Genesis 6

¹ When people began being numerous on earth, and daughters had been born to them,

² the sons of God, looking at the women, saw how beautiful they were and married as many of them asthey chose.

³ Yahweh said, 'My spirit cannot be indefinitely responsible for human beings, who are only flesh; let thetime al owed each be a hundred and twenty years.'

⁴ The Nephilim were on earth in those days (and even afterwards) when the sons of God resorted to thewomen, and had children by them. These were the heroes of days gone by, men of renown.

⁵ Yahweh saw that human wickedness was great on earth and that human hearts contrived nothing butwicked schemes al day long.

⁶ Yahweh regretted having made human beings on earth and was grieved at heart.

⁷ And Yahweh said, 'I shal rid the surface of the earth of the human beings whom I created -- humanand animal, the creeping things and the birds of heaven -- for I regret having made them.'

⁸ But Noah won Yahweh's favour.

⁹ This is the story of Noah: Noah was a good man, an upright man among his contemporaries, and hewalked with God.

¹⁰ Noah fathered three sons, Shem, Ham and Japheth.

¹¹ God saw that the earth was corrupt and ful of lawlessness.

¹² God looked at the earth: it was corrupt, for corrupt were the ways of al living things on earth.

¹³ God said to Noah, 'I have decided that the end has come for al living things, for the earth is full oflawlessness because of human beings. So I am now about to destroy them and the earth.

¹⁴ Make yourself an ark out of resinous wood. Make it of reeds and caulk it with pitch inside and out.

¹⁵ This is how to make it: the length of the ark is to be three hundred cubits, its breadth fifty cubits, andits height thirty cubits.

¹⁶ Make a roof to the ark, building it up to a cubit higher. Put the entrance in the side of the ark, which isto be made with lower, second and third decks.

¹⁷ 'For my part I am going to send the flood, the waters, on earth, to destroy al living things having thebreath of life under heaven; everything on earth is to perish.

¹⁸ But with you I shal establish my covenant and you wil go aboard the ark, yourself, your sons, yourwife, and your sons' wives along with you.

¹⁹ From al living creatures, from al living things, you must take two of each kind aboard the ark, to savetheir lives with yours; they must be a male and a female.

²⁰ Of every species of bird, of every kind of animal and of every kind of creature that creeps along theground, two must go with you so that their lives may be saved.

²¹ For your part, provide yourself with eatables of al kinds, and lay in a store of them, to serve as foodfor yourself and them.'

²² Noah did this; exactly as God commanded him, he did.