Genesis 6

1 And Noe was five hundred years old, and he begot three sons, Sem, Cham, and Japheth. And it came to pass when men began to be numerous upon the earth, and daughters were born to them,

People started to increase in number and spread out across the earth. Daughters were born to them,

2 that the sons of God having seen the daughters of men that they were beautiful, took to themselves wives of all whom they chose.

and the sons of God saw that these women were beautiful, and they took whichever ones they wanted.

3 And the Lord God said, My Spirit shall certainly not remain amongst these men for ever, because they are flesh, but their days shall be an 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 Now the giants were upon the earth in those days; and after that when the sons of God were wont to go in to the daughters of men, they bore [children] to them, those were the giants of old, the men of renown.

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 God, having seen that the wicked actions of men were multiplied upon the earth, and that every one in his heart was intently brooding over evil continually,

The Lord saw how terribly evil people on earth had become—every single thought in their minds was evil all the time!

6 then God laid it to heart that he had made man upon the earth, and he pondered [it] deeply.

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 God said, I will blot out man whom I have made from the face of the earth, even man with cattle, and reptiles with flying creatures of the sky, for I am grieved that I have 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 Noe found grace before the Lord God.

But the Lord was pleased with Noah.

9 And these [are] the generations of Noe. Noe was a just man; being perfect in his generation, Noe was well-pleasing to 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 Noe begot three sons, Sem, Cham, Japheth.

Noah had three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

11 But the earth was corrupted before God, and the earth was filled with iniquity.

God saw how corrupt the whole world had become, full of violent and lawless people.

12 And the Lord God saw the earth, and it was corrupted; because all flesh had corrupted its way upon the earth.

God recognized that the corruption in the world was due to everyone on earth living corrupt lives.

13 And the Lord God said to Noe, A period of all men is come before me; because the earth has been filled with iniquity by them, and, behold, I destroy them and 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 therefore for yourself an ark of square timber; you shall make the ark in compartments, and you shall pitch it within and without with pitch.

Build an ark out of cypress wood. Make rooms inside the ark, and coat it with tar, both inside and out.

15 And thus shall you make the ark; three hundred cubits the length of the ark, and fifty cubits the breadth, and thirty cubits the height of it.

This is how to build it: the ark is to measure 300 cubits long, 50 cubits wide, and 30 cubits high.

16 You shall narrow the ark in making it, and in a cubit above you shall finish it, and the door of the ark you shall make on the side; with lower, second, and third storeys you shall make it.

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 And behold I bring a flood of water upon the earth, to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life under heaven, and whatever things are upon the earth shall die.

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 And I will establish my covenant with you, and you shall enter into the ark, 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 of all cattle and of all reptiles and of all wild beasts, even of all flesh, you shall bring by pairs of all, into the ark, that you may feed them with yourself: male and female they shall be.

Take a pair, male and female, of every kind of animal into the ark and make sure you keep them alive.

20 Of all winged birds after their kind, and of all cattle after their kind, and of all reptiles creeping upon the earth after their kind, pairs of all shall come in to you, male and female to be fed with you.

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 you shall take to yourself of all kinds of food which you eat, and you shall gather them to yourself, and it shall be for you and them to eat.

Take all kinds of food with you too. Store it so you and the animals will have enough to eat.”

22 And Noe did all things whatever the Lord God commanded him, so did he.

Noah did exactly what God ordered him to do.

The World is Destroyed by Water