Genesis 8

NEW JERUSALEM	NEW AMERICAN BIBLE
1 But God had Noah in mind, and al the wild animals and all the cattle that were with him in the ark. Godsent a wind across the earth and the waters began to subside.	1 and then God remembered Noah and all the animals, wild and tame, that were with him in the ark. So God made a wind sweep over the earth, and the waters began to subside.
2 The springs of the deep and the sluices of heaven were stopped up and the heavy rain from heavenwas held back.	2 The fountains of the abyss and the floodgates of the sky were closed, and the downpour from the sky was held back.
3 Little by little, the waters ebbed from the earth. After a hundred and fifty days the waters fel ,	3 Gradually the waters receded from the earth. At the end of one hundred and fifty days, the waters had so diminished
4 and in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, the ark came to rest on the mountainsof Ararat.	4 that, in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat.
5 The waters gradual y fell until the tenth month when, on the first day of the tenth month, the mountaintops appeared.	5 The waters continued to diminish until the tenth month, and on the first day of the tenth month the tops of the mountains appeared.
6 At the end of forty days Noah opened the window he had made in the ark	6 At the end of forty days Noah opened the hatch he had made in the ark,
7 and released a raven, which flew back and forth as it waited for the waters to dry up on earth.	7 and he sent out a raven, to see if the waters had lessened on the earth. It flew back and forth until the waters dried off from the earth.
8 He then released a dove, to see whether the waters were receding from the surface of the earth.	8 Then he sent out a dove, to see if the waters had lessened on the earth.
9 But the dove, finding nowhere to perch, returned to him in the ark, for there was water over the wholesurface of the earth; putting out his hand he took hold of it and brought it back into the ark with him.	9 But the dove could find no place to alight and perch, and it returned to him in the ark, for there was water all over the earth. Putting out his hand, he caught the dove and drew it back to him inside the ark.
10 After waiting seven more days, he again released the dove from the ark.	10 He waited seven days more and again sent the dove out from the ark.
11 In the evening, the dove came back to him and there in its beak was a freshly-picked olive leaf! SoNoah realised that the waters were receding from the earth.	11 In the evening the dove came back to him, and there in its bill was a plucked-off olive leaf! So Noah knew that the waters had lessened on the earth.
12 After waiting seven more days, he released the dove, and now it returned to him no more.	12 He waited still another seven days and then released the dove once more; and this time it did not come back.
13 It was in the six hundred and first year of Noah's life, in the first month and on the first of the month,that the waters began drying out on earth. Noah lifted back the hatch of the ark and looked out. The surface ofthe ground was dry!	13 In the six hundred and first year of Noah's life, in the first month, on the first day of the month, the water began to dry up on the earth. Noah then removed the covering of the ark and saw that the surface of the ground was drying up.
14 In the second month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, the earth was dry.	14 In the second month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, the earth was dry.
15 Then God said to Noah,	15 Then God said to Noah:
16 'Come out of the ark, you, your wife, your sons, and your sons' wives with you.	16 "Go out of the ark, together with your wife and your sons and your sons' wives.
17 Bring out all the animals with you, all living things, the birds, the cattle and al the creeping things thatcreep along the ground, for them to swarm on earth, for them to breed and multiply on earth.'	17 Bring out with you every living thing that is with you--all bodily creatures, be they birds or animals or creeping things of the earth-and let them abound on the earth, breeding and multiplying on it."
18 So Noah came out with his sons, his wife, and his sons' wives.	18 So Noah came out, together with his wife and his sons and his sons' wives;
19 And al the wild animals, al the cattle, al the birds and al the creeping things that creep along theground, came out of the ark, one species after another.	19 and all the animals, wild and tame, all the birds, and all the creeping creatures of the earth left the ark, one kind after another.
20 Then Noah built an altar to Yahweh and, choosing from al the clean animals and all the clean birds hepresented burnt offerings on the altar.	20 Then Noah built an altar to the LORD, and choosing from every clean animal and every clean bird, he offered holocausts on the altar.
21 Yahweh smelt the pleasing smell and said to himself, 'Never again wil I curse the earth because ofhuman beings, because their heart contrives evil from their infancy. Never again wil I strike down every livingthing as I have done.	21 When the LORD smelled the sweet odor, he said to himself: "Never again will I doom the earth because of man, since the desires of man's heart are evil from the start; nor will I ever again strike down all living beings, as I have done.
22 As long as earth endures: seed-time and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and nightwil never cease.'	22 As long as the earth lasts, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, Summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease."