Study Desk

Then the Lord said to Noah, "Enter the ark, you and all your household, for you alone I have seen to be ^(a)righteous before Me in this ^[a]time.

You shall take ^[b]with you of every ^(b)clean animal ^[c]by sevens, a male and his female; and of the animals that are not clean two, a male and his female;

also of the birds of the ^[d]sky, ^[e]by sevens, male and female, to keep ^[f]offspring alive on the face of all the earth.

For after ^(c)seven more days, I will send rain on the earth ^(d)forty days and forty nights; and I will blot out from the face of the land ^(e)every living thing that I have made."

^(f)Noah did according to all that the Lord had commanded him.

Now Noah was ^(g)six hundred years old when the flood of water ^[g]came upon the earth.

Then ^(h)Noah and his sons and his wife and his sons' wives with him entered the ark because of the water of the flood.

⁽ⁱ⁾Of clean animals and animals that are not clean and birds and everything that creeps on the ground,

there went into the ark to Noah ^[h]by twos, male and female, as God had commanded Noah.

It came about after ^(j)the seven days, that the water of the flood ^[i]came upon the earth.

In the ^(k)six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on the same day all ^(l)the fountains of the great deep burst open, and the ^[j]floodgates of the sky were opened.

^(m)The rain ^[k]fell upon the earth for forty days and forty nights.

On the very same day ⁽ⁿ⁾Noah and Shem and Ham and Japheth, the sons of Noah, and Noah's wife and the three wives of his sons with them, entered the ark,

they and every beast after its kind, and all the cattle after ^[l]their kind, and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth after its kind, and every bird after its kind, ^[m]all sorts of birds.

So they went into the ark to Noah, ^(o)by twos of all flesh in which was the breath of life.

Those that entered, male and female of all flesh, entered as God had commanded him; and the Lord closed it behind him.

Then the flood ^[n]came upon the earth for ^(p)forty days, and the water increased and lifted up the ark, so that it rose above the earth.

The water prevailed and increased greatly upon the earth, and the ark ^[o]floated on the ^[p]surface of the water.

The water prevailed more and more upon the earth, so that all the high mountains ^[q]everywhere under the heavens were covered.

The water prevailed fifteen ^[r]cubits higher, ^(q)and the mountains were covered.

^(r)All flesh that ^[s]moved on the earth perished, birds and cattle and beasts and every swarming thing that swarms upon the earth, and all mankind;

of all that was on the dry land, all ^(s)in whose nostrils was the breath of the spirit of life, died.

Thus He blotted out ^[t]every living thing that was upon the face of the land, from man to animals to creeping things and to birds of the ^[u]sky, and they were blotted out from the earth; and only ^(t)Noah was left, together with those that were with him in the ark.

^(u)The water prevailed upon the earth one hundred and fifty days.

But ^(a)God remembered Noah and all the beasts and all the cattle that were with him in the ark; and ^(b)God caused a wind to pass over the earth, and the water subsided.

Also ^(c)the fountains of the deep and the ^[a]floodgates of the sky were closed, and ^(d)the rain from the sky was restrained;

and the water receded steadily from the earth, and at the end ^(e)of one hundred and fifty days the water decreased.

In the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, ^(f)the ark rested upon the mountains of Ararat.

The water decreased steadily until the tenth month; in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, the tops of the mountains became visible.

Then it came about at the end of forty days, that Noah opened the ^(g)window of the ark which he had made;

and he sent out a raven, and it ^[b]flew here and there until the water was dried up ^[c]from the earth.

Then he sent out a dove from him, to see if the water was abated from the face of the land;

but the dove found no resting place for the sole of her foot, so she returned to him into the ark, for the water was on the ^[d]surface of all the earth. Then he put out his hand and took her, and brought her into the ark to himself.

So he waited yet another seven days; and again he sent out the dove from the ark.

The dove came to him toward ^[e]evening, and behold, in her ^[f]beak was a freshly picked olive leaf. So Noah knew that the water was abated from the earth.

Then he waited yet another seven days, and sent out ^(h)the dove; but she did not return to him again.

