The Nephilim were on the earth both in those days and afterward, when the sons of God came to the daughters of mankind, who bore children to them. They were the powerful men of old, the famous men.

When the Lord saw that man’s wickedness was widespread on the earth and that every scheme his mind thought of was nothing but evil all the time,

the Lord regretted that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart.

Then the Lord said, “I will wipe off from the face of the earth mankind, whom I created, together with the animals, creatures that crawl, and birds of the sky—for I regret that I made them.”

And Noah fathered three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight, and the earth was filled with wickedness.

Then God said to Noah, “I have decided to put an end to every creature, for the earth is filled with wickedness because of them; therefore I am going to destroy them along with the earth.

“Make yourself an ark of gopher wood. Make rooms in the ark, and cover it with pitch inside and outside.

This is how you are to make it: The ark will be 450 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet high.

You are to make a roof, finishing the sides of the ark to within 18 inches of the roof. You are to put a door in the side of the ark. Make it with lower, middle, and upper decks.

But I will establish My covenant with you, and you will enter the ark with your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives.

You are also to bring into the ark two of all the living creatures, male and female, to keep them alive with you.

Two of everything—from the birds according to their kinds, from the livestock according to their kinds, and from the animals that crawl on the ground according to their kinds—will come to you so that you can keep them alive.

Take with you every kind of food that is eaten; gather it as food for you and for them.”

And Noah did this. He did everything that God had commanded him.

Then the Lord said to Noah, “Enter the ark, you and all your household, for I have seen that you alone are righteous before Me in this generation.

You are to take with you seven pairs, a male and its female, of all the clean animals, and two of the animals that are not clean, a male and its female,

and seven pairs, male and female, of the birds of the sky—in order to keep offspring alive on the face of the whole earth.

Seven days from now I will make it rain on the earth 40 days and 40 nights, and I will wipe off from the face of the earth every living thing I have made.”

And Noah did everything that the Lord commanded him.

Noah was 600 years old when the flood came and water covered the earth.

So Noah, his sons, his wife, and his sons’ wives entered the ark because of the waters of the flood.

From the clean animals, unclean animals, birds, and every creature that crawls on the ground,

two of each, male and female, entered the ark with Noah, just as God had commanded him.

and the rain fell on the earth 40 days and 40 nights.

On that same day Noah along with his sons Shem, Ham, and Japheth, Noah’s wife, and his three sons’ wives entered the ark with him.

They entered it with all the wildlife according to their kinds, all livestock according to their kinds, the creatures that crawl on the earth according to their kinds, all birds, every fowl, and everything with wings according to their kinds.

Those that entered, male and female of all flesh, entered just as God had commanded him. Then the Lord shut him in.

The flood continued for 40 days on the earth; the waters increased and lifted up the ark so that it rose above the earth.

The waters surged and increased greatly on the earth, and the ark floated on the surface of the water.

Then the waters surged even higher on the earth, and all the high mountains under the whole sky were covered.

Every creature perished—those that crawl on the earth, birds, livestock, wildlife, and those that swarm on the earth, as well as all mankind.

He wiped out every living thing that was on the surface of the ground, from mankind to livestock, to creatures that crawl, to the birds of the sky, and they were wiped off the earth. Only Noah was left, and those that were with him in the ark.

And the waters surged on the earth 150 days.

God remembered Noah, as well as all the wildlife and all the livestock that were with him in the ark. God caused a wind to pass over the earth, and the water began to subside.

The sources of the watery depths and the floodgates of the sky were closed, and the rain from the sky stopped.

The water steadily receded from the earth, and by the end of 150 days the waters had decreased significantly.

After 40 days Noah opened the window of the ark that he had made,

and he sent out a raven. It went back and forth until the waters had dried up from the earth.

but the dove found no resting place for her foot. She returned to him in the ark because water covered the surface of the whole earth. He reached out and brought her into the ark to himself.

So Noah waited seven more days and sent out the dove from the ark again.

In the six hundred and first year, in the first month, on the first day of the month, the water that had covered the earth was dried up. Then Noah removed the ark’s cover and saw that the surface of the ground was drying.

“Come out of the ark, you, your wife, your sons, and your sons’ wives with you.

Bring out all the living creatures that are with you—birds, livestock, those that crawl on the ground—and they will spread over the earth and be fruitful and multiply on the earth.”

So Noah, along with his sons, his wife, and his sons’ wives, came out.

All wildlife, all livestock, every bird, and every creature that crawls on the earth came out of the ark by their groups.

