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Genesis 6:5-7:23
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Genesis 6:5-7:23
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Warning of the Flood. 5 [a]When the Lord saw how great the wickedness of human beings was on earth, and how every desire that their heart conceived was always nothing but evil,(A) 6 the Lord regretted making human beings on the earth, and his heart was grieved.[b]
7 So the Lord said: I will wipe out from the earth the human beings I have created, and not only the human beings, but also the animals and the crawling things and the birds of the air, for I regret that I made them.[c] 8 But Noah found favor with the Lord.
9 These are the descendants of Noah. Noah was a righteous man and blameless in his generation;(B) Noah walked with God. 10 Noah begot three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
11 But the earth was corrupt[d] in the view of God and full of lawlessness.(C) 12 When God saw how corrupt the earth had become, since all mortals had corrupted their ways on earth,(D) 13 God said to Noah: I see that the end of all mortals has come, for the earth is full of lawlessness because of them. So I am going to destroy them with the earth.(E)
Preparation for the Flood. 14 Make yourself an ark of gopherwood,[e] equip the ark with various compartments, and cover it inside and out with pitch. 15 This is how you shall build it: the length of the ark will be three hundred cubits, its width fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits.[f] 16 Make an opening for daylight[g] and finish the ark a cubit above it. Put the ark’s entrance on its side; you will make it with bottom, second and third decks. 17 I, on my part, am about to bring the flood waters on the earth, to destroy all creatures under the sky in which there is the breath of life; everything on earth shall perish.(F) 18 I will establish my covenant with you. You shall go into the ark, you and your sons, your wife and your sons’ wives with you.(G) 19 Of all living creatures you shall bring two of every kind into the ark, one male and one female,[h] to keep them alive along with you. 20 Of every kind of bird, of every kind of animal, and of every kind of thing that crawls on the ground, two of each will come to you, that you may keep them alive. 21 Moreover, you are to provide yourself with all the food that is to be eaten, and store it away, that it may serve as provisions for you and for them. 22 Noah complied; he did just as God had commanded him.[i]
Chapter 7
1 Then the Lord said to Noah: Go into the ark, you and all your household, for you alone in this generation have I found to be righteous before me.(H) 2 Of every clean animal, take with you seven pairs, a male and its mate; and of the unclean animals, one pair, a male and its mate; 3 likewise, of every bird of the air, seven pairs, a male and a female, to keep their progeny alive over all the earth. 4 For seven days from now I will bring rain down on the earth for forty days and forty nights, and so I will wipe out from the face of the earth every being that I have made.(I) 5 Noah complied, just as the Lord had commanded.
The Great Flood. 6 Noah was six hundred years old when the flood came upon the earth. 7 Together with his sons, his wife, and his sons’ wives, Noah went into the ark because of the waters of the flood.(J) 8 Of the clean animals and the unclean, of the birds, and of everything that crawls on the ground, 9 two by two, male and female came to Noah into the ark, just as God had commanded him.(K) 10 When the seven days were over, the waters of the flood came upon the earth.
11 In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month: on that day
All the fountains of the great abyss[j] burst forth,
and the floodgates of the sky were opened.
12 For forty days and forty nights heavy rain poured down on the earth.
13 On the very same day, Noah and his sons Shem, Ham, and Japheth, and Noah’s wife, and the three wives of Noah’s sons had entered the ark, 14 together with every kind of wild animal, every kind of tame animal, every kind of crawling thing that crawls on the earth, and every kind of bird. 15 Pairs of all creatures in which there was the breath of life came to Noah into the ark. 16 Those that entered were male and female; of all creatures they came, as God had commanded Noah. Then the Lord shut him in.
17 The flood continued upon the earth for forty days. As the waters increased, they lifted the ark, so that it rose above the earth. 18 The waters swelled and increased greatly on the earth, but the ark floated on the surface of the waters. 19 Higher and higher on the earth the waters swelled, until all the highest mountains under the heavens were submerged. 20 The waters swelled fifteen cubits higher than the submerged mountains. 21 All creatures that moved on earth perished: birds, tame animals, wild animals, and all that teemed on the earth, as well as all humankind.(L) 22 Everything on dry land with the breath of life in its nostrils died. 23 The Lord wiped out every being on earth: human beings and animals, the crawling things and the birds of the air; all were wiped out from the earth. Only Noah and those with him in the ark were left.
