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Genesis 6

1When humankind began to multiply on the surface of the ground and daughters were born to them, 2the sons of God saw that the daughters of humankind were beautiful, and they took wives for themselves from any they chose. 3Yahweh said, “My spirit will not remain in humankind forever, since they are flesh. Their days will be 120 years.” 4The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God went in to the daughters of humankind, who bore children to them. Those were the mighty men of ancient times, men of renown.

5Yahweh saw that human evil was great on the earth, and that every shaping of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all day long. 6Yahweh regretted that he had made humankind on the earth, and he was pained to his heart. 7Yahweh said, “I will wipe from the surface of the ground the humankind I created—from human to livestock, to crawling things and birds of heaven—for I regret that I made them.” 8But Noah found favor in Yahweh's eyes.

9These are Noah's generations. Noah was a righteous man, blameless among his contemporaries. Noah walked with God. 10Noah fathered three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth. 11The earth was ruined before God, and the earth was full of violence. 12God saw the earth, and look, it was ruined, because all flesh had ruined its way on the earth. 13God said to Noah, “The end of all flesh has come before me, because the earth is full of violence because of them. Look, I am going to ruin them together with the earth. 14Make yourself an ark of gopher wood. Make compartments in the ark and coat it inside and out with pitch. 15This is how you are to make it: the ark's length 300 cubits, its width 50 cubits, and its height 30 cubits. 16Make a roof for the ark, and finish it to a cubit at the top. Put the ark's entrance in its side. Make it with lower, second, and third decks.

17“As for me, look, I am bringing the flood, waters upon the earth, to ruin all flesh under heaven that has the breath of life in it. Everything on the earth will perish. 18But I will establish my covenant with you. You will enter the ark—you, your sons, your wife, and your sons' wives with you. 19From every living thing, from all flesh, you are to bring two of each into the ark to keep them alive with you. They are to be male and female. 20From the birds according to their kinds, from the livestock according to their kinds, and from every crawling thing of the ground according to its kind, two of each will come to you to be kept alive. 21As for you, take some of every food that is eaten, and gather it to yourself. It will be food for you and for them.” 22Noah did everything God commanded him; that is what he did.

Translation notes 5

6:1–4 — Sons of God; Nephilim. “Sons of God” most naturally identifies heavenly beings in contrast with human daughters. Interpretations involving royal men or a particular human lineage also have a history, but the draft does not substitute them for the phrase. Nephilim is retained as a group designation; its derivation does not securely establish “fallen ones,” and “giants” is an ancient interpretive rendering. The relationship between them and the mighty men is compressed.

6:3 — Spirit; 120 years. The verb translated “remain” is uncertain; “contend” is a substantial alternative. The 120 years can describe a limit on human life or time remaining before judgment. Later ages exceed 120, but the draft leaves this tension visible instead of adding a timetable.

6:5–13 — Regret; ruin. Divine regret and pain are stated directly. The same Hebrew root describes the earth's corruption and God's destructive response; “ruin” preserves that connection. “Blameless” describes Noah's integrity among his contemporaries, without claiming that he had never sinned.

6:14–16 — Ark construction. Gopher is an unidentified wood. The ancient cubit is retained without a falsely precise modern conversion. The word rendered “roof” may instead mean a light opening; the one-cubit finishing instruction is also uncertain. The draft does not claim a complete recoverable architectural plan.

6:18–22 — Covenant; animals. God promises to establish his covenant, developed in chapter 9. Two of each kind are specified here; chapter 7 adds a distinction involving clean animals. Neither passage's numbers are silently changed to match the other.