Genesis 6–9

Prelude to the Flood

6And it happened that, when humankind began to multiply on the face of the ground, daughters were born to them. ²Then^a the sons of God saw the daughters of humankind, that they were beautiful. And they took for themselves wives from all that they chose. ³And Yahweh said, “My Spirit shall not abide with humankind forever in that he is also flesh. And his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.” ⁴The Nephilim were upon the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God went into the daughters of humankind, and they bore children to them. These were the mighty warriors that were from ancient times, men of renown.^b

⁵And Yahweh saw that the evil of humankind was great upon the earth, and every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was always^c only evil. ⁶And Yahweh regretted that he had made humankind on the earth, and he was grieved in his heart.^{d 7}And Yahweh said, “I will destroy humankind whom I created from upon the face of the earth, from humankind, to animals, to creeping things, and to the birds of heaven,^e for I regret that I have made them.” ⁸But Noah found favor in the eyes of Yahweh.

⁹These are the generations^f of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, without defect in his generations. Noah walked with God. ¹⁰And Noah fathered three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth. ¹¹And the earth was corrupted before God, and the earth was filled with violence. ¹²And God saw the earth, and behold, it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted its way upon the earth. ¹³And God said to Noah, “The end of all flesh has come before me, for the earth was filled with violence because of them. Now, look, I am going to destroy them along with the earth. ¹⁴Make for yourself an ark of cypress wood; you must make the ark with rooms, then^g you must cover it with pitch, inside and outside. ¹⁵And this is how you must make it: the length of the ark, three hundred cubits; its width fifty cubits; its height, thirty cubits. ¹⁶You must make a roof for the ark, and finish it to a cubit above.^h And as for the door of the ark, you must put it in its side. You must make it with a lower, second, and a third deck.

¹⁷And I, behold, I am about to bring the flood waters over the earth to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life from under the heaven;ⁱ everything that is on the earth shall perish. ¹⁸And I will establish my covenant with you, and you must go into the ark—you, and your sons, and your wife, and the wives of your sons with you. ¹⁹And of every living thing, from all flesh, you must bring two from every kind into the ark to keep them alive with you; they shall be male and female. ²⁰From the birds according to their^j kind, and from the animals according to their^k kind, from every creeping thing on the ground according to its^l kind—two from every kind shall come to you to keep them alive. ²¹And as for you, take for yourself from every kind of food that is eaten. And you must gather it to yourself. And it shall be for you and for them for food.” ²²And Noah did according to all that God commanded him; thus he did.

7Then^a Yahweh said to Noah, “Go—you and all your household—into the ark, for I have seen you are righteous before me in this generation. ²From all the clean animals you must take for yourself seven pairs,^b a male and its mate. And from the animals that are not clean you must take two, a male and its mate, ³as well as from the birds of heaven^c seven pairs,^d male and female, to keep their kind alive^e on the face of all the earth. ⁴For within seven days^f I will send rain upon the earth for forty days and forty nights. And I will blot out all the living creatures that I have made from upon the face of the ground.” ⁵And Noah did according to all that Yahweh commanded him.

The Flood

⁶Noah was six hundred years old^g when^h the flood waters came upon the earth. ⁷And Noah and his sons and his wife, and the wives of his sons with him, went into the ark because of the waters of the flood. ⁸Of clean animals, and of animals which are not clean, and of the birds, and everything that creeps upon the ground, ⁹two of eachⁱ went to Noah, into the ark, male and female, as God had commanded Noah. ¹⁰And it happened that after seven days the waters of the flood came over the earth. ¹¹In the six hundredth year of the life of Noah, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month—on that day all the springs of the great deep were split open, and the windows of heaven were opened. ¹²And the rain came upon the earth forty days and forty nights. ¹³On this same day, Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth, the sons of Noah, and the wife of Noah and the three wives of his sons with them, went into the ark, ¹⁴they and all the living creatures according to their^j kind, and all the domesticated animals according to their^k kind, and all the creatures that creep upon the earth according to their^l kind, all the birds according to their^m kind, every winged creature. ¹⁵And they came to Noah to the ark, two of each,ⁿ from every living thing in which was the breath of life. ¹⁶And those that came, male and female, of every living thing, came as God had commanded him. And Yahweh shut the door behind him. ¹⁷And the flood came forty days on the earth. And the waters increased, and lifted the ark, and it rose up from the earth. ¹⁸And the waters prevailed and increased greatly upon the earth. And the ark went upon the surface^o of the waters. ¹⁹And the waters prevailed overwhelmingly^p upon the earth, and they covered all the high mountains which were under the entire heaven.^{q 20}The waters swelled fifteen cubits above the mountains, covering them.^{r 21}And every living thing that moved on the earth perished—the birds, and the domesticated animals, and the wild animals, and everything that swarmed on the earth, and all humankind. ²²Everything in whose nostrils was the breath of life,^s among all that was on dry land, died. ²³And he^t blotted out every living thing upon the surface of the ground, from humankind, to animals, to creeping things, and to the birds of heaven;^u they were blotted out from the earth. Only Noah and those who were with him in the ark remained. ²⁴And the waters prevailed over the earth one hundred and fifty days.

The Flood Subsides

8And 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 blow^a over the earth, and the waters subsided. ²And the fountains of the deep and the windows of the heavens^b were closed, and the rain from the heavens^c was restrained. ³And the waters receded from the earth gradually,^d and the waters abated at the end of one hundred and fifty days. ⁴And the ark came to rest in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on the mountains of Ararat. ⁵And 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. ⁶And it happened that at the end of forty days Noah opened the window of the ark that he had made. ⁷And he sent out a^f raven;^g it went to and fro^h until the waters were dried up from upon the earth. ⁸And he sent out aⁱ dove^j to see whether the waters had subsided from upon the face of the ground. ⁹But 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. ¹⁰And he waited another seven days, and again he sent out^k the dove from the ark. ¹¹And 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. ¹²And he waited seven more days,^m and he sent out the dove. But it did not return again to him. ¹³And 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. ¹⁴And in the second month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, the earth was dry. ¹⁵And God spoke to Noah, saying: ¹⁶“Go out from the ark, you and your wife, and your sons, and your sons’ wives with you. ¹⁷Bring 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.” ¹⁸Soⁿ Noah went out, with^o his sons and his wife, and the wives of his sons with him. ¹⁹Every animal, every creeping thing, and every bird, and everything that moves upon the earth, according to its families, went out from the ark. ²⁰And 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. ²¹And 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. ²²As 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

9And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth. ²And 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. ³Every moving thing that lives shall be for you as food. As I gave the green plants to you, I now give you everything. ⁴Only you shall not eat raw flesh with blood in it.^{b 5}And^c 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…