The First Book of Moses: Genesis

⭑ Catholic Public Domain :: World English Bible Catholic ⭑

- Chapter 8 -

Then God remembered Noah, and all living things, and all the cattle, which were with him in the ark, and he brought a wind across the earth, and the waters were diminished.

And the fountains of the abyss and the floodgates of heaven were closed. And the rain from heaven was restrained.

And the waters were restored to their coming and going from the earth. And they began to diminish after one hundred and fifty days.

And the ark rested in the seventh month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, upon the mountains of Armenia.

Yet in truth, the waters were departing and decreasing until the tenth month. For in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, the tips of the mountains appeared.

Noah Sends a Raven and a Dove

And when forty days had passed, Noah, opening the window that he had made in the ark, sent forth a raven,

which went forth and did not return, until the waters were dried up across the earth.(a)

Likewise, he sent forth a dove after him, in order to see if the waters had now ceased upon the face of the earth.

But when she did not find a place where her foot might rest, she returned to him in the ark. For the waters were upon the whole earth. And he extended his hand and caught her, and he brought her into the ark.

And then, having waited a further seven days, he again sent forth the dove out of the ark.

And she came to him in the evening, carrying in her mouth an olive branch with green leaves. Noah then understood that the waters had ceased upon the earth.

And nevertheless, he waited another seven days. And he sent forth the dove, which no longer returned to him.

Exiting the Ark

Therefore, in the six hundred and first year, in the first month, on the first day of the month, the waters were diminished upon the earth. And Noah, opening the cover of the ark, gazed out and saw that the surface of the earth had become dry.

In the second month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, the earth was made dry.

Then God spoke to Noah, saying:

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

Bring out with you all the living things that are with you, all that is flesh: as with the birds, so also with the wild beasts and all the animals that move upon the earth. And enter upon the land: increase and multiply upon it.”

And so Noah and his sons went out, and his wife and the wives of his sons with him.

Then also all living things, and the cattle, and the animals that move upon the earth, according to their kinds, departed from the ark.

Noah Builds an Altar

Then Noah built an altar to the Lord. And, taking from each of the cattle and birds that were clean, he offered holocausts upon the altar.(b)

And the Lord smelled the sweet odor and said: “I will no longer curse the earth because of man. For the feelings and thoughts of the heart of man are prone to evil from his youth. Therefore, I will no longer pierce every living soul as I have done.(c)

All the days of the earth, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, night and day, will not cease.”

Footnotes

(a)8:7 Did not return:The raven did not return into the ark; but (as it may be gathered from the Hebrew) went to and fro; sometimes going to the mountains, where it found carcasses to feed on: and other times returning, to rest upon the top of the ark.(Challoner)

(b)8:20 Holocausts,:or whole burnt offerings. In which the whole victim was consumed by fire upon God’s altar, and no part was reserved for the use of priest or people.(Challoner)

(c)8:21 Smelled, etc:A figurative expression, denoting that God was well pleased with the sacrifices which his servant offered.(Challoner)

God remembered Noah, all the animals, and all the livestock that were with him in the ship; and God made a wind to pass over the earth. The waters subsided.

The deep’s fountains and the sky’s windows were also stopped, and the rain from the sky was restrained.

The waters continually receded from the earth. After the end of one hundred fifty days the waters receded.

The ship rested in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on Ararat’s mountains.

The waters receded continually until the tenth month. In the tenth month, on the first day of the month, the tops of the mountains were visible.

Noah Sends a Raven and a Dove

At the end of forty days, Noah opened the window of the ship which he had made,

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

He himself sent out a dove to see if the waters were abated from the surface of the ground,

but the dove found no place to rest her foot, and she returned into the ship to him, for the waters were on the surface of the whole earth. He put out his hand, and took her, and brought her to him into the ship.

He waited yet another seven days; and again he sent the dove out of the ship.

The dove came back to him at evening and, behold, in her mouth was a freshly plucked olive leaf. So Noah knew that the waters were abated from the earth.

He waited yet another seven days, and sent out the dove; and she didn’t return to him any more.

Exiting the Ark

In the six hundred first year, in the first month, the first day of the month, the waters were dried up from the earth. Noah removed the covering of the ship, and looked. He saw that the surface of the ground was dry.

In the second month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, the earth was dry.

God spoke to Noah, saying,

“Go out of the ship, you, your wife, your sons, and your sons’ wives with you.

Bring out with you every living thing that is with you of all flesh, including birds, livestock, and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, that they may breed abundantly in the earth, and be fruitful, and multiply on the earth.”

Noah went out, with his sons, his wife, and his sons’ wives with him.

Every animal, every creeping thing, and every bird, whatever moves on the earth, after their families, went out of the ship.

Noah Builds an Altar

Noah built an altar to the LORD, and took of every clean animal, and of every clean bird, and offered burnt offerings on the altar.

The LORD smelled the pleasant aroma. The LORD said in his heart, “I will not again curse the ground any more for man’s sake because the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth. I will never again strike every living thing, as I have done.

While the earth remains, seed time and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night will not cease.”