⁵ The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth,^(A) and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time.^{(B) 6} The Lord regretted^(C) that he had made human beings on the earth, and his heart was deeply troubled. ⁷ So the Lord said, “I will wipe from the face of the earth^(D) the human race I have created—and with them the animals, the birds and the creatures that move along the ground—for I regret that I have made them.^(E)” ⁸ But Noah^(F) found favor in the eyes of the Lord.^(G)

Noah and the Flood

⁹ This is the account^(H) of Noah and his family.

Noah was a righteous man, blameless^(I) among the people of his time,^(J) and he walked faithfully with God.^(K)

¹⁵ Then God said to Noah, ¹⁶ “Come out of the ark, you and your wife and your sons and their wives.^{(A) 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.”^(B)

¹⁸ So Noah came out, together with his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives.^{(C) 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^(D) and, taking some of all the clean animals and clean^(E) birds, he sacrificed burnt offerings^(F) on it. ²¹ The Lord smelled the pleasing aroma^(G) and said in his heart: “Never again will I curse the ground^(H) because of humans, even though^[a] every inclination of the human heart is evil from childhood.^(I) And never again will I destroy^(J) all living creatures,^(K) as I have done.