Footnotes
- 6:5–8:22 The story of the great flood is commonly regarded as a composite narrative based on separate sources woven together. To the Yahwist source, with some later editorial additions, are usually assigned 6:5–8; 7:1–5, 7–10, 12, 16b, 17b, 22–23; 8:2b–3a, 6–12, 13b, 20–22. The other sections are usually attributed to the Priestly writer. There are differences between the two sources: the Priestly source has two pairs of every animal, whereas the Yahwist source has seven pairs of clean animals and two pairs of unclean; the floodwater in the Priestly source is the waters under and over the earth that burst forth, whereas in the Yahwist source the floodwater is the rain lasting forty days and nights. In spite of many obvious discrepancies in these two sources, one should read the story as a coherent narrative. The biblical story ultimately draws upon an ancient Mesopotamian tradition of a great flood, preserved in the Sumerian flood story, the eleventh tablet of the Gilgamesh Epic, and (embedded in a longer creation story) the Atrahasis Epic.
- 6:6 His heart was grieved: the expression can be misleading in English, for “heart” in Hebrew is the seat of memory and judgment rather than emotion. The phrase is actually parallel to the first half of the sentence (“the Lord regretted…”).
- 6:7 Human beings are an essential part of their environment, which includes all living things. In the new beginning after the flood, God makes a covenant with human beings and every living creature (9:9–10). The same close link between human beings and nature is found elsewhere in the Bible; e.g., in Is 35, God’s healing transforms human beings along with their physical environment, and in Rom 8:19–23, all creation, not merely human beings, groans in labor pains awaiting the salvation of God.
- 6:11 Corrupt: God does not punish arbitrarily but simply brings to its completion the corruption initiated by human beings.
- 6:14 Gopherwood: an unidentified wood mentioned only in connection with the ark. It may be the wood of the cypress, which in Hebrew sounds like “gopher” and was widely used in antiquity for shipbuilding.
- 6:15 Hebrew “cubit,” lit., “forearm,” is the distance from the elbow to the tip of the middle finger, about eighteen inches (a foot and a half). The dimensions of Noah’s ark were approximately 440 × 73 × 44 feet. The ark of the Babylonian flood story was an exact cube, 120 cubits (180 feet) in length, width, and height.
- 6:16 Opening for daylight: a conjectural rendering of the Hebrew word sohar, occurring only here. The reference is probably to an open space on all sides near the top of the ark to admit light and air. The ark also had a window or hatch, which could be opened and closed (8:6).
- 6:19–21 You shall bring two of every kind…, one male and one female: For the Priestly source (P), there is no distinction between clean and unclean animals until Sinai (Lv 11), no altars or sacrifice until Sinai, and all diet is vegetarian (Gn 1:29–30); even after the flood P has no distinction between clean and unclean, since “any living creature that moves about” may be eaten (9:3). Thus P has Noah take the minimum to preserve all species, one pair of each, without distinction between clean and unclean, but he must also take on provisions for food (6:21). The Yahwist source (J), which assumes the clean-unclean distinction always existed but knows no other restriction on eating meat (Abel was a shepherd and offered meat as a sacrifice), requires additional clean animals (“seven pairs”) for food and sacrifice (7:2–3; 8:20).
- 6:22 Just as God had commanded him: as in the creation of the world in chap. 1 and in the building of the tabernacle in Ex 25–31, 35–40 (all from the Priestly source), everything takes place by the command of God. In this passage and in Exodus, the commands of God are carried out to the letter by human agents, Noah and Moses. Divine speech is important. God speaks to Noah seven times in the flood story.
- 7:11 Abyss: the subterranean ocean; see note on 1:2.
