Genesis 6

1 And whanne men bigunnen to be multiplied on erthe, and hadden gendrid douytris,

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

2 the sones of God seiyen the douytris of men that thei weren faire, and token wyues to hem of alle whiche thei hadden chose.

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

3 And God seide, My spirit schal not dwelle in man with outen ende, for he is fleisch; and the daies of hym schulen be an hundrid and twenti yeer.

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 Sotheli giauntis weren on erthe in tho daies, forsothe aftir that the sones of God entriden to the douytris of men, and tho douytris gendriden; these weren myyti of the world and famouse men.

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 Sotheli God seiy that myche malice of men was in erthe, and that al the thouyt of herte was ententif to yuel in al tyme,

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

6 and repentide him that he hadde maad man in erthe; and God was war bifore ayens tyme to comyng, and was touchid with sorewe of herte with ynne;

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 seide, Y schal do awei man, whom Y made of nouyt, fro the face of the erthe, fro man til to lyuynge thingis, fro crepynge beeste til to the briddis of heuene; for it repentith me that Y made hem.

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 Forsothe Noe foond grace bifore the Lord.

But the Lord was pleased with Noah.

9 These ben the generaciouns of Noe. Noe was a iust man and perfit in hise generaciouns; Noe yede with 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 gendride thre sones, Sem, Cam, and Jafeth.

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

11 Forsothe the erthe was corrupt bifore God, and was fillid with wickidnes.

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

12 And whanne God seiy, that the erthe was corrupt, for ech fleisch ether man hadde corrupt his weie on erthe,

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

13 he seide to Noe, The ende of al fleisch is comen bifore me; the erthe is fillid with wickidnesse of the face of hem, and Y schal distrye hem with the erthe.

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 thou to thee a schip of trees hewun and planed; thou schalt make dwellynge placis in the schip, and thou schalt anoynte it with pitche with ynne and with outforth.

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

15 And so thou schalt make it. The lengthe of the schip schal be of thre hundrid cubitis, the brede schal be of fifti cubitis, and the hiynesse therof schal be of thretti cubitis.

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

16 Thou schalt make a wyndow in the schip, and thou schalt ende the hiynesse therof in a cubite; sotheli thou schalt sette the dore of the schip in the side binethe; thou shalt make soleris and placis of thre chaumbris in the schip.

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 Lo! Y schal brynge `watris of diluuye ether greet flood on erthe, and Y schal sle ech fleisch in which is the spirit of lijf vndir heuene, and alle thingis that ben in erthe, schulen be wastid.

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 Y schal sette my couenaunt of pees with thee; and thou schalt entre in to the schip, and thy sones, and thi wijf, and the wiues of thi sones schulen entre with thee.

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 alle lyuynge beestis of al fleisch thou schalt brynge in to the schip tweyne and tweyne, of male kynde and female, that thei lyue with thee;

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

20 of briddis bi her kynde, and of werk beestis in her kynde, and of ech crepynge beeste of erthe, by her kynde; tweyne and tweyne of alle schulen entre with thee, that thei moun lyue.

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 Therfore thou schalt take with thee of alle metis that moun be etun, and thou schalt bere to gidre at thee, and tho schulen be as well to thee as to the beestis in to mete.

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

22 Therfor Noe dide alle thingis whiche God comaundide to hym.

Noah did exactly what God ordered him to do.

The World is Destroyed by Water