Genesis 6
6
1And it came to pass when mankind began to multiply on the earth, and daughters were born to them, 2that the sons of God#GodHebrew: Elohim saw the daughters of men that they were fair, and took themselves wives of all that they chose.
3And Jehovah said, My Spirit shall not always plead with Man; for he indeed is flesh; but his days shall be a hundred and twenty years.
4In those days were the giants on the earth, and also afterwards, when the sons of God#GodHebrew: Elohim had come in to the daughters of men, and they had borne children to them; these were the heroes, who of old were men of renown. 5And Jehovah saw that the wickedness of Man was great on the earth, and every imagination of the thoughts of his heart only evil continually.
6And Jehovah repented that he had made Man on the earth, and it grieved him in his heart. 7And Jehovah said, I will destroy Man, whom I have created, from the earth — from man to cattle, to creeping things, and to fowl of the heavens; for I repent that I have made them.
8But Noah found favour in the eyes of Jehovah. 9This is the history of Noah. Noah was a just man, perfect amongst his generations: Noah walked with God#GodHebrew: Elohim 10And Noah begot three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
11And the earth was corrupt before God#GodHebrew: Elohim and the earth was full of violence. 12And God#GodHebrew: Elohim looked upon the earth, and behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted its way on the earth.
13And God#GodHebrew: Elohim said to Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me, for the earth is full of violence through them; and behold, I will destroy them with the earth. 14Make thyself an ark of gopher wood: with cells shalt thou make the ark; and pitch it inside and outside with pitch. 15And thus shalt thou make it: let the length of the ark be 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 high shalt thou finish it above. And the door of the ark shalt thou set in its side: with a lower, second, and third story shalt thou make it. 17For I, behold, I bring a flood of waters on the earth, to destroy all flesh under the heavens in which is the breath of life: everything that is on the earth shall expire. 18But with thee will I establish my covenant; and thou shalt go 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 fowl after their kind, and of the cattle after their kind, of every creeping thing of the ground after its kind, two of each shall go in to thee, to keep them alive. 21And take thou of all food that is eaten, and gather it to thee, that it may be for food for thee and for them.
22And Noah did it; according to all that God#GodHebrew: Elohim had commanded him, so did he.
First published in 1890. This edition is maintained by the British and Foreign Bible Society.
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.