Judgment Decreed

⁵ When the Lord saw that human wickedness was widespread on the earth and that every inclination of the human mind was nothing but evil all the time,^{(A) 6} the Lord regretted that he had made man on the earth,^(B) and he was deeply grieved. ⁷ Then the Lord said, “I will wipe mankind, whom I created, off the face of the earth, together with the animals, creatures that crawl, and birds of the sky—for I regret that I made them.” ⁸ Noah, however, found favor with the Lord.^(C)

God Warns Noah

⁹ These are the family records^(D) of Noah. Noah was a righteous man,^(E) blameless among his contemporaries;^(F) Noah walked with God.^{(G) 10} And Noah fathered three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

¹¹ Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight, and the earth was filled with wickedness.^{[a] 12} God saw how corrupt the earth was, for every creature had corrupted its way on the earth.^{(H) 13} Then God said to Noah, “I have decided to put an end to every creature, for the earth is filled with wickedness because of them; therefore I am going to destroy them along with the earth.

¹⁴ “Make yourself an ark of gopher^[b] wood. Make rooms in the ark, and cover it with pitch inside and outside. ¹⁵ This is how you are to make it: The ark will be 450 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet high.^{[c] 16} You are to make a roof,^[d] finishing the sides of the ark to within eighteen inches^[e] of the roof. You are to put a door in the side of the ark. Make it with lower, middle, and upper decks.

¹⁷ “Understand that I am bringing a flood—floodwaters on the earth^(I) to destroy every creature under heaven with the breath of life in it. Everything on earth will perish. ¹⁸ But I will establish my covenant with you,^(J) and you will enter the ark with your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives. ¹⁹ You are also to bring into the ark two of all the living creatures, male and female, to keep them alive with you. ²⁰ Two of everything—from the birds according to their kinds, from the livestock according to their kinds, and from the animals that crawl on the ground according to their kinds—will come to you so that you can keep them alive. ²¹ Take with you every kind of food that is eaten; gather it as food for you and for them.” ²² And Noah did this. He did everything that God had commanded him.^(K)

⁶ After forty days Noah opened the window of the ark that he had made, ⁷ and he sent out a raven. It went back and forth until the water had dried up from the earth. ⁸ Then he sent out a dove to see whether the water on the earth’s surface had gone down, ⁹ but the dove found no resting place for its foot. It returned to him in the ark because water covered the surface of the whole earth. He reached out and brought it 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 its 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 it did not return to him again.

⁸ Then God said to Noah and his sons with him, ⁹ “Understand that I am establishing my covenant^(A) with you and your descendants after you, ¹⁰ and with every living creature that is with you—birds, livestock, and all wildlife of the earth that are with you—all the animals of the earth that came out of the ark. ¹¹ I establish my covenant with you that never again will every creature be wiped out by floodwaters; there will never again be a flood to destroy the earth.”^(B)

¹² And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant^(C) I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all future generations: ¹³ I have placed my bow in the clouds,^(D) and it will be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. ¹⁴ Whenever I form clouds over the earth and the bow appears in the clouds, ¹⁵ I will remember my covenant^(E) between me and you and all the living creatures: water will never again become a flood to destroy every creature. ¹⁶ The bow will be in the clouds, and I will look at it and remember the permanent covenant^(F) between God and all the living creatures on earth.” ¹⁷ God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant that I have established between me and every creature on earth.”