People Become Evil

6 The number of people on earth continued to increase. There were girls born to these people. ^2–4The sons of God saw that these girls were beautiful. So the sons of God married any of the girls they chose. These women gave birth to children. During that time and later, the Nephilim* people lived in the land. They were famous people. They were heroes from ancient times.* Then the Lord said, “People are only human; I will not let my Spirit be troubled by them forever. I will let them live 120 years.”* ⁵The Lord saw that the people on the earth were very evil. The Lord saw that people thought only about evil things all the time. ⁶The Lord was sorry that he had made people on the earth. It made the Lord very sad in his heart. ⁷So the Lord said, “I will destroy all the people that I made on the earth. I will destroy every man and every animal and everything that crawls on the earth. And I will destroy all the birds in the air. Why? Because I am sorry that I have made all these things.” ⁸But there was one man on earth that pleased the Lord—Noah.*

Noah and the Great Flood

⁹This is the story about the family of Noah. Noah was a good man all his life. Noah always followed God. 10Noah had three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth. ^11–12God looked at the earth, and he saw that people had ruined it. Violence was everywhere—{people had become evil and cruel} and had ruined their life on earth. ¹³So God said to Noah, “All people have filled the earth with anger and violence. So I will destroy all living things. I will remove them from the earth. ¹⁴Use cypress wood* and build a boat for yourself. Make rooms in the boat,* and cover the boat with tar.* ¹⁵“This is the size I want you to make the boat: 300 cubits* long, 50 cubits* wide, and 30 cubits* high. ¹⁶Make a window for the boat about 18 inches* below the roof.* Put a door in the side of the boat. Make three floors in the boat; a top deck, a middle deck, and a lower deck. ¹⁷“Understand what I am telling you. I will bring a great flood of water on the earth. I will destroy all living things that live under heaven. Everything on the earth will die. ¹⁸I will make a special agreement with you. And you, your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives will all go into the boat. ¹⁹Also, you must find two of every living thing on the earth. Find male and female and bring them on the boat. Keep them alive with you. ²⁰Find two of every kind of bird on the earth. And find two of every kind of animal on the earth. And find two of every kind of thing that crawls on the ground. Male and female of every kind of animal on the earth will be with you. Keep them alive on the boat. ²¹Also bring every kind of food on earth into the boat. The food will be for you and for the animals.” ²²Noah did all these things. Noah obeyed all the things that God commanded.

Nephilim This name is like the Hebrew word meaning “People who have fallen.” Later, the Nephilim were a famous family of large fighting men. See Num. 13:32–33. These women … times Or, “The Nephilim lived in the land in those days and also later, when the sons of God married the daughters of men, and these women had given birth to children who were famous heroes from ancient times.” People … 120 years Or, “My Spirit will not live with people forever, because they are flesh. They will live only 120 years.” Or, “My Spirit will not judge people forever because they will all die in 120 years.” Noah This name is like the Hebrew word meaning “to be sorry,” “to comfort,” or “to rest.” cypress wood Literally, “gopher-wood.” We do not know exactly what kind of wood this is. It might be a kind of tree or squared timbers. Make rooms in the boat Or, “Make caulking for the boat.” This could be small plants that were stuffed into the cracks and covered with tar. tar Or, “pitch,” a thick oil that must be heated to become liquid. 300 cubits 442’ 10 15/16” (135m) if this was the short cubit or 516’ 0” (157.5m) if it was the long cubit. 50 cubits 73’ 9 3/16” (22.5m) if this was the short cubit or 86’ 1 1/2” (26.25m.) if it was the long cubit. 30 cubits 44’ 3 7/16” (13.5m) if this was the short cubit or 51’ 8 1/16” (15.75m) if it was the long cubit. 18 inches Or, “one cubit,” that is, 1’ 5 11/16” (45cm) if this was the short cubit or 1’ 8 5/8” (52.5cm) if it was the long cubit. Make a window … below the roof Or “Make an opening for the boat about 18 inches tall.”

The Flood Begins

7 Then the Lord said to Noah, “I have seen that you are a good man, even among the evil people of this time. So gather your family and all of you go into the boat. ²Get seven pairs (seven males and seven females) of every kind of clean animal.* And get one pair (one male and one female) of every other animal on the earth. Lead all these animals into the boat with you. ³Get seven pairs (seven males and seven females) of all the birds. This will allow all these animals to continue living on the earth after the other animals are destroyed. ⁴Seven days from now I will send much rain on the earth. It will rain for 40 days and 40 nights. And I will wipe everything off the face of the earth. I will destroy everything I made.” ⁵Noah did everything the Lord told him to do. ⁶Noah was 600 years old at the time the rains came. ⁷Noah and his family went into the boat to be saved from the flood. Noah’s wife and his sons and their wives were on the boat with him.

⁸All the clean animals,* all the other animals on the earth, the birds, and everything that crawls on the earth ⁹went into the boat with Noah. These animals went into the boat in groups of two, male and female, just like God commanded. ¹⁰Seven days later the flood started. The rain began to fall on the earth. ^11–13On the 17th day of the second month, when Noah was 600 years old, all the springs under the ground split open, {and water began flowing from the ground}. That same day the rains began falling hard on the earth. It was like windows in the sky were opened. The rain fell on the earth for 40 days and 40 nights. That very same day Noah and his wife, his sons—Shem, Ham, and Japheth—and their wives went into the boat. ¹⁴Those people and every kind of animal on the earth were in the boat. Every kind of cattle, every kind of animal that crawls on the earth, and every kind of bird were in the boat. ¹⁵All these animals went into the boat with Noah. They came in groups of two from every kind of animal that had the breath of life. ¹⁶All these animals went into the boat in groups of two, just like God had commanded Noah. Then the Lord closed the door behind him. ¹⁷Water flooded the earth for 40 days. The water began rising and lifted the boat off the ground. ¹⁸The water continued to rise, and the boat floated on the water high above the earth. ¹⁹The water rose so much that even the highest mountains were covered by the water. ²⁰The water continued to rise above the mountains. The water was more than 20 feet* above the highest mountain. ^21–22Every living thing on earth died—every man and woman, every bird, and every kind of animal on earth died. All the many kinds of animals and all the things that crawl on the ground died. Every living, breathing thing on dry land died. ²³In this way, God wiped the earth clean—God destroyed every living thing on the earth—every man, every animal, everything that crawls, and every bird. All these things were destroyed from the earth. The only life that was left was Noah and those people and animals that were with him in the boat. ²⁴The water continued to cover the earth for 150 days.

clean animal(s) Birds and animals that God said could be used for sacrifices. 20 feet Literally, “15 cubits” which would be 22’ 1 11/16” (6.75m) if this was the short cubit or 25’ 10” (7.875m) if it was the long cubit.