Genesis 6:9-8:19

Living Bible

^9-10 He was the only truly righteous man living on the earth at that time. He tried always to conduct his affairs according to God’s will. And he had three sons—Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

¹¹ Meanwhile, the crime rate was rising rapidly across the earth, and, as seen by God, the world was rotten to the core.

^12-13 As God observed how bad it was, and saw that all mankind was vicious and depraved, he said to Noah, “I have decided to destroy all mankind; for the earth is filled with crime because of man. Yes, I will destroy mankind from the earth. ¹⁴ Make a boat from resinous wood, sealing it with tar; and construct decks and stalls throughout the ship. ¹⁵ Make it 450 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet high. ¹⁶ Construct a skylight all the way around the ship, eighteen inches below the roof; and make three decks inside the boat—a bottom, middle, and upper deck—and put a door in the side.

¹⁷ “Look! I am going to cover the earth with a flood and destroy every living being—everything in which there is the breath of life. All will die. ¹⁸ But I promise to keep you safe in the ship, with your wife and your sons and their wives. ^19-20 Bring a pair of every animal—a male and a female—into the boat with you, to keep them alive through the flood. Bring in a pair of each kind of bird and animal and reptile. ²¹ Store away in the boat all the food that they and you will need.” ²² And Noah did everything as God commanded him.

7 Finally the day came when the Lord said to Noah, “Go into the boat with all your family, for among all the people of the earth, I consider you alone to be righteous. ² Bring in the animals, too—a pair of each, except those kinds I have chosen for eating and for sacrifice: take seven pairs of each of them, ³ and seven pairs^[a] of every kind of bird. Thus there will be every kind of life reproducing again after the flood has ended. ⁴ One week from today I will begin forty days and nights of rain; and all the animals and birds and reptiles I have made will die.”

⁵ So Noah did everything the Lord commanded him. ⁶ He was 600 years old when the flood came. ⁷ He boarded the boat with his wife and sons and their wives, to escape the flood. ^8-9 With him were all the various kinds of animals—those for eating and sacrifice, and those that were not, and the birds and reptiles. They came into the boat in pairs, male and female, just as God commanded Noah.

^10-12 One week later, when Noah was 600 years, two months, and seventeen days old, the rain came down in mighty torrents from the sky, and the subterranean waters burst forth upon the earth for forty days and nights. ¹³ But Noah had gone into the boat that very day with his wife and his sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth, and their wives. ^14-15 With them in the boat were pairs of every kind of animal—domestic and wild—and reptiles and birds of every sort. ¹⁶ Two by two they came, male and female, just as God had commanded. Then the Lord God^[b] closed the door and shut them in.

¹⁷ For forty days the roaring floods prevailed, covering the ground and lifting the boat high above the earth. ¹⁸ As the water rose higher and higher above the ground, the boat floated safely upon it; ¹⁹ until finally the water covered all the high mountains under the whole heaven, ²⁰ standing twenty-two feet and more above the highest peaks. ²¹ And all living things upon the earth perished—birds, domestic and wild animals, and reptiles and all mankind— ²² everything that breathed and lived upon dry land. ²³ All existence on the earth was blotted out—man and animals alike, and reptiles and birds. God destroyed them all, leaving only Noah alive, and those with him in the boat. ²⁴ And the water covered the earth 150 days.

8 God didn’t forget about Noah and all the animals in the boat! He sent a wind to blow across the waters, and the floods began to disappear, ² for the subterranean water sources ceased their gushing, and the torrential rains subsided. ^3-4 So the flood gradually receded until, 150 days after it began, the boat came to rest upon the mountains of Ararat. ⁵ Three months later,^[c] as the waters continued to go down, other mountain peaks appeared.

⁶ After another forty days, Noah opened a porthole ⁷ and released a raven that flew back and forth^[d] until the earth was dry. ⁸ Meanwhile he sent out a dove to see if it could find dry ground, ⁹ but the dove found no place to light, and returned to Noah, for the water was still too high. So Noah held out his hand and drew the dove back into the boat.

¹⁰ Seven days later Noah released the dove again, ¹¹ and this time, toward evening, the bird returned to him with an olive leaf in her beak. So Noah knew that the water was almost gone. ¹² A week later he released the dove again, and this time she didn’t come back.

¹³ Twenty-nine days after that,^[e] Noah opened the door to look, and the water was gone. ¹⁴ Eight more weeks went by. Then at last the earth was dry. ^15-16 Then God told Noah, “You may all go out. ¹⁷ Release all the animals, birds, and reptiles, so that they will breed abundantly and reproduce in great numbers.” ^18-19 So the boat was soon empty. Noah, his wife, and his sons and their wives all disembarked, along with all the animals, reptiles, and birds—all left the ark in pairs and groups.