1Then 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.#Wis 10:4; Sir 44:17; 2 Pt 2:5. 2Of 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; 3likewise, of every bird of the air, seven pairs, a male and a female, to keep their progeny alive over all the earth. 4For 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.#Gn 6:17; 2 Pt 2:5. 5Noah complied, just as the Lord had commanded.

The Great Flood. 6Noah was six hundred years old when the flood came upon the earth. 7Together with his sons, his wife, and his sons’ wives, Noah went into the ark because of the waters of the flood.#Wis 14:6; 1 Pt 3:20; 2 Pt 2:5. 8Of the clean animals and the unclean, of the birds, and of everything that crawls on the ground, 9two by two, male and female came to Noah into the ark, just as God had commanded him.#Gn 6:19. 10When the seven days were over, the waters of the flood came upon the earth.

11In 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#Abyss: the subterranean ocean; see note on 1:2. burst forth,

and the floodgates of the sky were opened.

12For forty days and forty nights heavy rain poured down on the earth.

13On 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, 14together 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. 15Pairs of all creatures in which there was the breath of life came to Noah into the ark. 16Those that entered were male and female; of all creatures they came, as God had commanded Noah. Then the Lord shut him in.

17The flood continued upon the earth for forty days. As the waters increased, they lifted the ark, so that it rose above the earth. 18The waters swelled and increased greatly on the earth, but the ark floated on the surface of the waters. 19Higher and higher on the earth the waters swelled, until all the highest mountains under the heavens were submerged. 20The waters swelled fifteen cubits higher than the submerged mountains. 21All creatures that moved on earth perished: birds, tame animals, wild animals, and all that teemed on the earth, as well as all humankind.#Jb 22:16; Mt 24:39; Lk 17:27; 2 Pt 3:6. 22Everything on dry land with the breath of life in its nostrils died. 23The 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.

24And when the waters had swelled on the earth for one hundred and fifty days,

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Genesis 7

The Flood Begins

1Then the Lord said to Noah, “I have seen that you are the best person among the people of this time, so you and your family can go into the boat. 2Take with you seven pairs, each male with its female, of every kind of clean animal, and take one pair, each male with its female, of every kind of unclean animal. 3Take seven pairs of all the birds of the sky, each male with its female. This will allow all these animals to continue living on the earth after the flood. 4Seven days from now I will send rain on the earth. It will rain forty days and forty nights, and I will wipe off from the earth every living thing that I have made.”

5Noah did everything the Lord commanded him.

6Noah was six hundred years old when the flood came. 7He and his wife and his sons and their wives went into the boat to escape the waters of the flood. 8The clean animals, the unclean animals, the birds, and everything that crawls on the ground 9came to Noah. They went into the boat in groups of two, male and female, just as God had commanded Noah. 10Seven days later the flood started.

11When Noah was six hundred years old, the flood started. On the seventeenth day of the second month of that year the underground springs split open, and the clouds in the sky poured out rain. 12The rain fell on the earth for forty days and forty nights.

13On that same day Noah and his wife, his sons Shem, Ham, and Japheth, and their wives went into the boat. 14They had every kind of wild and tame animal, every kind of animal that crawls on the earth, and every kind of bird. 15Every creature that had the breath of life came to Noah in the boat in groups of two. 16One male and one female of every living thing came, just as God had commanded Noah. Then the Lord closed the door behind them.

17Water flooded the earth for forty days, and as it rose it lifted the boat off the ground. 18The water continued to rise, and the boat floated on it above the earth. 19The water rose so much that even the highest mountains under the sky were covered by it. 20It continued to rise until it was more than twenty feet above the mountains.

21All living things that moved on the earth died. This included all the birds, tame animals, wild animals, and creatures that swarm on the earth, as well as all human beings. 22So everything on dry land that had the breath of life in it died. 23God destroyed from the earth every living thing that was on the land—every man, animal, crawling thing, and bird of the sky. All that was left was Noah and what was with him in the boat. 24And the waters continued to cover the earth for one hundred fifty days.

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Genesis 7

Genesis 7