Genesis 8
English Standard Version
The Flood Subsides
8 But God (A)remembered Noah and all the beasts and all the livestock that were with him in the ark. And (B)God made a wind blow over the earth, and the waters subsided. 2 (C)The fountains of the deep and (D)the windows of the heavens were closed, the rain from the heavens was restrained, 3 and the waters receded from the earth continually. At the end (E)of 150 days the waters had abated, 4 and in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, the ark came to rest on the mountains of (F)Ararat. 5 And the waters continued to abate until the tenth month; in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, the tops of the mountains were seen.
6 At the end of forty days Noah opened the window of the ark that he had made 7 and sent forth a raven. It went to and fro until the waters were dried up from the earth. 8 Then he sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters had subsided from the face of the ground. 9 But the dove found no place to set her foot, and she returned to him to the ark, for the waters were still on the face of the whole earth. So he put out his hand and took her and brought her into the ark with him. 10 He waited another seven days, and again he sent forth the dove out of the ark. 11 And the dove came back to him in the evening, and behold, in her mouth was a freshly plucked olive leaf. So Noah knew that the waters had subsided from the earth. 12 Then he waited another seven days and sent forth the dove, and she did not return to him anymore.
13 In the six hundred and first year, in the first month, the first day of the month, the waters were dried from off the earth. And Noah removed the covering of the ark and looked, and behold, the face of the ground was dry. 14 In the second month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, the earth had dried out. 15 Then God said to Noah, 16 “Go out from the ark, (G)you and your wife, and your sons and your sons' wives with you. 17 Bring out with you every living thing that is with you of all flesh—birds and animals and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth—that they may swarm on the earth, and (H)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 by families from the ark.
God's Covenant with Noah
20 Then Noah built an altar to the Lord and took some of every clean animal and some of every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar. 21 And when the Lord smelled (I)the pleasing aroma, the Lord said in his heart, “I will never again (J)curse[a] the ground because of man, for (K)the intention of man's heart is evil from his youth. (L)Neither will I ever again strike down every living creature as I have done. 22 (M)While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, (N)day and night, shall not cease.”
Footnotes
- Genesis 8:21 Or dishonor
Genesis 8
Evangelical Heritage Version
8 God remembered Noah, as well as all the animals and all the livestock that were with him in the ark. So God caused a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters subsided. 2 The fountains of the deep and the floodgates of the sky were also closed, and the rain from the sky was restrained. 3 The waters kept receding from the earth. After the end of one hundred fifty days the waters had decreased. 4 In the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat. 5 The waters receded continuously until the tenth month. In the tenth month, on the first day of the month, the tops of the mountains were visible.
6 Then at the end of forty days Noah opened the window he had made in the ark. 7 He sent out a raven, and it kept flying back and forth, until the waters were dried up from the earth. 8 Then he sent out a dove to see if the waters had receded from the surface of the ground, 9 but the dove found no place to rest its foot, and it returned to him in the ark, because there was water on the surface of the whole earth. Noah reached out his hand, took the dove, and brought it back to him in the ark. 10 He waited another seven days. Then he sent the dove out of the ark again. 11 The dove came back to him at evening, and there in its mouth was an olive leaf it had just plucked. So Noah knew that the waters had receded from the earth. 12 He waited another seven days and sent the dove out again. This time it did not return to him anymore.
13 And so in the six hundred first year, in the first month, on the first day of the month, the waters were dried up from the earth. Noah removed the covering of the ark and looked out. He saw that the surface of the ground was dry. 14 In the second month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, the earth was dry.
15 God spoke to Noah. He said, 16 “Go out of the ark—you, your wife, your sons, and your sons’ wives with you. 17 Bring out with you every living thing of every sort that is with you, all flesh, including birds, livestock, and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, so that they may swarm over the earth, and be fruitful and multiply on the earth.”
18 Noah went out with his sons, his wife, and his sons’ wives along with him. 19 Every animal, every creeping thing, every bird, and whatever swarms on the earth went out of the ship, species by species.[a]
20 Noah built an altar to the Lord and took from every clean animal and every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar. 21 The Lord smelled the pleasant aroma. The Lord said in his heart, “I will never again curse the soil anymore because of man, for the thoughts he forms in his heart are evil from his youth. Neither will I ever again strike every living thing, as I have done. 22 While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.”
Footnotes
- Genesis 8:19 Literally by their families. Species here is not a narrow technical term as it is in present-day science.
The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.
