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The Waters Recede

God kept Noah in mind, along with all the wildlife[a] and livestock that were with him in the ark. God’s Spirit[b] moved throughout the earth, causing the flood waters to subside. The water sources from the ocean depths were blocked and the floodgates of the heavens were closed. Then the flood waters steadily receded,[c] diminishing completely by the end of the 150 days. The ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat[d] on the seventeenth day of the seventh month. The flood water continued to recede until the tenth month, when, on the first of that month, the tops of the mountains could be seen.

After 40 days, Noah opened the window of the ark that he had built and sent out a raven. It went back and forth as the flood water continued to evaporate throughout the earth. Later, he sent a dove out from the ark[e] to see whether the water that covered the land’s surface had completely[f] receded, but the dove could not yet find a place to rest,[g] so it returned to Noah[h] on the ark, since water still covered the land. Noah reached out his hand and took the dove back[i] into the ark with him.

10 Noah[j] waited another seven days and sent the dove out from the ark again. 11 The dove returned to him in the evening, but in its beak there was an olive leaf that it had plucked! So Noah knew that the flood waters had decreased on the land. 12 He waited seven more days and sent the dove out again, but it did not return to him anymore.

13 In the six hundred and first year of Noah’s life,[k] during the first month, the flood water began to evaporate from the land. Noah then removed the ark’s cover and saw that the surface of the land was drying. 14 By the twenty-seventh day of the second month, the ground was dry.

The Lord’s Covenant

15 God spoke to Noah, 16 “It’s time for you, your wife, your sons, and your sons’ wives who are with you to leave the ark. 17 Bring out with you every living creature—including the flying creatures, animals, and everything that crawls on the ground—so they may disperse throughout the land, be fruitful, and multiply throughout the earth.” 18 So Noah, his sons, his wife, and his sons’ wives emerged. 19 Every animal, every crawling thing, every flying creature, and everything that moves on the earth emerged from the ark by groups.[l]

20 Then Noah built an altar to the Lord and offered burnt offerings on it[m] from every clean animal and every clean bird. 21 When the Lord smelled the pleasing aroma, he told himself, “I will never again curse the land because of human beings—even though human inclinations remain evil from youth—nor will I destroy every living being ever again, as I’ve done.

22 “Never[n] again, as long as the earth exists,
    will sowing and harvest,
cold and heat,
    summer and winter,
        and day and night ever cease.”

Footnotes

  1. Genesis 8:1 I.e., non-domesticated animals, as opposed to domesticated livestock
  2. Genesis 8:1 Or wind
  3. Genesis 8:3 Lit. receded from the dry land
  4. Genesis 8:4 I.e. ancient Urartu
  5. Genesis 8:8 Lit. from his presence
  6. Genesis 8:8 The Heb. lacks completely
  7. Genesis 8:9 Lit. rest for its foot
  8. Genesis 8:9 Lit. him
  9. Genesis 8:9 Lit. took it
  10. Genesis 8:10 Lit. He
  11. Genesis 8:13 The Heb. lacks of Noah’s life
  12. Genesis 8:19 Lit. by their groups
  13. Genesis 8:20 Lit. on the altar
  14. Genesis 8:22 The Heb. lacks Never

But God remembered(A) Noah and all the wild animals and the livestock that were with him in the ark, and he sent a wind over the earth,(B) and the waters receded. Now the springs of the deep and the floodgates of the heavens(C) had been closed, and the rain(D) had stopped falling from the sky. The water receded steadily from the earth. At the end of the hundred and fifty days(E) the water had gone down, and on the seventeenth day of the seventh month(F) the ark came to rest on the mountains(G) of Ararat.(H) The waters continued to recede until the tenth month, and on the first day of the tenth month the tops of the mountains became visible.

After forty days(I) Noah opened a window he had made in the ark and sent out a raven,(J) and it kept flying back and forth until the water had dried up from the earth.(K) Then he sent out a dove(L) to see if the water had receded from the surface of the ground. But the dove could find nowhere to perch because there was water over all the surface of the earth; so it returned to Noah in the ark. He reached out his hand and took the dove and brought it back to himself in the ark. 10 He waited seven more days and again sent out the dove from the ark. 11 When the dove returned to him in the evening, there in its beak was a freshly plucked olive leaf! Then Noah knew that the water had receded from the earth.(M) 12 He waited seven more days and sent the dove out again, but this time it did not return to him.

13 By the first day of the first month of Noah’s six hundred and first year,(N) the water had dried up from the earth. Noah then removed the covering from the ark and saw that the surface of the ground was dry. 14 By the twenty-seventh day of the second month(O) the earth was completely dry.

15 Then God said to Noah, 16 “Come out of the ark, you and your wife and your sons and their wives.(P) 17 Bring out every kind of living creature that is with you—the birds, the animals, and all the creatures that move along the ground—so they can multiply on the earth and be fruitful and increase in number on it.”(Q)

18 So Noah came out, together with his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives.(R) 19 All the animals and all the creatures that move along the ground and all the birds—everything that moves on land—came out of the ark, one kind after another.

20 Then Noah built an altar to the Lord(S) and, taking some of all the clean animals and clean(T) birds, he sacrificed burnt offerings(U) on it. 21 The Lord smelled the pleasing aroma(V) and said in his heart: “Never again will I curse the ground(W) because of humans, even though[a] every inclination of the human heart is evil from childhood.(X) And never again will I destroy(Y) all living creatures,(Z) as I have done.

22 “As long as the earth endures,
seedtime and harvest,(AA)
cold and heat,
summer and winter,(AB)
day and night
will never cease.”(AC)

Footnotes

  1. Genesis 8:21 Or humans, for