The Wickedness of Humankind
1When humankind began to multiply on the face of the earth and daughters were born to them, 2the sons of God saw that the daughters of humankind were beautiful, and they took as wives whomever they chose. 3Yahweh said, “My spirit will not remain in humankind forever, for they are flesh; their days will be one hundred and twenty years.” 4The Nephilim were on the earth in those days — and also afterward — when the sons of God came in to the daughters of humankind, who bore them children. These were the mighty ones of old, the men of renown. 5Yahweh saw how great the wickedness of humankind had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of their hearts was only evil, all the time. 6Yahweh regretted that he had made humankind on the earth, and his heart was deeply grieved. 7Yahweh said, “I will wipe humankind, whom I created, off the face of the earth — people together with animals, creeping things, and birds of the sky — for I regret that I made them.” 8But Noah found favor in the eyes of Yahweh.
Noah and the Command to Build the Ark
9This is the account of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time; Noah walked with God. 10Noah fathered three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth. 11Now the earth was corrupt in the sight of God, and the earth was full of violence. 12God saw the earth, and it was indeed corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted its way on the earth. 13God said to Noah, “The end of all flesh has come before me, for the earth is full of violence because of them. I am about to destroy them, along with the earth. 14Make yourself an ark of cypress wood. Make rooms in the ark, and cover it with pitch, inside and out. 15This is how you are to build it: the ark is to be three hundred cubits long, fifty cubits wide, and thirty cubits high. 16Make a roof for the ark, and finish it a cubit from the top. Put a door in the side of the ark, and build it with lower, middle, and upper decks. 17I am about to bring floodwaters on the earth to destroy every creature under the sky that has the breath of life; everything on the earth will perish. 18But I will establish my covenant with you, and you will enter the ark — you, your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives with you. 19You are to bring into the ark two of every living creature, male and female, to keep them alive with you. 20Two of every kind of bird, of every kind of animal, and of every kind of creeping thing will come to you to be kept alive. 21And you are to take with you every kind of food that is eaten, and store it away, and it will be food for you and for them.” 22Noah did everything just as God commanded him.
