The Flood

7 Then the Lord said to Noah, “Enter the ark, you and all your household, for you alone I have seen to be ^(A)righteous before Me in this ^[a]time. ² You shall take ^[b]with you of every ^(B)clean animal ^[c]by sevens, a male and his female; and of the animals that are not clean two, a male and his female; ³ also of the birds of the ^[d]sky, ^[e]by sevens, male and female, to keep ^[f]offspring alive on the face of all the earth. ⁴ For after ^(C)seven more days, I will send rain on the earth ^(D)forty days and forty nights; and I will blot out from the face of the land ^(E)every living thing that I have made.” ^5 (F)Noah did according to all that the Lord had commanded him.

⁶ Now Noah was ^(G)six hundred years old when the flood of water ^[g]came upon the earth. ⁷ Then ^(H)Noah and his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives with him entered the ark because of the water of the flood. ^8 (I)Of clean animals and animals that are not clean and birds and everything that creeps on the ground, ⁹ there went into the ark to Noah ^[h]by twos, male and female, as God had commanded Noah. ¹⁰ It came about after ^(J)the seven days, that the water of the flood ^[i]came upon the earth. ¹¹ In the ^(K)six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on the same day all ^(L)the fountains of the great deep burst open, and the ^[j]floodgates of the sky were opened. ^12 (M)The rain ^[k]fell upon the earth for forty days and forty nights.

¹³ On the very same day ^(N)Noah and Shem and Ham and Japheth, the sons of Noah, and Noah’s wife and the three wives of his sons with them, entered the ark, ¹⁴ they and every beast after its kind, and all the cattle after ^[l]their kind, and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth after its kind, and every bird after its kind, ^[m]all sorts of birds. ¹⁵ So they went into the ark to Noah, ^(O)by twos of all flesh in which was the breath of life. ¹⁶ Those that entered, male and female of all flesh, entered as God had commanded him; and the Lord closed it behind him.

¹⁷ Then the flood ^[n]came upon the earth for ^(P)forty days, and the water increased and lifted up the ark, so that it rose above the earth. ¹⁸ The water prevailed and increased greatly upon the earth, and the ark ^[o]floated on the ^[p]surface of the water. ¹⁹ The water prevailed more and more upon the earth, so that all the high mountains ^[q]everywhere under the heavens were covered. ²⁰ The water prevailed fifteen ^[r]cubits higher, ^(Q)and the mountains were covered. ^21 (R)All flesh that ^[s]moved on the earth perished, birds and cattle and beasts and every swarming thing that swarms upon the earth, and all mankind; ²² of all that was on the dry land, all ^(S)in whose nostrils was the breath of the spirit of life, died. ²³ Thus He blotted out ^[t]every living thing that was upon the face of the land, from man to animals to creeping things and to birds of the ^[u]sky, and they were blotted out from the earth; and only ^(T)Noah was left, together with those that were with him in the ark. ^24 (U)The water prevailed upon the earth one hundred and fifty days.

The Flood Subsides

8 But ^(V)God remembered Noah and all the beasts and all the cattle that were with him in the ark; and ^(W)God caused a wind to pass over the earth, and the water subsided. ² Also ^(X)the fountains of the deep and the ^[v]floodgates of the sky were closed, and ^(Y)the rain from the sky was restrained; ³ and the water receded steadily from the earth, and at the end ^(Z)of one hundred and fifty days the water decreased. ⁴ In the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, ^(AA)the ark rested upon the mountains of Ararat. ⁵ 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.

⁶ Then it came about at the end of forty days, that Noah opened the ^(AB)window of the ark which he had made; ⁷ and he sent out a raven, and it ^[w]flew here and there until the water was dried up ^[x]from the earth. ⁸ Then he sent out a dove from him, to see if the water was abated from the face of the land; ⁹ but the dove found no resting place for the sole of her foot, so she returned to him into the ark, for the water was on the ^[y]surface of all the earth. Then he put out his hand and took her, and brought her into the ark to himself. ¹⁰ So he waited yet another seven days; and again he sent out the dove from the ark. ¹¹ The dove came to him toward ^[z]evening, and behold, in her ^[aa]beak was a freshly picked olive leaf. So Noah knew that the water was abated from the earth. ¹² Then he waited yet another seven days, and sent out ^(AC)the dove; but she did not return to him again.

