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.

And God kept Noah in mind, and all the living things and the cattle which were with him in the ark: and God sent a wind over the earth, and the waters went down.

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

And the fountains of the deep and the windows of heaven were shut, and the rain from heaven was stopped.

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.

And the waters went slowly back from the earth, and at the end of a hundred and fifty days the waters were lower.

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

And 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 still the waters went on falling, till on the first day of the tenth month the tops of the mountains were seen.

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

Then, after forty days, through the open window of the ark which he had made,

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

Noah sent out a raven, which went this way and that till the waters were gone 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.

And he sent out a dove, to see if the waters had gone from the face of the earth;

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 saw no resting-place for her foot, and came back to the ark, for the waters were still over all the earth; and he put out his hand, and took her into the ark.

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

And after waiting another seven days, he sent the dove out again;

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 the dove came back at evening, and in her mouth was an olive-leaf broken off: so Noah was certain that the waters had gone down on the earth.

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

And after seven days more, he sent the dove out again, but she did not come back 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.

And in the six hundred and first year, on the first day of the first month, the waters were dry on the earth: and Noah took the cover off the ark and saw that the face of the earth was dry.

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

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

15 Then God spoke to Noah, saying:

And God said to Noah,

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

Go out of the ark, you and your wife and your sons and your sons' 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.”

Take out with you every living thing which is with you, birds and cattle and everything which goes on the earth, so that they may have offspring and be fertile and be increased on the earth.

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

And Noah went out 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.

And every beast and bird and every living thing of every sort which goes on the earth, went out of the ark.

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.

And Noah made an altar to the Lord, and from every clean beast and bird he made burned 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.

And when the sweet smell came up to the Lord, he said in his heart, I will not again put a curse on the earth because of man, for the thoughts of man's heart are evil from his earliest days; never again will I send destruction on all living things 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.”

While the earth goes on, seed time and the getting in of the grain, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, will not come to an end.

A Dove is Sent Forth from the Ark