Genesis 7

1 The Lord God said to Noah, “Go into the ark, you and your whole household, for I have seen that you are righteous before me in this generation. 2 Take with you seven of each of the clean cattle, male and female, and two of each of the unclean cattle, male and female, 3 and seven of each of the clean birds of the sky, male and female, and two of each of all the unclean birds, male and female, to keep seed alive on the whole earth. [a] 4 For in just seven days I will bring rain on the earth for forty days and forty nights, and I will wipe out from the face of the whole earth every living thing that I have made.”

5 And Noah did everything the Lord God commanded him. 6 Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of water came upon the earth. 7 Then Noah went into the ark, and his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives with him, because of the water of the flood. 8 Of the birds, of the clean cattle and the unclean cattle, and of everything that creeps on the earth, 9 two by two they went in to Noah in the ark, male and female, just as God had commanded Noah. 10 And after the seven days, the water of the flood came upon the earth.

11 In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month — on that day all the springs of the deep burst open, and the floodgates of heaven were opened. [b] 12 And rain fell on the earth forty days and forty nights. 13 On that very day Noah entered the ark, with Shem, Ham, and Japheth, Noah’s sons, and Noah’s wife, and the three wives of his sons with him. † 14 And every wild beast after its kind, all the cattle after their kind, every creeping thing that moves on the earth after its kind, and every bird after its kind 15 went in to Noah in the ark, two by two of all flesh that has the breath of life. 16 Those that entered went in male and female of all flesh, just as God had commanded Noah. Then the Lord God shut the ark behind him from the outside.

17 The flood came on the earth for forty days and forty nights, and the water swelled greatly and bore up the ark, and it rose high above the earth. [c] 18 The water grew stronger and rose far above the earth, and the ark was carried along on the surface of the water. 19 The water rose so high above the earth that it covered all the high mountains under heaven. 20 The water rose about 22½ feet higher still, and it covered all the high mountains. [d]

21 And everything that moved on the earth died: the birds, the cattle, the wild beasts, every creeping thing that moves on the earth, and every human being. 22 Everything that had the breath of life, everything on the dry land, died. 23 So God wiped out every living thing on the face of the earth — man and beast, creeping things and the birds of the sky. They were wiped from the earth, and only Noah was left, and those with him in the ark. † 24 And the water stood high over the earth for 150 days.