Genesis 8

1 But God (did not forget/thought) about Noah and all the wild animals and all the kinds of livestock that were with him in the boat. So one day God sent a wind to blow across the earth, and the wind caused the water [to begin] to recede.

And God remembered Noe, and all the wild beasts, and all the cattle, and all the birds, and all the reptiles that creep, as many as were with him in the ark, and God brought a wind upon the earth, and the water stayed.

2 God caused the water that was under the earth to stop bursting forth, and he caused the floodgates of water from the sky to close so that it stopped raining.

And the fountains of the deep were closed up, and the flood-gates of heaven, and the rain from heaven was withheld.

3 The water on the earth gradually receded. 150 days after the flood began,

And the water subsided, and went off the earth, and after an hundred and fifty days the water was diminished, and the ark rested in the seventh month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, on the mountains of Ararat.

4 (on the 17th day of the seventh month [of that year/late in March]), the boat came to rest on one of the mountains in the Ararat region.

And the water continued to decrease until the tenth month.

5 The water continued to recede until, on the first day of the tenth month [of that year], the tops of other mountains became visible.

And in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, the heads of the mountains were seen.

6 40 days later, Noah opened the window that he had made in the side of the boat, and sent out a raven.

And it came to pass after forty days Noe opened the window of the ark which he had made.

7 The raven flew back and forth [to and from the boat] until the water was completely gone.

And he sent forth a raven; and it went forth and returned not until the water was dried from off the earth.

8 Then Noah sent out a dove to find out if the water had all receded on the ground.

And he sent a dove after it to see if the water had ceased from off the earth.

9 But the dove did not find any place to perch, so it flew back to Noah in the boat, because there was still water all over the surface of the earth. So Noah reached out his hand and took the dove back inside the boat.

And the dove not having found rest for her feet, returned to him into the ark, because the water was on all the face of the earth, and he stretched out his hand and took her, and brought her to himself into the ark.

10 Noah waited seven more days. Then he sent the dove out of the boat again.

And having waited yet seven other days, he again sent forth the dove from the ark.

11 This time the dove returned to him in the evening and, [surprisingly], in its beak there was a leaf from an olive tree that the dove had just plucked. Then Noah knew that the water had truly receded from the surface of the ground.

And the dove returned to him in the evening, and had a leaf of olive, a sprig in her mouth; and Noe knew that the water had ceased from off the earth.

12 Noah waited seven more days. Then he sent the dove out again, but this time it did not return to him.

And having waited yet seven other days, he again sent forth the dove, and she did not return to him again any more.

13 Noah was now 601 years old. By the first day of the first month [of the Jewish year], the water had completely drained away from the ground. Noah removed the covering on top of the ark, and he was surprised to see that the surface of the ground was drying.

And it came to pass in the six hundred and first year of the life of Noe, in the first month, on the first day of the month, the water subsided from off the earth, and Noe opened the covering of the ark which he had made, and he saw that the water had subsided from the face of the earth.

14 By the 27th day of the next month, the ground was completely dry.

And in the second month the earth was dried, on the twenty-seventh day of the month.

15 Then God said to Noah,

And the Lord God spoke to Noe, saying,

16 “Leave the boat, along with your wife and your sons and their wives.

Come out from the ark, you and your wife and your sons, and your sons' wives with you.

17 Bring out with you all the birds, the animals, and all the creatures that scurry across the ground, in order that they can spread all over the earth and become very numerous.”

And all the wild beasts as many as are with you, and all flesh both of birds and beasts, and every reptile moving upon the earth, bring forth with you: and increase you and multiply upon the earth.

18 So Noah left the boat, along with his wife and his sons and their wives.

And Noe came forth, and his wife and his sons, and his sons' wives with him.

19 And every kind of creature, including all those that scurry across the ground, all the birds, every creature that moves on the earth, left the boat. They left the boat in groups of their own species.

And all the wild beasts and all the cattle and every bird, and every reptile creeping upon the earth after their kind, came forth out of the ark.

20 Then Noah built a (stone altar/place for offering sacrifices) to Yahweh. Then he took some of the animals that Yahweh had said were acceptable as sacrifices and killed them. Then he burned them whole on the altar.

And Noe built an altar to the Lord, and took of all clean beasts, and of all clean birds, and offered a whole burnt offering upon the altar.

21 When Yahweh smelled the pleasant odor, he was pleased with the sacrifice. Then he said to himself, “I will never again devastate everything on the earth because of the sinful things people do. Even though everything that people think is evil from the time they are young, I will not destroy all the living creatures again, as I did this time.

And the Lord God smelled a smell of sweetness, and the Lord God having considered, said, I will not any more curse the earth, because of the works of men, because the imagination of man is intently bent upon evil things from his youth, I will not therefore any more strike all living flesh as I have done.

22 As long as the earth exists, each year there will be seasons for planting seeds and seasons for harvesting crops. Each year there will be times when it is cold and times when it is hot, summer and winter (OR, rainy season and dry season). Each day there will be daytime and nighttime.”

All the days of the earth, seed and harvest, cold and heat, summer and spring, shall not cease by day or night.

A Dove is Sent Forth from the Ark