Genesis 6:5-7:23
New International Version
Genesis 6:5-7:23
New International Version
5 The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth,(A) and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time.(B) 6 The Lord regretted(C) that he had made human beings on the earth, and his heart was deeply troubled. 7 So the Lord said, “I will wipe from the face of the earth(D) 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.(E)” 8 But Noah(F) found favor in the eyes of the Lord.(G)
Noah and the Flood
9 This is the account(H) of Noah and his family.
Noah was a righteous man, blameless(I) among the people of his time,(J) and he walked faithfully with God.(K) 10 Noah had three sons: Shem,(L) Ham and Japheth.(M)
11 Now the earth was corrupt(N) in God’s sight and was full of violence.(O) 12 God saw how corrupt(P) the earth had become, for all the people on earth had corrupted their ways.(Q) 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(R) both them and the earth.(S) 14 So make yourself an ark of cypress[a] wood;(T) make rooms in it and coat it with pitch(U) inside and out. 15 This is how you are to build it: The ark is to be three hundred cubits long, fifty cubits wide and thirty cubits high.[b] 16 Make a roof for it, leaving below the roof an opening one cubit[c] high all around.[d] Put a door in the side of the ark and make lower, middle and upper decks. 17 I am going to bring floodwaters(V) 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.(W) 18 But I will establish my covenant with you,(X) and you will enter the ark(Y)—you and your sons and your wife and your sons’ wives with you. 19 You are to bring into the ark two of all living creatures, male and female, to keep them alive with you.(Z) 20 Two(AA) of every kind of bird, of every kind of animal and of every kind(AB) of creature that moves along the ground will come to you to be kept alive.(AC) 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.”
22 Noah did everything just as God commanded him.(AD)
7 The Lord then said to Noah, “Go into the ark, you and your whole family,(AE) because I have found you righteous(AF) in this generation. 2 Take with you seven pairs of every kind of clean(AG) animal, a male and its mate, and one pair of every kind of unclean animal, a male and its mate, 3 and also seven pairs of every kind of bird, male and female, to keep their various kinds alive(AH) throughout the earth. 4 Seven days from now I will send rain(AI) on the earth(AJ) for forty days(AK) and forty nights,(AL) and I will wipe from the face of the earth every living creature I have made.(AM)”
5 And Noah did all that the Lord commanded him.(AN)
6 Noah was six hundred years old(AO) when the floodwaters came on the earth. 7 And Noah and his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives entered the ark(AP) to escape the waters of the flood. 8 Pairs of clean and unclean(AQ) animals, of birds and of all creatures that move along the ground, 9 male and female, came to Noah and entered the ark, as God had commanded Noah.(AR) 10 And after the seven days(AS) the floodwaters came on the earth.
11 In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life,(AT) on the seventeenth day of the second month(AU)—on that day all the springs of the great deep(AV) burst forth, and the floodgates of the heavens(AW) were opened. 12 And rain fell on the earth forty days and forty nights.(AX)
13 On that very day Noah and his sons,(AY) Shem, Ham and Japheth, together with his wife and the wives of his three sons, entered the ark.(AZ) 14 They had with them every wild animal according to its kind, all livestock according to their kinds, every creature that moves along the ground according to its kind and every bird according to its kind,(BA) everything with wings. 15 Pairs of all creatures that have the breath of life in them came to Noah and entered the ark.(BB) 16 The animals going in were male and female of every living thing, as God had commanded Noah.(BC) Then the Lord shut him in.
17 For forty days(BD) the flood kept coming on the earth, and as the waters increased they lifted the ark high above the earth. 18 The waters rose and increased greatly on the earth, and the ark floated on the surface of the water. 19 They rose greatly on the earth, and all the high mountains under the entire heavens were covered.(BE) 20 The waters rose and covered the mountains to a depth of more than fifteen cubits.[e][f] (BF) 21 Every living thing that moved on land perished—birds, livestock, wild animals, all the creatures that swarm over the earth, and all mankind.(BG) 22 Everything on dry land that had the breath of life(BH) in its nostrils died. 23 Every living thing on the face of the earth was wiped out; people and animals and the creatures that move along the ground and the birds were wiped from the earth.(BI) Only Noah was left, and those with him in the ark.(BJ)
Footnotes
- Genesis 6:14 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.
- Genesis 6:15 That is, about 450 feet long, 75 feet wide and 45 feet high or about 135 meters long, 23 meters wide and 14 meters high
- Genesis 6:16 That is, about 18 inches or about 45 centimeters
- Genesis 6:16 The meaning of the Hebrew for this clause is uncertain.
- Genesis 7:20 That is, about 23 feet or about 6.8 meters
- Genesis 7:20 Or rose more than fifteen cubits, and the mountains were covered
Genesis 6:5-7:23
King James Version
Genesis 6:5-7:23
King James Version
5 And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
6 And it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.
7 And the Lord said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them.
8 But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.
9 These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God.
10 And Noah begat three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
11 The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.
12 And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.
13 And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.
14 Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch.
