Old/New Testament
The Flood Begins
7 Then the Lord said to Noah, “I have seen that you ·are the best person [alone are righteous] among ·the people of this time [L this generation], so you and your ·family [household] can go into the ·boat [ark]. 2 Take with you seven pairs, each male with its female, of every kind of clean [C in a ritual sense; Lev. 11] animal, and take one pair, each male with its female, of every kind of unclean animal. 3 Take seven pairs of all the birds of the ·sky [heavens], each male with its female. This will allow all these animals to continue living on the earth after the flood. 4 Seven days from now I will send rain on the earth. It will rain forty days and forty nights, and I will ·wipe off [blot out] from the ·earth [L face of the ground] every living thing that I have made.”
5 Noah did everything the Lord commanded him.
6 Noah was six hundred years old when the [L water of the] flood came [L on the earth]. 7 He and his wife and his sons and their wives went into the ·boat [ark] to escape the waters of the flood. 8 The clean animals [7:2], the unclean animals, the birds, and everything that ·crawls [creeps] on the ground 9 came to Noah. They went into the ·boat [ark] in groups of two, male and female, just as God had commanded Noah. 10 Seven days later the ·flood started [L waters of the flood came on the earth].
11 When Noah was six hundred years old, the flood started. On the seventeenth day of the second month of that year the ·underground springs [L fountains/springs of the deep] ·split [burst] open, and the ·clouds [floodgates; L windows] in the ·sky [heavens] ·poured out rain [L were opened]. 12 The rain fell on the earth for forty days and forty nights.
13 On that same day Noah and his wife, his sons Shem, Ham, and Japheth [9:18—10:32], and their wives went into the ·boat [ark]. 14 They had every kind of wild and tame animal, every kind of animal that ·crawls [creeps] on the earth, and ·every kind of bird [L every bird, every winged creature]. 15 ·Every creature [L All flesh] that had the breath of life came to Noah in the ·boat [ark] in groups of two. 16 One male and one female of ·every living thing [L all flesh] came, just as God had commanded Noah. Then the Lord ·closed the door behind them [L shut them in].
17 ·Water flooded the earth [L The flood continued] for forty days, and as it rose it lifted the ·boat [ark] off the ground. 18 The water continued to rise [L and increase], and the ·boat [ark] floated on ·it above the earth [L the face of the waters]. 19 The water rose so much [L over the earth] that even the highest mountains under the ·sky [heavens] were covered by it. 20 It continued to rise until it was more than ·twenty feet [L fifteen cubits] above the mountains.
21 All ·living things [L flesh] that moved on the earth died. This included all the birds, tame animals, wild animals, and [L swarming] creatures that swarm on the earth, as well as all human beings. 22 So everything on dry land that had the breath of life in ·it [L its nostrils] died. 23 God ·destroyed [blotted/wiped out] from the earth every living thing that was on the ·land [L face of the ground]—every man, animal, ·crawling [creeping] thing, and bird of the ·sky [heavens]. All that ·was left [survived] was Noah and what was with him in the ·boat [ark]. 24 And the waters continued to cover the earth for one hundred fifty days.
The Flood Ends
8 But God remembered Noah and all the ·wild [beasts] and ·tame animals [cattle] with him in the ·boat [ark]. He made a wind ·blow [pass] over the earth, and the water ·went down [subsided]. 2 The ·underground springs [L fountains/springs of the deep] stopped flowing, and the ·clouds [floodgates; L windows] in the ·sky [heavens] ·stopped pouring down rain [L were closed and the rain from the sky/heavens were restrained].
6 Forty days later Noah opened the ·window [hatch] he had made in the ·boat [ark], and 7 he sent out a raven. It ·flew [L went] here and there until the water had dried up from the earth. 8 Then Noah sent out a dove to find out if the water had ·dried up [subsided] from the ground. 9 The dove could not find a place to ·land [L set/rest its foot] because water still covered the earth, so it came back to the ·boat [ark]. Noah reached out his hand and took the bird and brought it back into the boat.
10 After [L waiting] seven days Noah again sent out the dove from the ·boat [ark], 11 and that evening it came back to him with a fresh olive leaf in its ·mouth [beak]. Then Noah knew that the ·ground was almost dry [L waters had subsided from the ground]. 12 ·Seven days later [L After waiting another seven days] he sent the dove out again, but this time it did not come back.
13 When Noah was six hundred and one years old, in the first day of the first month of that year, the water was dried up from the ·land [earth]. Noah removed the covering of the ·boat [ark] and saw that the ·land [L face of the ground] was dry. 14 By the twenty-seventh day of the second month the ·land [earth] was completely dry.