Then Noah built an altar to the Lord. He took some of every kind of clean animal and every kind of clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar.

When the Lord smelled the pleasing aroma, He said to Himself, “I will never again curse the ground because of man, even though man’s inclination is evil from his youth. And I will never again strike down every living thing as I have done.

As long as the earth endures,
seedtime and harvest, cold and heat,
summer and winter, and day and night
will not cease.”

God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.

The fear and terror of you will be in every living creature on the earth, every bird of the sky, every creature that crawls on the ground, and all the fish of the sea. They are placed under your authority.

I will require the life of every animal and every man for your life and your blood. I will require the life of each man’s brother for a man’s life.

But you, be fruitful and multiply; spread out over the earth and multiply on it.”

Then God said to Noah and his sons with him,

“Understand that I am confirming My covenant with you and your descendants after you,

and with every living creature that is with you—birds, livestock, and all wildlife of the earth that are with you—all the animals of the earth that came out of the ark.

And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant I am making between Me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all future generations:

I have placed My bow in the clouds, and it will be a sign of the covenant between Me and the earth.

Whenever I form clouds over the earth and the bow appears in the clouds,

I will remember My covenant between Me and you and all the living creatures: water will never again become a flood to destroy every creature.

The bow will be in the clouds, and I will look at it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all the living creatures on earth.”

God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant that I have confirmed between Me and every creature on earth.”

Noah’s sons who came out of the ark were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Ham was the father of Canaan.

These three were Noah’s sons, and from them the whole earth was populated.

He drank some of the wine, became drunk, and uncovered himself inside his tent.

Ham, the father of Canaan, saw his father naked and told his two brothers outside.

Then Shem and Japheth took a cloak and placed it over both their shoulders, and walking backward, they covered their father’s nakedness. Their faces were turned away, and they did not see their father naked.

When Noah awoke from his drinking and learned what his youngest son had done to him,

These are the family records of Noah’s sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. They also had sons after the flood.

Japheth’s sons: Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, and Tiras.

Gomer’s sons: Ashkenaz, Riphath, and Togarmah.

And Javan’s sons: Elishah, Tarshish, Kittim, and Dodanim.

The coastland peoples spread out into their lands. These are Japheth’s sons by their clans, in their nations. Each group had its own language.

Ham’s sons: Cush, Egypt, Put, and Canaan.

Cush’s sons: Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah, and Sabteca. And Raamah’s sons: Sheba and Dedan.

His kingdom started with Babylon, Erech, Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar.

From that land he went to Assyria and built Nineveh, Rehoboth-ir, Calah,

and Resen, between Nineveh and the great city Calah.

Pathrusim, Casluhim (the Philistines came from them), and Caphtorim.

Canaan fathered Sidon his firstborn, then Heth,

the Arvadites, the Zemarites, and the Hamathites. Afterward the Canaanite clans scattered.

The Canaanite border went from Sidon going toward Gerar as far as Gaza, and going toward Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim as far as Lasha.

These are Ham’s sons, by their clans, according to their languages, in their own lands and their nations.

And Shem, Japheth’s older brother, also had sons. Shem was the father of all the sons of Eber.

Shem’s sons were Elam, Asshur, Arpachshad, Lud, and Aram.

Aram’s sons: Uz, Hul, Gether, and Mash.

Arpachshad fathered Shelah, and Shelah fathered Eber.

And Joktan fathered Almodad, Sheleph, Hazarmaveth, Jerah,

Ophir, Havilah, and Jobab. All these were Joktan’s sons.

These are Shem’s sons by their clans, according to their languages, in their lands and their nations.

At one time the whole earth had the same language and vocabulary.

As people migrated from the east, they found a valley in the land of Shinar and settled there.

They said to each other, “Come, let us make oven-fired bricks.” They used brick for stone and asphalt for mortar.

And they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the sky. Let us make a name for ourselves; otherwise, we will be scattered over the face of the whole earth.”

Then the Lord came down to look over the city and the tower that the men were building.

Come, let Us go down there and confuse their language so that they will not understand one another’s speech.”

So from there the Lord scattered them over the face of the whole earth, and they stopped building the city.

Therefore its name is called Babylon, for there the Lord confused the language of the whole earth, and from there the Lord scattered them over the face of the whole earth.

These are the family records of Shem. Shem lived 100 years and fathered Arpachshad two years after the flood.

After he fathered Arpachshad, Shem lived 500 years and fathered other sons and daughters.