15 And this is the fashion which thou shalt make it of: The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, the breadth of it fifty cubits, and the height of it thirty cubits.
16 A window shalt thou make to the ark, and in a cubit shalt thou finish it above; and the door of the ark shalt thou set in the side thereof; with lower, second, and third stories shalt thou make it.
17 And, behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, from under heaven; and every thing that is in the earth shall die.
18 But with thee will I establish my covenant; and thou shalt come into the ark, thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons' wives with thee.
19 And of every living thing of all flesh, two of every sort shalt thou bring into the ark, to keep them alive with thee; they shall be male and female.
20 Of fowls after their kind, and of cattle after their kind, of every creeping thing of the earth after his kind, two of every sort shall come unto thee, to keep them alive.
21 And take thou unto thee of all food that is eaten, and thou shalt gather it to thee; and it shall be for food for thee, and for them.
22 Thus did Noah; according to all that God commanded him, so did he.
7 And the Lord said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark; for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation.
2 Of every clean beast thou shalt take to thee by sevens, the male and his female: and of beasts that are not clean by two, the male and his female.
3 Of fowls also of the air by sevens, the male and the female; to keep seed alive upon the face of all the earth.
4 For yet seven days, and I will cause it to rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights; and every living substance that I have made will I destroy from off the face of the earth.
5 And Noah did according unto all that the Lord commanded him.
6 And Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters was upon the earth.
7 And Noah went in, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons' wives with him, into the ark, because of the waters of the flood.
8 Of clean beasts, and of beasts that are not clean, and of fowls, and of every thing that creepeth upon the earth,
9 There went in two and two unto Noah into the ark, the male and the female, as God had commanded Noah.
10 And it came to pass after seven days, that the waters of the flood were upon the earth.
11 In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened.
12 And the rain was upon the earth forty days and forty nights.
13 In the selfsame day entered Noah, and Shem, and Ham, and Japheth, the sons of Noah, and Noah's wife, and the three wives of his sons with them, into the ark;
14 They, and every beast after his kind, and all the cattle after their kind, and every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind, and every fowl after his kind, every bird of every sort.
15 And they went in unto Noah into the ark, two and two of all flesh, wherein is the breath of life.
16 And they that went in, went in male and female of all flesh, as God had commanded him: and the Lord shut him in.
17 And the flood was forty days upon the earth; and the waters increased, and bare up the ark, and it was lift up above the earth.
18 And the waters prevailed, and were increased greatly upon the earth; and the ark went upon the face of the waters.
19 And the waters prevailed exceedingly upon the earth; and all the high hills, that were under the whole heaven, were covered.
20 Fifteen cubits upward did the waters prevail; and the mountains were covered.
21 And all flesh died that moved upon the earth, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of beast, and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth, and every man:
22 All in whose nostrils was the breath of life, of all that was in the dry land, died.
23 And every living substance was destroyed which was upon the face of the ground, both man, and cattle, and the creeping things, and the fowl of the heaven; and they were destroyed from the earth: and Noah only remained alive, and they that were with him in the ark.
Luke 17:26-27
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Luke 17:26-27
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
26 As it was in the days of Noah,(A) so it will be in the days of the Son of Man; 27 they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage up to the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all.
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Luke 17:26-27
New International Version
Luke 17:26-27
New International Version
26 “Just as it was in the days of Noah,(A) so also will it be in the days of the Son of Man. 27 People were eating, drinking, marrying and being given in marriage up to the day Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed them all.
Luke 17:26-27
King James Version
Luke 17:26-27
King James Version
26 And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man.
27 They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all.
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2 Peter 3:6
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
2 Peter 3:6
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
6 through these the world that then existed was destroyed,(A) deluged with water.[a]
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- 3:6 Destroyed, deluged with water: cf. 2 Pt 2:5; Gn 7:11–8:2.
2 Peter 3:6
New International Version
2 Peter 3:6
New International Version
2 Peter 3:6
King James Version
2 Peter 3:6
King James Version
6 Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished:
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New American Bible (Revised Edition) (NABRE)
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