1Now when men began to multiply on the face of the earth and daughters were born to them, 2the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful, and they took as wives whomever they chose.

3So the Lord said, “My Spirit will not contend with man forever,#6:3 LXX and Syriac My Spirit will not remain in man forever for he is mortal; his days shall be 120 years.”

4The Nephilim were on the earth in those days—and afterward as well—when the sons of God had relations with the daughters of men. And they bore them children who became the mighty men of old, men of renown.

5Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great upon the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was altogether evil all the time. 6And the Lord regretted that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. 7So the Lord said, “I will blot out man, whom I have created, from the face of the earth—every man and beast and crawling creature and bird of the air—for I am grieved that I have made them.”

Noah’s Favor with God

8Noah, however, found favor in the eyes of the Lord.

9This is the account of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation; Noah walked with God. 10And Noah had three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

11Now the earth was corrupt in the sight of God, and full of violence. 12And God looked upon the earth and saw that it was corrupt; for all living creatures #6:12 Literally all flesh; similarly in verses 13, 17, and 19 on the earth had corrupted their ways.

Preparing the Ark

(Hebrews 11:7)

13Then God said to Noah, “The end of all living creatures has come before Me, because through them the earth is full of violence. Now behold, I will destroy both them and the earth.

14Make for yourself an ark of gopher wood;#6:14 Gopher is an unknown kind of tree; possibly cypress or cedar. make rooms in the ark and coat it with pitch inside and out. 15And this is how you are to build it: The ark is to be 300 cubits long, 50 cubits wide, and 30 cubits high.#6:15 The ark was approximately 450 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet high (137.2 meters long, 22.9 meters wide, and 13.7 meters high). 16You are to make a roof #6:16 Or skylight or window for the ark, finish its walls a cubit from the top,#6:16 A cubit is approximately 18 inches or 45.7 centimeters. place a door in the side of the ark, and build lower, middle, and upper decks.

17And behold, I will bring floodwaters upon the earth to destroy every creature under the heavens that has the breath of life. Everything on the earth will perish. 18But I will establish My covenant with you, and you will enter the ark—you and your sons and your wife and your sons’ wives with you.

19And you are to bring two of every living creature into the ark—male and female—to keep them alive with you. 20Two of every kind of bird and animal and crawling creature will come to you to be kept alive. 21You are also to take for yourself every kind of food that is eaten and gather it as food for yourselves and for the animals.”

22So Noah did everything precisely as God had commanded him.

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Genesis 6

Noah and the flood

The LORD will send a flood

1-2More and more people were born, until finally they spread all over the earth. Some of their daughters were so beautiful that supernatural beings#6.1,2 supernatural beings: Or “angels”. came down and married the ones they wanted.#Job 1.6; 2.1. 3Then the LORD said, “I won't let my life-giving breath remain in anyone for ever.#6.3 I won't…for ever: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text. No one will live for more than one hundred and twenty years.”#6.3 No one…years: Or “In fact, they will all be destroyed in about one hundred years” (that is, at the time of the flood).

4The children of the supernatural beings who had married these women became famous heroes and warriors. They were called Nephilim and lived on the earth at that time and even later.#Nu 13.33.

5The LORD saw how bad the people on earth were and that everything they thought and planned was evil.#Mt 24.37; Lk 17.26; 1 P 3.20. 6He was very sorry that he had made them, 7and he said, “I'll destroy every living creature on earth! I'll wipe out people, animals, birds, and reptiles. I'm sorry I ever made them.”

8But the LORD was pleased with Noah, 9and this is the story about him. Noah was the only person who lived right and obeyed God.#2 P 2.5. 10He had three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

11-12God knew that everyone was terribly cruel and violent. 13So he told Noah:

Cruelty and violence have spread everywhere. Now I'm going to destroy the whole earth and all its people. 14Get some good timber and build a boat. Put rooms in it and cover it with tar inside and out. 15Make it one hundred and thirty-three metres long, twenty-two metres wide, and thirteen metres high. 16Build a roof#6.16 roof: Or “window”. on the boat and leave a space of about forty-four centimetres between the roof and the sides.#6.16 leave…sides: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text. Make the boat three storeys high and put a door on one side.

17I'm going to send a flood that will destroy everything that breathes! Nothing will be left alive. 18But I solemnly promise that you, your wife, your sons, and your daughters-in-law will be kept safe in the boat.#6.18 boat: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text of verse 18.

19-20Bring into the boat with you a male and a female of every kind of animal and bird, as well as a male and a female of every reptile. I don't want them to be destroyed. 21Store up enough food both for yourself and for them.

22Noah did everything the LORD told him to do.#He 11.7.

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Genesis 6

Genesis 6