Genesis 7

Then {after they had finished building the boat,} God commanded Noah, “You and your entire family must go into the boat, because I know {that} you {are} {the only one} among the people living today {who is} living rightly according to my standards.

Take with you seven male and female pairs of every {kind of} pure animal, and {one} male and female pair of {every kind of} impure animal.

Also {take} seven male and female pairs of {every kind of} bird {that flies} in the sky, so that {later} their offspring will live all over the earth. \*

{You must do that,} because seven days from today I will make it rain {continuously} {all} over the earth {for} forty days and nights. In that way, I will completely destroy from the earth every living creature that I have made.”

Then Noah did everything {exactly} as God had commanded him {to do}. \*

Noah was 600 years old when the flood covered the earth.

{That is when} he and his wife, and his sons and their wives went together into the boat so that they would not die in the flood. \*

{Also,} {every kind of} pure animal and {every kind of} impure animal and {every kind of} bird, {including} every {kind of creature} that lives on land,

came in pairs to Noah {and went} into the boat. {They were} male and female {pairs}, which was exactly what God had commanded him {to take along}.

So it happened {that} when the seven days {that God had spoken about} had passed, water started to flood the earth. \*

When Noah was 600 years old, on the seventeenth day of the second month {of the year}, on that {very} day all the springs in the deep ocean started pouring out water. {God also caused} the water in the sky to start pouring down, as if he had opened {huge} floodgates {in the sky},

so that it rained {continuously} {all} over the earth {for} forty days and nights. \*

{So it was that} on the same day {that the flood started}, Noah and his sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth, along with his wife and his sons’ three wives {all} entered the boat.

They had with them every kind of living creature, including every kind of livestock and every {other} kind of creature that lives on the land, and every kind of bird {and} everything {else} that flies. \*

Pairs of every {kind of} living thing that breathes {air} came to Noah {and went} into the boat.

The animals that went into {the boat} {were} male and female {pairs} from every {kind of} living thing, which was exactly what God had commanded Noah {to take along}. Then {after they were all inside,} God closed the door {of the boat} behind them. \*

{For} forty days {and forty nights} the flood kept getting deeper and deeper {all} over the earth, and as the water rose, it lifted up the boat so that it floated {on the water} above the ground.

So the floodwaters continued to rise and get much deeper {all} over the earth, while the boat floated {safely} on the water. \*

Eventually the water became so deep on the earth that {even} all the highest mountains everywhere under the sky were under water.

{In fact,} the water rose {at least} seven meters above {the tops of} the {highest} mountains, so that they were {completely} under water. \*

Then all the creatures that lived on land died. {That} included {all} the birds, the livestock, and the {other} living creatures, including every {kind of} creature that lived in large groups on the earth, as well as all the people.

Every living creature that breathed air and {lived} on dry land died. \*

That is how God completely destroyed all the living creatures that {were} on the earth, including {all} people and livestock and {all the other} creatures that lived {on the land} and also the birds {that flew} in the sky. Yes, he completely destroyed everything {that lived} on the earth, so that the only ones who were still alive were Noah and his family and the animals that were with them in the boat. \*

{Deep} water continued to cover the {entire} world {for} 150 days. \*