¹³ Now it came about in the ^(AD)six hundred and first year, in the first month, on the first of the month, the water was dried up ^[ab]from the earth. Then Noah removed the covering of the ark, and looked, and behold, the ^[ac]surface of the ground was dried up. ¹⁴ 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 creeping thing that creeps on the earth, that they may ^[ad](AE)breed abundantly on the earth, and 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 ^[ae]by their families from the ark.

²⁰ Then Noah built ^(AF)an altar to the Lord, and took of every ^(AG)clean animal and of every clean bird and offered ^(AH)burnt offerings on the altar. ²¹ The Lord ^(AI)smelled the soothing aroma; and the Lord said ^[af]to Himself, “I will never again ^(AJ)curse the ground on account of man, for ^(AK)the ^[ag]intent of man’s heart is evil from his youth; ^(AL)and I will never again ^[ah]destroy every living thing, as I have done.

Unity of the Spirit

4 Therefore I, ^(A)the prisoner of the Lord, ^(B)implore you to ^(C)walk in a manner worthy of the ^(D)calling with which you have been ^(E)called, ² with all ^(F)humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another ^(G)in love, ³ being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the ^(H)bond of peace. ⁴ There is ^(I)one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one ^(J)hope of your calling; ^5 (K)one Lord, one faith, one baptism, ⁶ one God and Father of all ^(L)who is over all and through all and in all.

⁷ But ^(M)to each one of us ^(N)grace was given ^(O)according to the measure of Christ’s gift. ⁸ Therefore ^[a]it says,

⁹ (Now this expression, “He ^(R)ascended,” what ^[b]does it mean except that He also ^[c]had descended into ^(S)the lower parts of the earth? ¹⁰ He who descended is Himself also He who ascended ^(T)far above all the heavens, so that He might ^(U)fill all things.) ¹¹ And He ^(V)gave ^(W)some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as ^(X)evangelists, and some as pastors and ^(Y)teachers, ^12 (Z)for the equipping of the ^[d]saints for the work of service, to the building up of ^(AA)the body of Christ; ¹³ until we all attain to ^(AB)the unity of the faith, and of the ^[e](AC)knowledge of the Son of God, to a ^(AD)mature man, to the measure of the stature ^[f]which belongs to the ^(AE)fullness of Christ. ^14 [g]As a result, we are ^(AF)no longer to be children, ^(AG)tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by ^(AH)craftiness ^[h]in ^(AI)deceitful scheming; ¹⁵ but ^[i]speaking the truth ^(AJ)in love, ^[j]we are to ^(AK)grow up in all aspects into Him who is the ^(AL)head, even Christ, ¹⁶ from whom ^(AM)the whole body, being fitted and held together ^[k]by what every joint supplies, according to the ^[l]proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself ^(AN)in love.

The Christian’s Walk

^17 (AO)So this I say, and affirm together with the Lord, ^(AP)that you walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk, in the ^(AQ)futility of their mind, ¹⁸ being ^(AR)darkened in their understanding, ^[m](AS)excluded from the life of God because of the ^(AT)ignorance that is in them, because of the ^(AU)hardness of their heart; ¹⁹ and they, having ^(AV)become callous, ^(AW)have given themselves over to ^(AX)sensuality ^[n]for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness. ²⁰ But you did not ^(AY)learn ^[o]Christ in this way, ²¹ if indeed you ^(AZ)have heard Him and have ^(BA)been taught in Him, just as truth is in Jesus, ²² that, in reference to your former manner of life, you ^(BB)lay aside the ^(BC)old ^[p]self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the ^(BD)lusts of deceit, ²³ and that you be ^(BE)renewed in the spirit of your mind, ²⁴ and ^(BF)put on the ^(BG)new ^[q]self, which ^[r](BH)in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.

²⁵ Therefore, ^(BI)laying aside falsehood, ^(BJ)speak truth each one of you with his neighbor, for we are ^(BK)members of one another. ^26 (BL)Be angry, and yet do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, ²⁷ and do not ^(BM)give the devil ^[s]an opportunity. ²⁸ He who steals must steal no longer; but rather ^(BN)he must labor, ^(BO)performing with his own hands what is good, ^(BP)so that he will have something to share with ^[t]one who has need. ²⁹ Let no ^[u](BQ)unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for ^(BR)edification ^[v]according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear. ^30 (BS)Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, ^[w]by whom you were ^(BT)sealed for the day of redemption. ^31 (BU)Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be ^(BV)put away from you, along with all ^(BW)malice. ^32 (BX)Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, ^(BY)just as God in Christ also has forgiven ^[x]you.