THE FLOOD RECEDES

8 God remembered Noah,c as well as all the wildlife and all the livestock that were with him in the ark. God caused a wind to pass over the earth,d and the water began to subside. 2 The sources of the watery depths and the floodgates of the sky were closed, and the rain from the sky stopped.e 3 The water steadily receded from the earth, and by the end of 150 days the water had decreased significantly.f 4 The ark came to rest in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on the mountains of Ararat.g

5 The water continued to recede until the tenth month; in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, the tops of the mountains were visible. 6 After forty days Noah opened the window of the ark that he had made, 7 and he sent out a raven. It went back and forth until the water had dried up from the earth. 8 Then he sent out a dove to see whether the water on the earth’s surface had gone down, 9 but the dove found no resting place for its foot. It returned to him in the ark because water covered the surface of the whole earth. He reached out and brought it into the ark to himself. 10 So Noah waited seven more days and sent out the dove from the ark again. 11 When the dove came to him at evening, there was a plucked olive leaf in its beak. So Noah knew that the water on the earth’s surface had gone down. 12 After he had waited another seven days, he sent out the dove, but it did not return to him again. 13 In the six hundred first year,D in the first month, on the first day of the month, the water that had covered the earth was dried up. Then Noah removed the ark’s cover and saw that the surface of the ground was drying. 14 By the twenty-seventh day of the second month, the earth was dry.

THE LORD’S PROMISE

15 Then God spoke to Noah, 16 “Come out of the ark, you, your wife, your sons, and your sons’ wives with you. 17 Bring out all the living creatures that are with you—birds, livestock, those that crawl on the earth—and they will spread over the earth and be fruitful and multiply on the earth.”h 18 So Noah, along with his sons, his wife, and his sons’ wives, came out. 19 All the animals, all the creatures that crawl, and all the flying creatures—everything that moves on the earth—came out of the ark by their families.

20 Then Noah built an altar to the Lord. He took some of every kind of clean animal and every kind of clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar. 21 When the Lord smelled the pleasing aroma,i he said to himself, “I will never again curse the groundj because of human beings, even though the inclination of the human heart is evil from youth onward.k And I will never again strike down every living thing as I have done.l

22 As long as the earth endures,

seedtime and harvest, cold and heat,

summer and winter, and day and night

will not cease.”a

GOD’S COVENANT WITH NOAH

9 God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.b 2 The fear and terror of you will be in every living creature on the earth, every bird of the sky, every creature that crawls on the ground, and all the fish of the sea. They are placed under your authority. 3 Every creature that lives and moves will be food for you;c as I gave the green plants, I have given you everything.d 4 However, you must not eat meat with its lifeblood in it.e 5 And I will require a penalty for your lifeblood;B I will require it from any animalf and from any human; if someone murders a fellow human, I will require that person’s life.g

6 Whoever sheds human blood,

by humans his blood will be shed,h

for God made humans in his image.i

7 But you, be fruitful and multiply; spread out over the earth and multiply on it.”j

8 Then God said to Noah and his sons with him, 9 “Understand that I am establishing my covenantk with you and your descendants after you, 10 and with every living creature that is with you—birds, livestock, and all wildlife of the earth that are with you—all the animals of the earth that came out of the ark. 11 I establish my covenant with you that never again will every creature be wiped out by floodwaters; there will never again be a flood to destroy the earth.”l

12 And God said, “This is the sign of the covenantm I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all future generations: 13 I have placed my bow in the clouds,n and it will be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. 14 Whenever I form clouds over the earth and the bow appears in the clouds, 15 I will remember my covenanto between me and you and all the living creatures: water will never again become a flood to destroy every creature. 16 The bow will be in the clouds, and I will look at it and remember the permanent covenantp between God and all the living creatures on earth.” 17 God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant that I have established between me and every creature on earth.”

PROPHECIES ABOUT NOAH’S FAMILY

18 Noah’s sons who came out of the ark were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Ham was the father of Canaan. 19 These three were Noah’s sons, and from them the whole earth was populated.q

20 Noah, as a man of the soil, began by plantingF a vineyard. 21 He drank some of the wine, became drunk, and uncovered himself inside his tent. 22 Ham, the father of Canaan, saw his father naked and told his two brothers outside.r 23 Then Shem and Japheth took a cloak and placed it over both their shoulders, and walking backward, they covered their father’s nakedness. Their faces were turned away, and they did not see their father naked.

24 When Noah awoke from his drinking and learned what his youngest son had done to him, 25 he said:

Canaan is cursed.s

He will be the lowest of slaves to his brothers.t

26 He also said:

Blessed be the Lord, the God of Shem;

Let Canaan be* Shem’s slave.

27 Let God extend Japheth;H

let Japheth dwell in the tents of Shem;

let Canaan be Shem’s slave.

28 Now Noah lived 350 years after the flood. 29 So Noah’s life lasted 950 years; then he died.