Add parallel Print Page Options

The Human Race Grows More Evil

The number of people on earth began to ·grow [multiply], and daughters were born to them. When the ·sons of God [C may refer to godly men among Seth’s descendants (ch. 5), or noble men, or angels] saw that ·these girls [L the daughters of men/human beings; C either evil women among Cain’s descendants (4:17–24), poor women, or simply mortal women] were beautiful, they married any of them they chose [C though their identity is unclear, their marriage clearly violated a boundary]. The Lord said, “My Spirit will not ·remain in [or contend with] human beings forever, because they are ·flesh [mortal]. ·They will live [L Their days will be] only 120 years.”

The ·Nephilim [L fallen ones; C the significance of the name is unclear] were on the earth in those days and also later. That was when the sons of God ·had sexual relations with [L came in to] the daughters of ·human beings [T man; C Hebrew: Adam; 1:27–28]. These women gave birth to children ·who became famous [L men of a name] and were the mighty warriors of long ago. [C The Nephilim of Num. 13:31–33, though not related genealogically, were giants, suggesting these pre-flood Nephilim were also.]

The Lord saw that the human beings on the earth were very ·wicked [evil] and that ·everything they thought about [L every inclination of their mind/heart] was ·evil [wicked]. He ·was sorry [regretted] he had made human beings on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain. So the Lord said, “I will ·destroy [wipe/blot out; exterminate] all human beings that I ·made [created; 1:1] on the earth. And I will destroy every animal and everything that ·crawls [creeps] on the earth and the birds of the ·air [sky; heavens], because I ·am sorry [regret] I have made them.” But Noah ·pleased [L found grace/favor in the eyes of] the Lord.

Noah and the Great Flood

This is the family history [2:4] of Noah. Noah was a ·good [righteous; just] man, the most ·innocent [blameless; Job 1:1] man of his ·time [generation], and he walked with God [5:24]. 10 He had three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth [9:18–10:32].

11 ·People on earth [L The earth] did what ·God said was evil [L was corrupt before God], and ·violence was everywhere [L the earth was filled with violence]. 12 When God saw that [L the earth was corrupt because] ·everyone [L all flesh] on the earth ·did only evil [L was corrupt], 13 God said to Noah, “·I have decided to bring an end to all living creatures [L The end of all flesh is coming before me]. Because people have made the earth full of violence, I will destroy all of them from the ·earth [land]. 14 ·Build [Make] ·a boat [L an ark] of ·cypress [or gopher; C the precise meaning is uncertain] wood for yourself. Make rooms in it and cover it inside and outside with ·tar [pitch]. 15 This is how ·big I want you to build the boat [L you should make it]: ·four hundred fifty feet [L three hundred cubits] long, ·seventy-five feet [L fifty cubits] wide, and ·forty-five feet [L thirty cubits] high. 16 Make an opening around the top of the boat [C probably a window] that is ·eighteen inches [L a cubit] high from the edge of the roof down. Put a door in the side of the boat. Make an ·upper, middle, and lower [L lower, second, and third] deck in it. 17 I will bring a flood of water on the earth to destroy all ·living things [L flesh] that live under ·the sky [heaven], including everything that has the breath of life. Everything on the earth will die. 18 But I will ·make [establish] an ·agreement [covenant; treaty] with you—you, your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives will all go into the boat. 19 Also, you must bring into the ·boat [L ark] two of ·every living thing [L all flesh], male and female. Keep them alive with you. 20 Two of every kind of bird, animal, and ·crawling [creeping] thing will come to you to be kept alive. 21 Also ·gather [take] some of every kind of food and store it on the boat as food for you and the animals.”

22 Noah did everything that God commanded him.

The Flood Begins

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]. 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. 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. 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.”

Noah did everything the Lord commanded him.

Noah was six hundred years old when the [L water of the] flood came [L on the earth]. He and his wife and his sons and their wives went into the ·boat [ark] to escape the waters of the flood. The clean animals [7:2], the unclean animals, the birds, and everything that ·crawls [creeps] on the ground 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

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]. 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]. The water that covered the earth began to ·go down [recede]. After one hundred fifty days ·it [L the waters] had ·gone down [abated] so much that the ·boat [ark] touched land again. It came to rest on one of the mountains of Ararat [C in ancient Urartu, present-day eastern Turkey] on the seventeenth day of the seventh month. The water continued to ·go down [recede] so that by the first day of the tenth month the tops of the mountains could be seen.

Forty days later Noah opened the ·window [hatch] he had made in the ·boat [ark], and he sent out a raven. It ·flew [L went] here and there until the water had dried up from the earth. Then Noah sent out a dove to find out if the water had ·dried up [subsided] from the ground. 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.”

Bible Gateway Recommends