotes

  1. 8:4 Hebrew on the seventeenth day of the seventh month; see 7:11.
  2. 8:5 Hebrew On the first day of the tenth month; see 7:11 and note on 8:4.
  3. 8:13 Hebrew On the first day of the first month; see 7:11.
  4. 8:14 Hebrew The twenty-seventh day of the second month arrived; see note on 8:13.
  5. 8:20 Hebrew every clean animal and every clean bird.

The Flood Subsides

But God (A)remembered Noah and all the beasts and all the livestock that were with him in the ark. And (B)God made a wind blow over the earth, and the waters subsided. (C)The fountains of the deep and (D)the windows of the heavens were closed, the rain from the heavens was restrained, and the waters receded from the earth continually. At the end (E)of 150 days the waters had abated, and in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, the ark came to rest on the mountains of (F)Ararat. And the waters continued to abate until the tenth month; in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, the tops of the mountains were seen.

At the end of forty days Noah opened the window of the ark that he had made and sent forth a raven. It went to and fro until the waters were dried up from the earth. Then he sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters had subsided from the face of the ground. But the dove found no place to set her foot, and she returned to him to the ark, for the waters were still on the face of the whole earth. So he put out his hand and took her and brought her into the ark with him. 10 He waited another seven days, and again he sent forth the dove out of the ark. 11 And the dove came back to him in the evening, and behold, in her mouth was a freshly plucked olive leaf. So Noah knew that the waters had subsided from the earth. 12 Then he waited another seven days and sent forth the dove, and she did not return to him anymore.

13 In the six hundred and first year, in the first month, the first day of the month, the waters were dried from off the earth. And Noah removed the covering of the ark and looked, and behold, the face of the ground was dry. 14 In the second month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, the earth had dried out. 15 Then God said to Noah, 16 “Go out from the ark, (G)you and your wife, and your sons and your sons' wives with you. 17 Bring out with you every living thing that is with you of all flesh—birds and animals and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth—that they may swarm on the earth, and (H)be fruitful and multiply on the earth.” 18 So Noah went out, and his sons and his wife and his sons' wives with him. 19 Every beast, every creeping thing, and every bird, everything that moves on the earth, went out by families from the ark.

God's Covenant with Noah

20 Then Noah built an altar to the Lord and took some of every clean animal and some of every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar. 21 And when the Lord smelled (I)the pleasing aroma, the Lord said in his heart, “I will never again (J)curse[a] the ground because of man, for (K)the intention of man's heart is evil from his youth. (L)Neither will I ever again strike down every living creature as I have done. 22 (M)While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, (N)day and night, shall not cease.”

Footnotes

  1. Genesis 8:21 Or dishonor

The Flood Ends

But God remembered Noah and all the wild and tame animals with him in the boat. He made a wind blow over the earth, and the water went down. The underground springs stopped flowing, and the clouds in the sky stopped pouring down rain. 3-4 The water that covered the earth began to go down. After one hundred fifty days it had gone down so much that the boat touched land again. It came to rest on one of the mountains of Ararat[a] on the seventeenth day of the seventh month. The water continued to go down so that by the first day of the tenth month the tops of the mountains could be seen.

Forty days later Noah opened the window he had made in the boat, and he sent out a raven. It flew here and there until the water had dried up from the earth. Then Noah sent out a dove to find out if the water had dried up from the ground. The dove could not find a place to land because water still covered the earth, so it came back to the boat. Noah reached out his hand and took the bird and brought it back into the boat.

10 After seven days Noah again sent out the dove from the boat, 11 and that evening it came back to him with a fresh olive leaf in its mouth. Then Noah knew that the ground was almost dry. 12 Seven days later he sent the dove out again, but this time it did not come back.

13 When Noah was six hundred and one years old, in the first day of the first month of that year, the water was dried up from the land. Noah removed the covering of the boat and saw that the land was dry. 14 By the twenty-seventh day of the second month the land was completely dry.

15 Then God said to Noah, 16 “You and your wife, your sons, and their wives should go out of the boat. 17 Bring every animal out of the boat with you—the birds, animals, and everything that crawls on the earth. Let them have many young ones so that they might grow in number.”

18 So Noah went out with his sons, his wife, and his sons’ wives. 19 Every animal, everything that crawls on the earth, and every bird went out of the boat by families.

20 Then Noah built an altar to the Lord. He took some of all the clean birds and animals, and he burned them on the altar as offerings to God. 21 The Lord was pleased with these sacrifices and said to himself, “I will never again curse the ground because of human beings. Their thoughts are evil even when they are young, but I will never again destroy every living thing on the earth as I did this time.

22 “As long as the earth continues,
planting and harvest,
cold and hot,
summer and winter,
day and night
will not stop.”

Footnotes

  1. 8:3–4 Ararat The ancient land of Urartu, an area in Eastern Turkey.