Noah and the Flood

(Genesis 6-9)

People began to forget about  God.  They did wicked things.  The Lord's heart was full of pain when he saw how they behaved.  Only one man, Noah, pleased God.  The Lord came to Noah and said, "Noah, I want you to build a big boat out of gopher wood.  Then I want you to fill it up with all kinds of animals, and take your wife and your sons and their wives and get in it."  The Lord told Noah that he was going to destroy humankind with a flood that would cover the whole world.  Only Noah and his family and the animals with him would be saved.

Noah worked hard, and with the help of his sons he built the boat, called an ark, just the way God had told him.  At last the ark was finished.

 God caused pairs of every king of animal and bird on earth, males and females, to come to Noah.  He herded them into the ark.  Then Noah and his wife, and his three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth, and their wives, all went inside the ark.  For seven days they waited.  For seven days they watched the sky.  And on the seventh day, it began to rain.

It rained for forty days and forty nights.  Noah saw the waters rise, destroying the world.  But the ark floated above it all, keeping Noah and his family safe.  For 150 days the waters covered the earth.  Then God sent a wind to blow, and the waters began to go down.

One day Noah sent out a dove to see if the bird could find a place to land.  That evening the bird returned with an olive leaf in its beak!  Noah knew then that the earth was almost dry.  Finally, God told Noah and his family to come out of the ark.

Noah thanked God for saving his family, and gave the Lord an offering.  God promised never again to flood the whole earth.  He made a rainbow in the clouds and told Noah and his family that every time he saw it, he would remember his promise not to flood the world.

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(From Classic Bible Stories, A Family Treasury retold by Lise Caldwell (c) 1998 Standard Publishing.  Used by permission.  This book may be purchased at your local Christian Bookstore or from Standard Publishing (800-543-1301).