15 Then God said to Noah, 16 “You and your wife, your sons, and their wives should go out of the ·boat [ark]. 17 Bring every ·animal [L living thing of all flesh] out of the ·boat [ark] with you—the birds, ·animals [beasts; livestock], and everything that crawls on the earth. ·Let them have many young ones so that they might […so they may swarm on earth and be fruitful and] ·grow in number [multiply; 1:22].”
18 So Noah went out with his sons, his wife, and his sons’ wives. 19 Every ·animal [living thing], everything that ·crawls [creeps] on the earth, and every bird [L and everything that crawls/creeps] went out of the ·boat [ark] by families.
20 Then Noah built an altar [C a place to offer sacrifices] to the Lord. He took some of all the clean [C in a ritual sense] birds and ·animals [beasts; livestock], and he ·burned them on the altar as offerings to God [L offered a whole burnt offering on the altar; Lev. 1]. 21 The Lord ·was pleased with these sacrifices [L smelled the sweet savor/smell] and said ·to himself [L in his heart], “I will never again curse the ground because of human beings. ·Their thoughts [The inclination of their hearts] are evil even ·when [from the time] they are young, but I will never again destroy every living thing on the earth as I did this time.
22 “As long as the earth continues,
planting and harvest,
cold and hot,
summer and winter,
day and night
will not stop.”
The New Beginning
9 Then God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “·Have many children; grow in number [T Be fruitful and multiply] and fill the earth [1:22, 29]. 2 Every ·animal [living thing] on earth, every bird in the ·sky [heavens], every animal that crawls on the ground, and every fish in the sea will ·respect [fear] and ·fear [dread; be terrified of] you. I have given them ·to you [L into your hand].
3 “Everything that moves, everything that is alive, is yours for food. Earlier I gave you the green plants [1:29–30], but now I give you everything for food. 4 But you must not eat ·meat [flesh] that still has blood in it, because blood ·gives [L is] life [Lev. 3:17; 7:26–27; 17:10–14]. 5 I will ·demand [require; L seek] blood for life. I will ·demand [require; L seek] the life of any animal that kills a person, and I will ·demand [require; L seek] the life of anyone who takes another person’s life.
6 “Whoever ·kills [L sheds the blood of] a human being
will ·be killed [L have his blood shed] by a human being,
because God made humans
in ·his own image [L the image of God; 1:26–27].
7 “As for you, Noah, ·I want you and your family to have many children, to grow in number on the earth, and to become many [L be fruitful and multiply, swarm/teem over the earth and multiply on it; 9:1].”
8 Then God said to Noah and his sons, 9 “·Now [or Look] I am making my ·agreement [covenant; treaty; 6:18] with you and your ·people [seed] ·who will live after you [L after you], 10 and with every living thing that is with you—the birds, the ·tame [livestock; cattle] and the wild animals, and with everything that came out of the ·boat [ark] with you—with every living thing on earth. 11 I ·make [establish] this ·agreement [covenant; treaty; 6:18] with you: ·I will never again destroy all living things by a flood [L a flood will never again cut off all flesh]. A flood will never again destroy the earth.”
12 And God said, “This is the sign [C a symbol that represents this relationship between God and Noah; 17:11; Ex. 31:13, 17] of the ·agreement [covenant; treaty; 6:18] between me and you and every living creature that is with you for all future generations. 13 I am putting my ·rainbow [bow; C may represent God hanging up his weapon after warring against humanity] in the clouds as the sign of the ·agreement [covenant; treaty; 6:18] between me and the earth. 14 When I bring clouds over the earth and a ·rainbow [bow] appears in them, 15 I will remember my ·agreement [covenant; treaty; 6:18] between me and you and every living thing [L of all flesh]. [L The waters of the] Floods will never again destroy all ·life on the earth [L flesh]. 16 When the ·rainbow [bow] appears in the clouds, I will see it and I will remember the ·agreement that continues forever [L eternal covenant] between me and every living thing [L of all flesh] on the earth.”
17 So God said to Noah, “·The rainbow [L This] is a ·sign [9:12] of the ·agreement [covenant; treaty; 6:18] that I made with all living things on earth.”
Noah and His Sons
18 The sons of Noah who came out of the ·boat [ark] with him were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. (Ham was the father of Canaan.) 19 These three men were Noah’s sons, and all the people on earth ·came [spread out; C see the genealogy in ch. 10] from these three sons.