Now it came about in the ⁽ⁱ⁾six hundred and first year, in the first month, on the first of the month, the water was dried up ^[g]from the earth. Then Noah removed the covering of the ark, and looked, and behold, the ^[h]surface of the ground was dried up.

In the second month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, the earth was dry.

Then God spoke to Noah, saying,

"Go out of the ark, you and your wife and your sons and your sons' wives with you.

Bring out with you every living thing of all flesh that is with you, birds and animals and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, that they may ^[i](j)breed abundantly on the earth, and be fruitful and multiply on the earth."

So Noah went out, and his sons and his wife and his sons' wives with him.

Every beast, every creeping thing, and every bird, everything that moves on the earth, went out ^[j]by their families from the ark.

Then Noah built ^(k)an altar to the Lord , and took of every ^(l)clean animal and of every clean bird and offered ^(m)burnt offerings on the altar.

The Lord ⁽ⁿ⁾smelled the soothing aroma; and the Lord said ^[k]to Himself, "I will never again ^(o)curse the ground on account of man, for ^(p)the ^[l]intent of man's heart is evil from his youth; ^(q)and I will never again ^[m]destroy every living thing, as I have done.

"While the earth remains, Seedtime and harvest, And cold and heat, And ^(r)summer and winter, And ^(s)day and night Shall not cease."

And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, "^(a)Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth.

The fear of you and the terror of you will be on every beast of the earth and on every bird of the ^[a]sky; with everything that creeps on the ground, and all the fish of the sea, into your hand they are given.

Every moving thing that is alive shall be food for you; I give all to you, ^(b)as I gave the green plant.

Only you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, ^(c)its blood.

Surely I will require ^[b](d)your lifeblood; ^[c](e)from every beast I will require it. And ^[d]from every man, ^[e]from every man's brother I will require the life of man.

"^(f)Whoever sheds man's blood, By man his blood shall be shed, For ^(g)in the image of God He made man.

"As for you, ^(h)be fruitful and multiply; ^[f]Populate the earth abundantly and multiply in it."

Then God spoke to Noah and to his sons with him, saying,

"Now behold, ⁽ⁱ⁾I Myself do establish My covenant with you, and with your ^[g]descendants after you;

and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the cattle, and every beast of the earth with you; of all that comes out of the ark, even every beast of the earth.

I establish My covenant with you; and all flesh shall ^(j)never again be cut off by the water of the flood, ^(k)neither shall there again be a flood to destroy the earth."

God said, "This is ^(l)the sign of the covenant which I am making between Me and you and every living creature that is with you, for ^[h]all successive generations;

I set My ^(m)bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a sign of a covenant between Me and the earth.

It shall come about, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow will be seen in the cloud,

and ⁽ⁿ⁾I will remember My covenant, which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and ^(o)never again shall the water become a flood to destroy all flesh.

When the bow is in the cloud, then I will look upon it, to remember the ^(p)everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth."

And God said to Noah, "This is the sign of the covenant which I have established between Me and all flesh that is on the earth."

Now the sons of Noah who came out of the ark were Shem and Ham and Japheth; and ^(q)Ham was the father of Canaan.

These three were the sons of Noah, and ^(r)from these the whole earth was ^[i]populated.

Then Noah began ^[j]farming and planted a vineyard.

He drank of the wine and ^(s)became drunk, and uncovered himself inside his tent.

Ham, the father of Canaan, ^(t)saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brothers outside.

But Shem and Japheth took a garment and laid it upon both their shoulders and walked backward and covered the nakedness of their father; and their faces were ^[k]turned away, so that they did not see their father's nakedness.

When Noah awoke from his wine, he knew what his youngest son had done to him.

So he said, "^(u)Cursed be Canaan; ^[l](v)A servant of servants He shall be to his brothers."

He also said, "^(w)Blessed be the Lord , The God of Shem; And let Canaan be ^[m]his servant.

"^(x)May God enlarge Japheth, And let him dwell in the tents of Shem; And let Canaan be ^[n]his servant."

Noah lived three hundred and fifty years after the flood.

So all the days of Noah were nine hundred and fifty years, and he died.