Entering the Ark

1Then the LORD said to Noah, “Enter the ark, you and all your household, for I have seen that you alone are righteous before Me in this generation.a 2You are to take with you seven pairs, a male and its female, of all the •clean animals,b and two of the animals that are not clean, a male and its female, 3and seven pairs, male and female, of the birds of the sky — in order to keep •offspring alive on the face of the whole earth. 4Seven days from now I will make it rain on the earth 40 days and 40 nights, and I will wipe off from the face of the earth every living thing I have made.” 5And Noah did everything that the LORD commanded him.c

6Noah was 600 years old when the flood came and water covered the earth. 7So Noah, his sons, his wife, and his sons’ wives entered the ark because of the waters of the flood. 8From the clean animals, •unclean animals, birds, and every creature that crawls on the ground, 9two of each, male and female, entered the ark with Noah, just as God had commanded him. 10Seven days later the waters of the flood came on the earth.

The Flood

11In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the sources of the watery depths burst open,d the floodgates of the sky were opened,e 12and the rain fell on the earth 40 days and 40 nights. 13On that same day Noah along with his sons Shem, Ham, and Japheth, Noah’s wife, and his three sons’ wives entered the ark with him. 14They entered it with all the wildlife according to their kinds, all livestock according to their kinds, the creatures that crawl on the earth according to their kinds, all birds, every fowl, and everything with wings according to their kinds. 15Two of all flesh that has the breath of life in it entered the ark with Noah. 16Those that entered, male and female of all flesh, entered just as God had commanded him. Then the LORD shut him in.

17The flood continued for 40 days on the earth; the waters increased and lifted up the ark so that it rose above the earth. 18The waters surged and increased greatly on the earth, and the ark floated on the surface of the water. 19Then the waters surged even higher on the earth, and all the high mountains under the whole sky were covered. 20The mountains were covered as the waters surged above them more than 20 feet.f 21Every creature perished — those that crawl on the earth, birds, livestock, wildlife, and those that swarmg on the earth, as well as all mankind. 22Everything with the breath of the spirit of life in its nostrilsh — everything on dry land died. 23He wiped out every living thing that was on the surface of the ground, from mankind to livestock, to creatures that crawl, to the birds of the sky, and they were wiped off the earth. Only Noah was left, and those that were with him in the ark.i 24And the waters surged on the earth 150 days.