Genesis 8

1 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.

But God remembered Noah and all the animals and livestock that were with him in the ark. And God sent a wind over the earth, and the waters began to subside.

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

The springs of the deep and the floodgates of the heavens were closed, and the rain from the sky was restrained.

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

The waters receded steadily from the earth, and after 150 days the waters had gone down.

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

On the seventeenth day of the seventh month, the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat.

5 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.

And the waters continued to recede until the tenth month, and on the first day of the tenth month the tops of the mountains became visible.

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

After forty days Noah opened the window he had made in the ark

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

and sent out a raven. It kept flying back and forth until the waters had dried up from the earth.

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

Then Noah sent out a dove to see if the waters had receded from the surface of the ground.

9 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.

But the dove found no place to rest her foot, and she returned to him in the ark, because the waters were still covering the surface of all the earth. So he reached out his hand and brought her back inside the ark.

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

Noah waited seven more days and again sent out the dove from the ark.

11 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 behold, the dove returned to him in the evening with a freshly plucked olive leaf in her beak. So Noah knew that the waters had receded from the earth.

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

And Noah waited seven more days and sent out the dove again, but this time she did not return to him.

13 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 Noah’s six hundred and first year, on the first day of the first month, the waters had dried up from the earth. So Noah removed the covering from the ark and saw that the surface of the ground was dry.

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

By the twenty-seventh day of the second month, the earth was fully dry.

15 Then God spoke to Noah, saying:

Then God said to Noah,

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

“Come out of the ark, you and your wife, along with your sons and their wives.

17 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.”

Bring out all the living creatures that are with you—birds, livestock, and everything that crawls upon the ground—so that they can spread out over the earth and be fruitful and multiply upon it.”

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

So Noah came out, along with his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives.

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

Every living creature, every creeping thing, and every bird—everything that moves upon the earth—came out of the ark, kind by kind.

20 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.

Then Noah built an altar to the LORD. And taking from every kind of clean animal and clean bird, he offered burnt offerings on the altar.

21 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.

When the LORD smelled the pleasing aroma, He said in His heart, “Never again will I curse the ground because of man, even though every inclination of his heart is evil from his youth. And never again will I destroy all living creatures as I have done.

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

As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night shall never cease.”

A Dove is Sent Forth from the Ark