Noah and the ark

A long time after God made the world, people had filled it with wrong and with violence. It made God sad.

But there was one man who walked with God. His name was Noah.

God told Noah, “Build an ark.” An ark is a very big boat. God told him how long and wide and tall to make it, with three decks, a roof, and a door in the side. Noah did everything just as God told him.

Then God sent the animals to Noah, two by two, male and female. Noah went into the ark with his wife, his three sons, and their wives. And God shut the door.

The rain came down for forty days and forty nights. Water covered the whole earth, even the high mountains. But the ark floated on top of the water.

Then God remembered Noah and all the animals. He sent a wind, and the water began to go down. The ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat.

Noah sent out a dove. It found no place to land, so it came back. Seven days later he sent it again. That evening it came back with a fresh olive leaf in its beak. Noah knew the land was drying out.

When the ground was dry, God told Noah to come out with his family and all the animals. Noah built an altar and worshiped God.

God made a promise: never again would a flood destroy the earth. He put a rainbow in the clouds as the sign of that promise.