Genesis 6
6
Ancient heroes
1When the number of people started to increase throughout the fertile land, daughters were born to them. 2The divine beings saw how beautiful these human women were, so they married the ones they chose. 3The LORD said, “My breath#6.3 Or spirit will not remain in humans forever, because they are flesh. They will live one hundred twenty years.” 4In those days, giants#6.4 Or the Nephilim lived on the earth and also afterward, when divine beings and human daughters had sexual relations and gave birth to children. These were the ancient heroes, famous men.
Great flood
5The LORD saw that humanity had become thoroughly evil on the earth and that every idea their minds thought up was always completely evil. 6The LORD regretted making human beings on the earth, and he was heartbroken. 7So the LORD said, “I will wipe off of the land the human race that I’ve created: from human beings to livestock to the crawling things to the birds in the skies, because I regret I ever made them.” 8But as for Noah, the LORD approved of him.
9These are Noah’s descendants. In his generation, Noah was a moral and exemplary man; he#6.9 Heb Noah walked with God. 10Noah had three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth. 11In God’s sight, the earth had become corrupt and was filled with violence. 12God saw that the earth was corrupt, because all creatures behaved corruptly on the earth.
13God said to Noah, “The end has come for all creatures, since they have filled the earth with violence. I am now about to destroy them along with the earth, 14so make a wooden ark.#6.14 Or ark of gopher wood, an unknown species of tree Make the ark with nesting places and cover it inside and out with tar. 15This is how you should make it: four hundred fifty feet long, seventy-five feet wide, and forty-five feet high. 16Make a roof#6.16 Or window for the ark and complete it one foot from the top.#6.16 Heb uncertain Put a door in its side. In the hold below, make the second and third decks.
17“I am now bringing the floodwaters over the earth to destroy everything under the sky that breathes. Everything on earth is about to take its last breath. 18But I will set up my covenant with you. You will go into the ark together with your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives. 19From all living things—from all creatures—you are to bring a pair, male and female, into the ark with you to keep them alive. 20From each kind of bird, from each kind of livestock, and from each kind of everything that crawls on the ground—a pair from each will go in with you to stay alive. 21Take some from every kind of food and stow it as food for you and for the animals.”
22Noah did everything exactly as God commanded him.
2011 Common English Bible. All rights reserved.
Genesis 6
6
Giants in the Land
1-2When the human race began to increase, with more and more daughters being born, the sons of God noticed that the daughters of men were beautiful. They looked them over and picked out wives for themselves.
3Then God said, “I’m not going to breathe life into men and women endlessly. Eventually they’re going to die; from now on they can expect a life span of 120 years.”
4This was back in the days (and also later) when there were giants in the land. The giants came from the union of the sons of God and the daughters of men. These were the mighty men of ancient lore, the famous ones.
Noah and His Sons
5-7 God saw that human evil was out of control. People thought evil, imagined evil—evil, evil, evil from morning to night. God was sorry that he had made the human race in the first place; it broke his heart. God said, “I’ll get rid of my ruined creation, make a clean sweep: people, animals, snakes and bugs, birds—the works. I’m sorry I made them.”
8But Noah was different. God liked what he saw in Noah.
9-10This is the story of Noah: Noah was a good man, a man of integrity in his community. Noah walked with God. Noah had three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
11-12As far as God was concerned, the Earth had become a sewer; there was violence everywhere. God took one look and saw how bad it was, everyone corrupt and corrupting—life itself corrupt to the core.
13God said to Noah, “It’s all over. It’s the end of the human race. The violence is everywhere; I’m making a clean sweep.
14-16“Build yourself a ship from teakwood. Make rooms in it. Coat it with pitch inside and out. Make it 450 feet long, seventy-five feet wide, and forty-five feet high. Build a roof for it and put in a window eighteen inches from the top; put in a door on the side of the ship; and make three decks, lower, middle, and upper.
17“I’m going to bring a flood on the Earth that will destroy everything alive under Heaven. Total destruction.
18-21“But I’m going to establish a covenant with you: You’ll board the ship, and your sons, your wife and your sons’ wives will come on board with you. You are also to take two of each living creature, a male and a female, on board the ship, to preserve their lives with you: two of every species of bird, mammal, and reptile—two of everything so as to preserve their lives along with yours. Also get all the food you’ll need and store it up for you and them.”
22Noah did everything God commanded him to do.
THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved. Used by permission of NavPress. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers.