Gen 6-9 | ESV | STEP | When man began to multiply on the face of the land and daughters were born to them,

Genesis 6

Increasing Corruption on Earth

1 When man began to multiply on the face of the land and daughters were born to them, 2 the sons of God saw that the daughters of man were attractive. And they took as their wives any they chose. 3 Then the Lord said, ^a“My Spirit shall not abide in ^{▼▼Or My Spirit shall not contend with} man forever, ^cfor he is flesh: his days shall be 120 years.” 4 The Nephilim ^{▼▼Or giants} were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of man and they bore children to them. These were the mighty men who were of old, the men of renown.

5 ^eThe Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every ^fintention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. 6 And ^gthe Lord regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it ^hgrieved him to his heart. 7 So the Lord said, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens, for I am sorry that I have made them.” 8 But Noah ⁱfound favor in the eyes of the Lord.

Noah and the Flood

9 These are the generations of Noah. ^jNoah was a righteous man, ^kblameless in his generation. Noah ^lwalked with God. 10 And Noah had three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

11 Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight, and the earth was filled with violence. 12 And God ^msaw the earth, and behold, it was corrupt, ⁿfor all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth. 13 And God said to Noah, ^o“I have determined to make an end of all flesh, ^{▼▼Hebrew The end of all flesh has come before me} for the earth is filled with violence through them. Behold, I will destroy them with the earth. 14 Make yourself an ark of gopher wood. ^{▼▼An unknown kind of tree; transliterated from Hebrew} Make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and out with pitch. 15 This is how you are to make it: the length of the ark 300 cubits, ^{▼▼A cubit was about 18 inches or 45 centimeters} its breadth 50 cubits, and its height 30 cubits. 16 Make a roof ^{▼▼Or skylight} for the ark, and finish it to a cubit above, and set the door of the ark in its side. Make it with lower, second, and third decks. 17 ^tFor behold, I will bring a flood of waters upon the earth to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life under heaven. Everything that is on the earth shall die. 18 But ^uI will establish my covenant with you, and you shall come into the ark, you, your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives with you. 19 And of every living thing of all flesh, you shall bring two of every sort into the ark to keep them alive with you. They shall be male and female. 20 Of the birds according to their kinds, and of the animals according to their kinds, of every creeping thing of the ground, according to its kind, two of every sort shall come in to you to keep them alive. 21 Also take with you every sort of food that is eaten, and store it up. It shall serve as food for you and for them.” 22 ^vNoah did this; he did all that God commanded him.

Genesis 7

1 Then the Lord said to Noah, ^w“Go into the ark, you and all your household, for I have seen that ^xyou are righteous before me in this generation. 2 Take with you seven pairs of all ^yclean animals, ^{▼▼Or seven of each kind of clean animal} the male and his mate, and a pair of the animals that are not clean, the male and his mate, 3 and seven pairs ^{▼▼Or seven of each kind} of the birds of the heavens also, male and female, to keep their offspring alive on the face of all the earth. 4 For in seven days ^abI will send rain on the earth forty days and forty nights, ^acand every living thing ^{▼▼Hebrew all existence; also verse 23} that I have made I will blot out from the face of the ground.” 5 ^aeAnd Noah did all that the Lord had commanded him.

6 Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters came upon the earth. 7 And Noah and his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives with him went into the ark to escape the waters of the flood. 8 Of clean animals, and of animals that are not clean, and of birds, and of everything that creeps on the ground, 9 two and two, male and female, went into the ark with Noah, as God had commanded Noah. 10 And after seven days the waters of the flood came upon the earth.

11 In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the ^affountains of the great deep burst forth, and ^agthe windows of the heavens were opened. 12 And rain fell upon the earth forty days and forty nights. 13 On the very same day Noah and his sons, Shem and Ham and Japheth, and Noah’s wife and the three wives of his sons with them entered the ark, 14 they and every beast, according to its kind, and all the livestock according to their kinds, and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, according to its kind, and every bird, according to its kind, every winged creature. 15 They ^ahwent into the ark with Noah, two and two of all flesh in which there was the breath of life. 16 And those that entered, male and female of all flesh, went in ^aias God had commanded him. And the Lord shut him in.

17 The flood ^ajcontinued forty days on the earth. The waters increased and bore up the ark, and it rose high above the earth. 18 The waters prevailed and increased greatly on the earth, and the ark floated on the face of the waters. 19 And the waters prevailed so mightily on the earth that all the high mountains under the whole heaven were covered. 20 The waters prevailed above the mountains, covering them fifteen cubits ^{▼▼A cubit was about 18 inches or 45 centimeters} deep. 21 And ^alall flesh died that moved on the earth, birds, livestock, beasts, all swarming creatures that swarm on the earth, and all mankind. 22 Everything on the dry land ^amin whose nostrils was the breath of life died. 23 He blotted out every living thing that was on the face of the ground, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens. They were blotted out from the earth. Only ^anNoah was left, and those who were with him in the ark. 24 And the waters prevailed on the earth 150 days.

Genesis 8

The Flood Subsides

1 But God ^aoremembered Noah and all the beasts and all the livestock that were with him in the ark. And ^apGod made a wind blow over the earth, and the waters subsided. 2 ^aqThe fountains of the deep and ^arthe windows of the heavens were closed, the rain from the heavens was restrained, 3 and the waters receded from the earth continually. At the end ^asof 150 days the waters had abated, 4 and in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, the ark came to rest on the mountains of ^atArarat. 5 And the waters continued to abate until the tenth month; in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, the tops of the mountains were seen.

6 At the end of forty days Noah opened the window of the ark that he had made 7 and sent forth a raven. It went to and fro until the waters were dried up from the earth. 8 Then he sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters had subsided from the face of the ground. 9 But the dove found no place to set her foot, and she returned to him to the ark, for the waters were still on the face of the whole earth. So he put out his hand and took her and brought her into the ark with him. 10 He waited another seven days, and again he sent forth the dove out of the ark. 11 And the dove came back to him in the evening, and behold, in her mouth was a freshly plucked olive leaf. So Noah knew that the waters had subsided from the earth. 12 Then he waited another seven days and sent forth the dove, and she did not return to him anymore.

13 In the six hundred and first year, in the first month, the first day of the month, the waters were dried from off the earth. And Noah removed the covering of the ark and looked, and behold, the face of the ground was dry. 14 In the second month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, the earth had dried out. 15 Then God said to Noah, 16 “Go out from the ark, ^auyou and your wife, and your sons and your sons’ wives with you. 17 Bring out with you every living thing that is with you of all flesh—birds and animals and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth—that they may swarm on the earth, and ^avbe fruitful and multiply on the earth.” 18 So Noah went out, and his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives with him. 19 Every beast, every creeping thing, and every bird, everything that moves on the earth, went out by families from the ark.

God’s Covenant with Noah

20 Then Noah built an altar to the Lord and took some of every clean animal and some of every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar. 21 And when the Lord smelled ^awthe pleasing aroma, the Lord said in his heart, “I will never again ^axcurse ^{▼▼Or dishonor} the ground because of man, for ^azthe intention of man’s heart is evil from his youth. ^baNeither will I ever again strike down every living creature as I have done. 22 ^bbWhile the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, ^bcday and night, shall not cease.”

Genesis 9

1 And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, ^bd“Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. 2 ^beThe fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth and upon every bird of the heavens, upon everything that creeps on the ground and all the fish of the sea. Into your hand they are delivered. 3 ^bfEvery moving thing that lives shall be food for you. And ^bgas I gave you the green plants, I give you everything. 4 But you shall not eat flesh with its ^bhlife, that is, its blood. 5 And for your lifeblood I will require a reckoning: ^bifrom every beast I will require it and ^bjfrom man. From his fellow man I will require a reckoning for the life of man.

6 ^bk“Whoever sheds the blood of man,
by man shall his blood be shed,
^blfor God made man in his own image.
7 And you, ^{▼▼In Hebrew you is plural} be fruitful and multiply, increase greatly on the earth and multiply in it.”

8 Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him, 9 “Behold, ^bnI establish my covenant with you and your offspring after you, 10 and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the livestock, and every beast of the earth with you, as many as came out of the ark; it is for every beast of the earth. 11 ^boI establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.” 12 And God said, ^bp“This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations: 13 I have set ^bqmy bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. 14 When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds, 15 ^brI will remember my covenant that is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh. And the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. 16 When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it and remember ^bsthe everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.” 17 God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant that I have established between me and all flesh that is on the earth.”

Noah’s Descendants

18 The sons of Noah who went forth from the ark were ^btShem, Ham, and Japheth. (Ham was the father of Canaan.) 19 These three were the sons of Noah, and ^bufrom these the people of the whole earth were dispersed. ^{▼▼Or from these the whole earth was populated}

20 Noah began to be a man of the soil, and he planted a vineyard. ^{▼▼Or Noah, a man of the soil, was the first to plant a vineyard} 21 He drank of the wine and became drunk and lay uncovered in his tent. 22 And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father and told his two brothers outside. 23 Then Shem and Japheth took a garment, laid it on both their shoulders, and walked backward and covered the nakedness of their father. Their faces were turned backward, and they did not see their father’s nakedness. 24 When Noah awoke from his wine ^bxand knew what his youngest son had done to him, 25 he said,

^by“Cursed be Canaan;
^bza servant of servants shall he be to his brothers.”
26 He also said,

“Blessed be the Lord, the God of Shem;
and let Canaan be his servant.
27 May God enlarge Japheth, ^{▼▼ Japheth sounds like the Hebrew for enlarge}
and let him dwell in the tents of Shem,
and let Canaan be his servant.”
28 After the flood Noah lived 350 years. 29 All the days of Noah were 950 years, and he died.