20 Noah ·became a farmer [L was the first man of the ground/soil] and planted a vineyard. 21 When he drank ·wine made from his grapes [L the wine], he became drunk and lay ·naked [uncovered] in his tent. 22 Ham, the father of Canaan, looked at his naked father and told his [L two] brothers outside [C an act of disrespect; he should have helped his father, as in the next verse]. 23 Then Shem and Japheth got a coat and, carrying it on both their shoulders, they walked backwards into the tent and covered [L the nakedness of] their father. They turned their faces away so that they did not see their father’s nakedness [C they acted appropriately according to ancient custom].
24 Noah ·was sleeping because of the wine. When he woke up [woke up from his wine] and ·learned [L he knew] what his youngest son, Ham, had done to him, 25 he said,
“May there be a curse on Canaan [C the ancestor and representative of the inhabitants of Palestine that Israel displaced at the time of the conquest of the Promised Land; Josh. 1–12]!
May he be the lowest ·slave [servant] to his brothers.”
26 Noah also said,
“May the Lord, the God of Shem, be ·praised [blessed]!
May Canaan be Shem’s ·slave [servant; L Shem is the ancestor of Israel].
27 May God ·give more land to [make space for; C the verb sounds like his name] Japheth.
May Japheth live in Shem’s tents,
and may Canaan be their slave [10:2–4; 1 Chr. 1:5–7].”
28 After the flood Noah lived 350 years. 29 ·He lived a total of [L All the days of Noah were] 950 years, and then he died.
The Work of John the Baptist(A)
3 ·About that time [In the course of time; L In those days] John the Baptist began preaching in the ·desert area [wilderness] of Judea. 2 John said, “·Change your hearts and lives [Repent] because the kingdom of heaven ·is near [has drawn near; is at hand].” 3 ·John the Baptist [L For this] is the one Isaiah the prophet was talking about when he said:
“This is a voice of one
who ·calls out [shouts; cries out] in the ·desert [wilderness]:
‘Prepare the way for the Lord.
Make ·the road straight [a clear path] for him [Is. 40:3].’”
4 John’s clothes were made from camel’s hair, and he wore a leather belt around his waist [C reminiscent of the prophet Elijah; 2 Kin. 1:8]. For food, he ate locusts and wild honey [C signifies living off the land]. 5 Many people came from Jerusalem and Judea and all the ·area [region] around the Jordan River to hear John. 6 They confessed their sins, and he baptized them in the Jordan River.
7 Many of the Pharisees and Sadducees came to the place where John was baptizing people. When John saw them, he said, “You ·are snakes [T brood/offspring of vipers]! Who warned you to ·run [slither; L flee] away from God’s coming ·punishment [wrath; retribution]? 8 ·Do the things [L Produce the fruit] ·that show you really have changed your hearts and lives [that prove your repentance; L of repentance]. 9 And don’t ·think you can [presume to] say to yourselves, ‘Abraham is our father [C a claim to be God’s special people].’ [L For] I tell you that God could ·make [create; L raise up] children for Abraham from these rocks. 10 The ax ·is now ready to cut down [already lies at the root of] the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire [C a metaphor for judgment].
John Preaches About the Christ(B)
11 “I baptize you with water ·to show that your hearts and lives have changed [for repentence]. But there is one coming after me who is ·greater [mightier; more powerful] than I am, whose sandals I am not ·good enough [fit; qualified] to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 12 ·He will come ready [L The winnowing fork is in his hand] to clean the grain, ·separating the good grain from the chaff [L to clear his threshing floor]. He will put ·the good part of the grain [L the grain/wheat] into his barn, but he will burn the chaff with ·a fire that cannot be put out [never-ending/unquenchable fire; C a metaphor for judgment, when Jesus will separate the righteous from the wicked].”
Jesus Is Baptized by John(C)
13 ·At that time [Then] Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan River ·and wanted John to baptize him [L to be baptized by John]. 14 But John tried to ·stop [deter; dissuade; prevent] him, saying, “·Why do [Do] you come to me to be baptized? I need to be baptized by you!”
15 Jesus answered, “Let it ·be this way for [happen] now. ·We should do all things that are God’s will [or In this way we will do what God requires; L For thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness].” So John ·agreed to baptize Jesus [gave in; consented; allowed it].
16 As soon as Jesus was baptized, he came up out of the water. Then ·heaven [the sky/heavens] opened, and he saw God’s Spirit ·coming down [descending and lighting/settling] on him like a dove [C either in the form of a dove, or in bird-like descent]. 17 And a voice from heaven said, “This is my ·Son, whom I love [dearly beloved Son; Ps. 2:7; Gen. 22:2], and I am ·very [well] pleased with him [Is. 42:1].”
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