Genesis 6

Wickedness in the World

6When human beings began to increase in number on the earth^q and daughters were born to them, ²the sons of God^r saw that the daughters^s of humans were beautiful,^t and they married^u any of them they chose. ³Then the Lord said, “My Spirit^v will not contend with^a humans forever,^w for they are mortal^b;^x their days will be a hundred and twenty years.”

⁴The Nephilim^y were on the earth in those days—and also afterward—when the sons of God went to the daughters of humans^z and had children by them. They were the heroes of old, men of renown.^a

⁵The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth,^b and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time.^{c 6}The Lord regretted^d that he had made human beings on the earth, and his heart was deeply troubled. ⁷So the Lord said, “I will wipe from the face of the earth^e the human race I have created—and with them the animals, the birds and the creatures that move along the ground—for I regret that I have made them.^f” ⁸But Noah^g found favor in the eyes of the Lord.^h

Noah and the Flood

⁹This is the accountⁱ of Noah and his family.

Noah was a righteous man, blameless^j among the people of his time,^k and he walked faithfully with God.^{l 10}Noah had three sons: Shem,^m Ham and Japheth.ⁿ

¹¹Now the earth was corrupt^o in God’s sight and was full of violence.^{p 12}God saw how corrupt^q the earth had become, for all the people on earth had corrupted their ways.^{r 13}So God said to Noah, “I am going to put an end to all people, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. I am surely going to destroy^s both them and the earth.^{t 14}So make yourself an ark of cypress^c wood;^u make rooms in it and coat it with pitch^v inside and out. ¹⁵This is how you are to build it: The ark is to be three hundred cubits long, fifty cubits wide and thirty cubits high.^{d 16}Make a roof for it, leaving below the roof an opening one cubit^e high all around.^f Put a door in the side of the ark and make lower, middle and upper decks. ¹⁷I am going to bring floodwaters^w on the earth to destroy all life under the heavens, every creature that has the breath of life in it. Everything on earth will perish.^{x 18}But I will establish my covenant with you,^y and you will enter the ark^z—you and your sons and your wife and your sons’ wives with you. ¹⁹You are to bring into the ark two of all living creatures, male and female, to keep them alive with you.^{a 20}Two^b of every kind of bird, of every kind of animal and of every kind^c of creature that moves along the ground will come to you to be kept alive.^{d 21}You are to take every kind of food that is to be eaten and store it away as food for you and for them.”

²²Noah did everything just as God commanded him.^e