¹⁰ And already the ax is lying at the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

¹¹ I indeed baptize you ^[a]in (with) water ^[b]because of repentance [that is, because of your ^[c]changing your minds for the better, heartily amending your ways, with abhorrence of your past sins]. But He Who is coming after me is mightier than I, Whose sandals I am not worthy or fit to take off or carry; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.

¹² His winnowing fan (shovel, fork) is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clear out and clean His threshing floor and gather and store His wheat in His barn, but the chaff He will burn up with fire that cannot be put out.

¹³ Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John to be baptized by him.

¹⁴ But John ^[d]protested strenuously, having in mind to prevent Him, saying, It is I who have need to be baptized by You, and do You come to me?

¹⁵ But Jesus replied to him, ^[e]Permit it just now; for this is the fitting way for [both of] us to fulfill all righteousness [that is, to ^[f]perform completely whatever is right]. Then he permitted Him.

¹⁶ And when Jesus was baptized, He went up at once out of the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and he [John] saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on Him.

¹⁷ And behold, a voice from heaven said, This is My Son, My Beloved, in Whom I delight!^(A)

6 When men began to multiply on the face of the land and daughters were born to them,

² The sons of God saw that the daughters of men were fair, and they took wives of all they desired and chose.

³ Then the Lord said, My Spirit shall not forever dwell and strive with man, for he also is flesh; but his days shall yet be 120 years.

⁴ There were giants on the earth in those days—and also afterward—when the sons of God lived with the daughters of men, and they bore children to them. These were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown.

⁵ The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination and intention of all human thinking was only evil continually.

⁶ And the Lord regretted that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved at heart.

⁷ So the Lord said, I will destroy, blot out, and wipe away mankind, whom I have created from the face of the ground—not only man, [but] the beasts and the creeping things and the birds of the air—for it grieves Me and makes Me regretful that I have made them.

⁸ But Noah found grace (favor) in the eyes of the Lord.

⁹ This is the history of the generations of Noah. Noah was a just and righteous man, blameless in his [evil] generation; Noah walked [in habitual fellowship] with God.

¹⁰ And Noah became the father of three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

¹¹ The earth was depraved and putrid in God’s sight, and the land was filled with violence (desecration, infringement, outrage, assault, and lust for power).

¹² And God looked upon the world and saw how degenerate, debased, and vicious it was, for all humanity had corrupted their way upon the earth and lost their true direction.

¹³ God said to Noah, I intend to make an end of all flesh, for through men the land is filled with violence; and behold, I will ^[a]destroy them and the land.

¹⁴ Make yourself an ark of gopher or cypress wood; make in it rooms (stalls, pens, coops, nests, cages, and compartments) and cover it inside and out with pitch (bitumen).

¹⁵ And this is the way you are to make it: the length of the ark shall be 300 cubits, its breadth 50 cubits, and its height 30 cubits [that is, 450 ft. x 75 ft. x 45 ft.].

¹⁶ You shall make a roof or ^[b]window [a place for light] for the ark and finish it to a cubit [at least 18 inches] above—and the ^[c]door of the ark you shall put in the side of it; and you shall make it with lower, second, and third stories.

¹⁷ For behold, I, even I, will bring a flood of waters upon the earth to destroy and make putrid all flesh under the heavens in which are the breath and spirit of life; everything that is on the land shall die.

¹⁸ But I will establish My covenant (promise, pledge) with you, and you shall come into the ark—you and your sons and your wife and your sons’ wives with you.

¹⁹ And of every living thing of all flesh [found on land], you shall bring two of every sort into the ark, to keep them alive with you; they shall be male and female.

²⁰ Of fowls and birds according to their kinds, of beasts according to their kinds, of every creeping thing of the ground according to its kind—two of every sort shall come in with you, that they may be kept alive.

²¹ Also take with you every sort of food that is eaten, and you shall collect and store it up, and it shall serve as food for you and for them.

²² Noah did this; he did all that God commanded him.