Genesis 6
6
1And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the ground, and daughters were born unto them, 2that the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all that they chose.
3And the LORD said, My spirit shall not strive with man for ever, for that he also is flesh: yet shall his days be an hundred and twenty years.
4The Nephilim were in the earth in those days, and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them: the same were the mighty men which were of old, the men of renown. 5And the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
6And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. 7And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the ground; both man, and beast, and creeping thing, and fowl of the air; for it repeateth me that I have made them.
8But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD. 9These are the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, and perfect in his generations: Noah walked with God. 10And Noah begat three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
11And the earth was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. 12And God saw the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.
13And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth. 14Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch. 15And this is how thou shalt make it: the length of the ark three hundred cubits, the breadth of it fifty cubits, and the height of it thirty cubits. 16A light shalt thou make to the ark, and to a cubit shalt thou finish it upward; and the door of the ark shalt thou set in the side thereof; with lower, second, and third stories shalt thou make it. 17And I, behold, I do bring the flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, from under heaven; every thing that is in the earth shall die. 18But I will establish my covenant with thee; and thou shalt come into the ark, thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons' wives with thee. 19And of every living thing of all flesh, two of every sort shalt thou bring into the ark, to keep them alive with thee; they shall be male and female. 20Of the fowl after their kind, and of the cattle after their kind, of every creeping thing of the ground after its kind, two of every sort shall come unto thee, to keep them alive. 21And take thou unto thee of all food that is eaten, and gather it to thee; and it shall be for food for thee, and for them.
22Thus did Noah; according to all that God commanded him, so did he.
maintained by the British and Foreign Bible Society
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