The Flood Subsides

8 And God remembered Noah and all the wild animals, and all the domesticated animals that were with him in the ark. And God caused a wind to blowa over the earth, and the waters subsided. 2 And the fountains of the deep and the windows of the heavensb were closed, and the rain from the heavensc was restrained. 3 And the waters receded from the earth ⌊gradually⌋,d and the waters abated at the end of one hundred and fifty days. 4 And the ark came to rest in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on the mountains of Ararat. 5 And the waters ⌊continued to recede⌋e to the tenth month; in the tenth month, on the first of the month, the tops of the mountains appeared. 6 And it happened that at the end of forty days Noah opened the window of the ark that he had made. 7 And he sent out af raven;g ⌊it went to and fro⌋h until the waters were dried up from upon the earth. 8 And ⌊he sent out ai dove⌋j to see whether the waters had subsided from upon the face of the ground. 9 But the dove did not find a resting place for the sole of her foot, and she returned to him into the ark, for the waters were still on the face of all the earth. And he stretched out his hand and took her, and brought her to himself into the ark. 10 And he waited another seven days, and ⌊again he sent out⌋k the dove from the ark. 11 And the dove came to him ⌊in the evening⌋,l and behold, a freshly-picked olive tree leaf was in her mouth. And Noah knew that the waters had subsided from upon the earth. 12 And he waited ⌊seven more days⌋,m and he sent out the dove. But it did not return again to him. 13 And it happened that, in the six hundred and first year, in the first month, on the first day of the month, the waters dried up from upon the earth. And Noah removed the covering of the ark and looked. And behold, the face of the ground was dried up. 14 And in the second month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, the earth was dry. 15 And God spoke to Noah, saying: 16 “Go out from the ark, you and your wife, and your sons, and your sons’ wives with you. 17 Bring out with you all the living things which are with you, from all the living creatures—birds, and animals, and everything that creeps on the earth, and let them swarm on the earth and be fruitful and multiply on the earth.” 18 Son Noah went out, witho his sons and his wife, and the wives of his sons with him. 19 Every animal, every creeping thing, and every bird, and everything that moves upon the earth, according to its families, went out from the ark. 20 And Noah built an altar to Yahweh, and he took from all the clean animals and from all the clean birds, and offered burnt offerings on the altar. 21 And Yahweh smelled the soothing fragrance, and Yahweh said ⌊to himself⌋,p “⌊Never again will I curse⌋q the ground for the sake of humankind, because the inclination of the heart of humankind is evil from his youth. ⌊Nor will I ever again destroy⌋r all life as I have done. 22⌊As long as the earth endures⌋,s seed and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will not cease.

God’s Covenant with Noah and Humankind

9 And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth. 2 And fear of you and dread of you shall be upon every animal of the earth, and on every bird of heaven,a and on everything that moves upon the ground, and on all the fish of the sea. Into your hand they shall be given. 3 Every moving thing that lives shall be for you as food. As I gave the green plants to you, I now give you everything. 4 Only you shall not eat ⌊raw flesh with blood in it⌋.b 5 Andc ⌊your lifeblood⌋d I will require; from ⌊every animal⌋e I will require it. And from the hand of humankind, from the hand of each man to his brother I will require the life of humankind.

6 “As for the one shedding the blood of humankind,

by humankind his blood shall be shed,

for God made humankind in his own image.

7 “And you, be fruitful and multiply, swarm on the earth and multiply in it.” 8 And God said to Noah and to his sons with him, 9 “As for me, behold, I am establishing my covenant with you and with your seed after you, 10 and with every living creature that is with you—the birds, the animals, and every animal of the earth with you, from all that came out of the ark to all the animals of the earth. 11 I am establishing my covenant with you, that never again will all flesh be cut off by the waters of a flood, nor will there ever be a flood that destroys the earth.” 12 And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant that I am making between me and you, and between every living creature that is with you for future generations. 13 My bow I have set in the clouds, and it shall be for a sign of the covenant between me and between the earth. 14 And when I make clouds appear over the earth the bow shall be seen in the clouds. 15 Thenf I will remember my covenant that is between me and you, and between every living creature, with all flesh. And the waters of a flood will never again ⌊cause the destruction⌋g of all flesh. 16 The bow shall be in the clouds, and I will see it, so as to remember the everlasting covenant between God and between every living creature, with all flesh that is upon the earth.” 17 And God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant which I am establishing between me and all flesh that is upon the earth.”