Genesis 6-8

Holman Christian Standard Bible

Sons of God and Daughters of Men

6 When mankind began to multiply on the earth and daughters were born to them, ² the sons of God^(A) saw that the daughters of mankind were beautiful, and they took any they chose as wives^[a] for themselves.^{(B) 3} And the Lord said, “My Spirit will not remain^[b] with^[c] mankind forever,^(C) because they are corrupt.^[d](D) Their days will be 120 years.” ⁴ The Nephilim^[e] were on the earth both in those days and afterward, when the sons of God came to the daughters of mankind, who bore children to them. They were the powerful men of old, the famous men.

Judgment Decreed

⁵ When the Lord saw that man’s wickedness was widespread on the earth and that every scheme his mind thought of was nothing but evil all the time,^{(E) 6} the Lord regretted that He had made man on the earth,^(F) and He was grieved in His heart. ⁷ Then the Lord said, “I will wipe off from the face of the earth mankind, whom I created, together with the animals, creatures that crawl, and birds of the sky—for I regret that I made them.” ⁸ Noah, however, found favor in the sight of the Lord.^(G)

God Warns Noah

⁹ These are the family records^(H) of Noah. Noah was a righteous man,^(I) blameless among his contemporaries;^(J) Noah walked with God.^{(K) 10} And Noah fathered three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

¹¹ Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight, and the earth was filled with wickedness.^{[f] 12} God saw how corrupt the earth was, for every creature had corrupted its way on the earth.^{(L) 13} Then God said to Noah, “I have decided to put an end to every creature, for the earth is filled with wickedness^[g] because of them; therefore I am going to destroy them along with the earth.

¹⁴ “Make yourself an ark of gopher^[h] wood. Make rooms in the ark, and cover it with pitch inside and outside. ¹⁵ This is how you are to make it: The ark will be 450 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet high.^{[i] 16} You are to make a roof,^[j] finishing the sides of the ark to within 18 inches^[k] of the roof. You are to put a door in the side of the ark. Make it with lower, middle, and upper decks.

¹⁷ “Understand that I am bringing a flood—floodwaters on the earth^(M) to destroy every creature under heaven with the breath of life in it. Everything on earth will die. ¹⁸ But I will establish My covenant with you,^(N) and you will enter the ark with your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives. ¹⁹ You are also to bring into the ark two of all the living creatures, male and female, to keep them alive with you. ²⁰ Two of everything—from the birds according to their kinds, from the livestock according to their kinds, and from the animals that crawl on the ground according to their kinds—will come to you so that you can keep them alive. ²¹ Take with you every kind of food that is eaten; gather it as food for you and for them.” ²² And Noah did this. He did everything that God had commanded him.^(O)

Entering the Ark

7 Then the Lord said to Noah, “Enter the ark, you and all your household, for I have seen that you alone are righteous before Me in this generation.^{(P) 2} You are to take with you seven pairs, a male and its female, of all the clean animals,^(Q) and two of the animals that are not clean, a male and its female, ³ and seven pairs, male and female, of the birds of the sky—in order to keep offspring alive on the face of the whole earth. ⁴ Seven days from now I will make it rain on the earth 40 days and 40 nights, and I will wipe off from the face of the earth every living thing I have made.” ⁵ And Noah did everything that the Lord commanded him.^(R)

⁶ Noah was 600 years old when the flood came and water covered the earth. ⁷ So Noah, his sons, his wife, and his sons’ wives entered the ark because of the waters of the flood. ⁸ From the clean animals, unclean animals, birds, and every creature that crawls on the ground, ⁹ two of each, male and female, entered the ark with Noah, just as God had commanded him. ¹⁰ Seven days later the waters of the flood came on the earth.

The Flood

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 sources of the watery depths burst open,^(S) the floodgates of the sky were opened,^{(T) 12} and the rain fell on the earth 40 days and 40 nights. ¹³ On that same day Noah along with his sons Shem, Ham, and Japheth, Noah’s wife, and his three sons’ wives entered the ark with him. ¹⁴ They entered it with all the wildlife according to their kinds, all livestock according to their kinds, the creatures that crawl on the earth according to their kinds, all birds, every fowl, and everything with wings according to their kinds. ¹⁵ Two of all flesh that has the breath of life in it entered the ark with Noah. ¹⁶ Those that entered, male and female of all flesh, entered just as God had commanded him. Then the Lord shut him in.

¹⁷ The flood continued for 40 days on the earth; the waters increased and lifted up the ark so that it rose above the earth. ¹⁸ The waters surged and increased greatly on the earth, and the ark floated on the surface of the water. ¹⁹ Then the waters surged even higher on the earth, and all the high mountains under the whole sky were covered. ²⁰ The mountains were covered as the waters surged above them more than 20 feet.^{[l] 21} Every creature perished—those that crawl on the earth, birds, livestock, wildlife, and those that swarm^[m] on the earth, as well as all mankind. ²² Everything with the breath of the spirit of life in its nostrils^(U)—everything on dry land died. ²³ He wiped out every living thing that was on the surface of the ground, from mankind to livestock, to creatures that crawl, to the birds of the sky, and they were wiped off the earth. Only Noah was left, and those that were with him in the ark.^{(V) 24} And the waters surged on the earth 150 days.

The Flood Recedes

8 God remembered Noah,^(W) as well as all the wildlife and all the livestock that were with him in the ark. God caused a wind^[n] to pass over the earth,^(X) and the water began to subside. ² The sources of the watery depths and the floodgates of the sky were closed, and the rain from the sky stopped.^{(Y) 3} The water steadily receded from the earth, and by the end of 150 days the waters had decreased significantly.^{(Z) 4} The ark came to rest in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on the mountains of Ararat.^[o](AA)

⁵ The waters continued to recede until the tenth month; in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, the tops of the mountains were visible. ⁶ After 40 days Noah opened the window of the ark that he had made, ⁷ and he sent out a raven. It went back and forth until the waters had dried up from the earth. ⁸ Then he sent out a dove to see whether the water on the earth’s surface had gone down, ⁹ but the dove found no resting place for her foot. She returned to him in the ark because water covered the surface of the whole earth. He reached out and brought her into the ark to himself. ¹⁰ So Noah waited seven more days and sent out the dove from the ark again. ¹¹ When the dove came to him at evening, there was a plucked olive leaf in her beak. So Noah knew that the water on the earth’s surface had gone down. ¹² After he had waited another seven days, he sent out the dove, but she did not return to him again. ¹³ In the six hundred and first year,^[p] in the first month, on the first day of the month, the water that had covered the earth was dried up. Then Noah removed the ark’s cover and saw that the surface of the ground was drying. ¹⁴ By the twenty-seventh day of the second month, the earth was dry.

The Lord’s Promise

¹⁵ Then God spoke to Noah, ¹⁶ “Come out of the ark, you, your wife, your sons, and your sons’ wives with you. ¹⁷ Bring out all the living creatures^[q] that are with you—birds, livestock, those that crawl on the ground—and they will spread over the earth and be fruitful and multiply on the earth.”^{(AB) 18} So Noah, along with his sons, his wife, and his sons’ wives, came out. ¹⁹ All wildlife, all livestock, every bird, and every creature that crawls on the earth came out of the ark by their groups.

²⁰ Then Noah built an altar to the Lord. He took some of every kind of clean animal and every kind of clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar. ²¹ When the Lord smelled the pleasing aroma,^(AC) He said to Himself, “I will never again curse the ground^(AD) because of man, even though man’s inclination is evil from his youth.^(AE) And I will never again strike down every living thing as I have done.^(AF)