Genesis 6
6
Chapter 6
1People began to grow in number all over the earth. They gave birth to daughters. 2The sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful. They chose for themselves any of them that they wanted to become their wives. #6:2 We do not know who ‘the sons of God’ were. They may have been men on the earth who trusted God. They may have been men who belonged to God in heaven, like angels. The ‘daughters of men’ were women who lived on the earth.
3The Lord said, ‘My Spirit will not give life to humans for ever. One day they will die. I will not let them live for more than 120 years. Then they will die.’
4The Nephilites lived on the earth at that time, and for some time after that. During that time, the sons of God were having sex with the daughters of men, who gave birth to their children. The Nephilites were famous great men and fighters.
5The Lord saw that men and women on the earth had become very bad. They thought only of evil things all the time. 6The Lord was sorry that he had made humans and put them on the earth. He became very upset. 7So the Lord said, ‘I made humans, but now I will destroy them. I will completely take them off the earth. As well as human people, I will also destroy the animals, the living things that move on the ground, and the birds. I am sorry that I made them.’
8But as for Noah, the Lord was happy about him. #6:8 Men and women turned against God. God felt very sad. Noah was different from the other people on the earth at that time. God was happy with him. The next verses tell us why God was happy about Noah.
God saves Noah
9This is the report about Noah and his family.
Noah was a good man. He was the only person at that time who lived in a completely right way. He stayed near to God in his life. 10Noah became the father of Shem, Ham and Japheth.
11God saw that everything on the earth had become spoiled. Everywhere, people were attacking each other. 12God saw how much the earth had become spoiled. Everyone was doing bad things. 13God said to Noah, ‘I will destroy everyone. That is what I have decided to do. Everywhere on the earth, people are attacking each other. Now I will destroy the people and also the earth. 14So make a ship for yourself. Use wood from cypress trees to make it.#6:14 Cypress trees are trees with hard wood. The ship must have rooms in it. Cover the inside and the outside of the ship with tar. #6:14 Tar stops water coming into the ship.
15This is how you will build the ship: It must be 150 metres long, 25 metres wide and 15 metres high.
16Make a roof for the ship. Leave a space 45 centimetres high all round under the roof. Put a door in the side of the ship. Inside the ship, make three floors above each other.
17I will cover the earth with deep water. I will destroy all living things, wherever they live. Everything that breathes will die. 18But I will make a covenant with you, Noah. You will go into the ship. You will take your wife with you, and also your three sons and their wives. 19You must also take two of every different kind of animal into the ship. One will be male and the other will be female. Then they will stay alive with you. 20Bring two of every different kind of bird, two of every different animal and two of every different living thing that moves along the ground. All these will come to you. You will take care of them so that they will stay alive. 21You must also take every different kind of food. That will be food for you and food for the animals.’
22Noah obeyed God. He did everything that God had told him to do.
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Genesis 6
6
People Become Evil
1-4The number of people on earth continued to increase. When these people had daughters, the sons of God saw how beautiful they were. So they chose the women they wanted. They married them, and the women had their children.
Then the Lord said, “People are only human. I will not let my Spirit be troubled by them forever. I will let them live only 120 years.”#6:1-4 People … 120 years Or “The spirit from me will not live in 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.”
During this time and also later, the Nephilim people lived in the land. They have been famous as powerful soldiers since ancient times.
5The Lord saw that the people on the earth were very evil. He saw that they thought only about evil things all the time. 6The Lord was sorry that he had made people on the earth. It made him very sad in his heart. 7So the Lord said, “I will destroy all the people I created on the earth. I will destroy every person and every animal and everything that crawls on the earth. And I will destroy all the birds in the air, because I am sorry that I have made them.”
8But Noah pleased the Lord.
Noah and the Great Flood
9This is the history of Noah’s family. He was a good man all his life, and he always followed God. 10Noah had three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
11-12When God looked at the earth, he saw that people had ruined it. Violence was everywhere, and it had ruined their life on earth.
13So God said to Noah, “Everyone has filled the earth with anger and violence. So I will destroy all living things. I will remove them from the earth. 14Use cypress wood#6:14 cypress wood In Hebrew, “gopher timbers.” It is uncertain what kind of wood this is. It might be a kind of tree or squared timbers. and build a boat for yourself. Make rooms in the boat and cover it with tar inside and out.
15“This is the size I want you to make the boat: 300 cubits#6:15 300 cubits 437' 1/8" (133 m) if this was the short cubit or 510' 1 13/16" (155.5 m) if it was the long cubit. long, 50 cubits#6:15 50 cubits 72' 10" (22.2 m) if this was the short cubit or 85' 5/16" (25.92 m) if it was the long cubit. wide, and 30 cubits#6:15 30 cubits 43' 8 7/16" (13.3 m) if this was the short cubit or 51' 3/16" (15.55 m) if it was the long cubit. high. 16Make a window for the boat about 1 cubit#6:16 1 cubit 17 1/2" (44.4 cm) if this was the short cubit or 20 5/8" (51.83 cm) if it was the long cubit. below the roof.#6:16 Make a window … below the roof Or “Make an opening for the boat about 18 inches tall.” 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. You, your wife, your sons, and their wives will all go into the boat. 19Also, you will take two of every living thing on the earth with you into the boat. Take a male and female of every kind of animal so that they might survive with you. 20Two of every kind of bird, animal, and creeping thing will come to you so that you might keep them alive. 21Also bring every kind of food into the boat, for you and for the animals.”
22Noah did everything God commanded him.
© 1987, 2004 Bible League International