Genesis 8

1 And God remembered Noah, and all the wild—beasts and all the tame-beasts that were with him in the ark, —and God caused a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters subsided;

上帝記念挪亞和挪亞方舟裏的一切走獸牲畜。上帝叫風吹地，水勢漸落。

2 and the fountains of the roaring-deep were shut, and the windows of the heavens, —and the heavy rain was restrained from the heavens;

淵源和天上的窗戶都閉塞了，天上的大雨也止住了。

3 and the waters returned from off the earth they went on returning, —and so the waters decreased at the end of a hundred and fifty days.

水從地上漸退。過了一百五十天，水就漸消。

4 And the ark rested, in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, —on the mountains of Ararat.

七月十七日，方舟停在亞拉臘山上。

5 But, the waters went on decreasing, until the tenth month, —in the tenth [month], on the first of the month, were seen the tops of the mountains.

水又漸消，到十月初一日，山頂都現出來了。

6 And it came to pass at the end of forty days, that Noah opened the window of the ark that he had made;

過了四十天，挪亞開了方舟的窗戶，

7 and sent forth a raven, —and it kept going forth and returning, until the drying up of the waters from off the earth.

放出一隻烏鴉去；那烏鴉飛來飛去，直到地上的水都乾了。

8 And he sent forth a dove from him, —to see whether the waters had abated, from off the face of the ground;

他又放出一隻鴿子去，要看看水從地上退了沒有。

9 but the dove found no resting-place for the sole of her foot so she returned unto him into the ark, for, waters, were on the face of all the earth; and he put forth his hand and took her, and brought her in unto him, into the ark.

但遍地上都是水，鴿子找不着落腳之地，就回到方舟挪亞那裏，挪亞伸手把鴿子接進方舟來。

10 Then stayed he yet seven days more, —and, again sent forth the dove out of the ark.

他又等了七天，再把鴿子從方舟放出去。

11 And the dove came in unto him at eventide, and lo! a newly sprouted olive-leaf, in her mouth, —so Noah knew that the waters had abated from off the earth.

到了晚上，鴿子回到他那裏，嘴裏叼着一個新擰下來的橄欖葉子，挪亞就知道地上的水退了。

12 And he stayed yet seven days more, —and sent forth the dove, but she returned not again unto him any more.

他又等了七天，放出鴿子去，鴿子就不再回來了。

13 So it came to pass in the six hundred and first year at the beginning, on the first of the month, that the waters had dried up from off the earth, —and Noah removed the covering of the ark, and looked and lo! the face of the ground was dried.

到挪亞六百零一歲，正月初一日，地上的水都乾了。挪亞撤去方舟的蓋觀看，便見地面上乾了。

14 And in the second month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, was the earth dry.

到了二月二十七日，地就都乾了。

15 So then, God spake to Noah, saying:

上帝對挪亞說：

16 Come forth out of the ark, —thou and thy wife, and thy sons, and thy sons’ wives with thee.

「你和你的妻子、兒子、兒婦都可以出方舟。

17 All the living creatures that are with thee of all flesh among birds, and among beasts, and among all the creeping things that creep on the earth, bring forth with thee, —and they shall swarm in the earth, and be fruitful and multiply, on the earth.

在你那裏凡有血肉的活物，就是飛鳥、牲畜，和一切爬在地上的昆蟲，都要帶出來，叫牠在地上多多滋生，大大興旺。」

18 So Noah came forth, —and his sons and his wife, and his sons’ wives with him:

於是挪亞和他的妻子、兒子、兒婦都出來了。

19 All the living creatures, all that move along, and all birds, and all that moveth along over the earth—by their families, came forth out of the ark.

一切走獸、昆蟲、飛鳥，和地上所有的動物，各從其類，也都出了方舟。

20 And Noah builded an altar to Yahweh, —and took of all the clean beasts and of all the clean birds, and caused ascending Sacrifices to go up on the altar.

挪亞為耶和華築了一座壇，拿各類潔淨的牲畜、飛鳥獻在壇上為燔祭。

21 And Yahweh smelled a satisfying odour, so Yahweh said to himself. I will not, again, curse any more the ground for man’s sake, although the device of the heart of man, be wicked from his youth, —neither will I again, any more smite every living thing, as I have done.

耶和華聞那馨香之氣，就心裏說：「我不再因人的緣故咒詛地（人從小時心裏懷着惡念），也不再按着我才行的滅各種的活物了。

22 During all the days of the earth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat and summer and winter, and day and night, shall not cease.

地還存留的時候，稼穡、寒暑、冬夏、晝夜就永不停息了。」

A Dove is Sent Forth from the Ark