< Genesis 6 >
1 And after a time, when men were increasing on the earth, and had daughters,
People started to increase in number and spread out across the earth. Daughters were born to them,
2 The sons of God saw that the daughters of men were fair; and they took wives for themselves from those who were pleasing to them.
and the sons of God saw that these women were beautiful, and they took whichever ones they wanted.
3 And the Lord said, My spirit will not be in man for ever, for he is only flesh; so the days of his life will be a hundred and twenty years.
Then the Lord said, “My life-giving Spirit will not remain in these people forever, because they are only mortal. The time they have left will be 120 years.”
4 There were men of great strength and size on the earth in those days; and after that, when the sons of God had connection with the daughters of men, they gave birth to children: these were the great men of old days, the men of great name.
There were giants on earth in those days, and also later on. They were born after the sons of God slept with the daughters of these people. Their sons became the great warriors and famous men of ancient times.
5 And the Lord saw that the sin of man was great on the earth, and that all the thoughts of his heart were evil.
The Lord saw how terribly evil people on earth had become—every single thought in their minds was evil all the time!
6 And the Lord had sorrow because he had made man on the earth, and grief was in his heart.
The Lord was sorry he'd made human beings to live on the earth; it made him very sad to think about it.
7 And the Lord said, I will take away man, whom I have made, from the face of the earth, even man and beast and that which goes on the earth and every bird of the air; for I have sorrow for having made them.
So the Lord said, “I'm going to wipe out these people I created from the earth, and not only them but also the animals, the creatures that run along the ground, and the birds, because I'm sorry I made them.”
8 But Noah had grace in the eyes of God.
But the Lord was pleased with Noah.
9 These are the generations of Noah. Noah was an upright man and without sin in his generation: he went in the ways of God.
This is the story of Noah and his family. Noah was a man of integrity, living a moral life among the people of his time. He had a close relationship with God.
10 And Noah had three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
Noah had three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
11 And the earth was evil in God's eyes and full of violent ways.
God saw how corrupt the whole world had become, full of violent and lawless people.
12 And God, looking on the earth, saw that it was evil: for the way of all flesh had become evil on the earth.
God recognized that the corruption in the world was due to everyone on earth living corrupt lives.
13 And God said to Noah, The end of all flesh has come; the earth is full of their violent doings, and now I will put an end to them with the earth.
So God told Noah, “I have decided to put an end to all people on earth because they are all violent and lawless. I myself am going to destroy all of them, along with the earth.
14 Make for yourself an ark of gopher wood with rooms in it, and make it safe from the water inside and out.
Build an ark out of cypress wood. Make rooms inside the ark, and coat it with tar, both inside and out.
15 And this is the way you are to make it: it is to be three hundred cubits long, fifty cubits wide, and thirty cubits high.
This is how to build it: the ark is to measure 300 cubits long, 50 cubits wide, and 30 cubits high.
16 You are to put a window in the ark, a cubit from the roof, and a door in the side of it, and you are to make it with a lower and second and third floors.
Make a roof for the ark, leaving a cubit-wide opening between the roof and the top of the sides. Put a door in the side of the ark, and construct three decks inside.
17 For truly, I will send a great flow of waters over the earth, for the destruction from under the heaven of all flesh in which is the breath of life; everything on the earth will come to an end.
I myself am going to flood the earth with water that will destroy everything that breathes, Every living thing everywhere on earth will die.
18 But with you I will make an agreement; and you will come into the ark, you and your sons and your wife and your sons' wives with you.
But I will keep my agreement with you. You are to go into the ark, taking with you your wife and your sons and their wives.
19 And you will take with you into the ark two of every sort of living thing, and keep them safe with you; they will be male and female.
Take a pair, male and female, of every kind of animal into the ark and make sure you keep them alive.
20 Two of every sort of bird and cattle and of every sort of living thing which goes on the earth will you take with you to keep them from destruction.
The same applies to every kind of bird, livestock, and the creatures that run along the ground—a pair of every kind will come to you so they can be kept alive.
21 And make a store of every sort of food for yourself and them.
Take all kinds of food with you too. Store it so you and the animals will have enough to eat.”
22 And all these things Noah did; as God said, so he did.
Noah did exactly what God ordered him to do.