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)

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^(A) both them and the earth.^{(B) 14} So make yourself an ark of cypress^[a] wood;^(C) make rooms in it and coat it with pitch^(D) inside and out.

¹⁷ I am going to bring floodwaters^(A) 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.^{(B) 18} But I will establish my covenant with you,^(C) and you will enter the ark^(D)—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.^{(E) 20} Two^(F) of every kind of bird, of every kind of animal and of every kind^(G) of creature that moves along the ground will come to you to be kept alive.^{(H) 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.^(I)

¹¹ In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life,^(A) on the seventeenth day of the second month^(B)—on that day all the springs of the great deep^(C) burst forth, and the floodgates of the heavens^(D) were opened. ¹² And rain fell on the earth forty days and forty nights.^(E)

¹⁷ For forty days^(A) 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.^{(B) 20} The waters rose and covered the mountains to a depth of more than fifteen cubits.^{[a][b] (C) 21} Every living thing that moved on land perished—birds, livestock, wild animals, all the creatures that swarm over the earth, and all mankind.^{(D) 22} Everything on dry land that had the breath of life^(E) 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.^(F) Only Noah was left, and those with him in the ark.^(G)

²⁴ The waters flooded the earth for a hundred and fifty days.^(H)

¹³ By the first day of the first month of Noah’s six hundred and first year,^(A) 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^(B) the earth was completely dry.

²⁰ Then Noah built an altar to the Lord^(A) and, taking some of all the clean animals and clean^(B) birds, he sacrificed burnt offerings^(C) on it. ²¹ The Lord smelled the pleasing aroma^(D) and said in his heart: “Never again will I curse the ground^(E) because of humans, even though^[a] every inclination of the human heart is evil from childhood.^(F) And never again will I destroy^(G) all living creatures,^(H) as I have done.

God’s Covenant With Noah

9 Then God blessed Noah and his sons, saying to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth.^{(A) 2} 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.^{(B) 3} Everything that lives and moves about will be food for you.^(C) Just as I gave you the green plants, I now give you everything.^(D)

⁴ “But you must not eat meat that has its lifeblood still in it.^{(E) 5} And for your lifeblood I will surely demand an accounting.^(F) I will demand an accounting from every animal.^(G) And from each human being, too, I will demand an accounting for the life of another human being.^(H)

⁷ As for you, be fruitful and increase in number; multiply on the earth and increase upon it.”^(K)