Genesis 6

6 ¹ Now when humanity began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born to them, ² the sons of divine origin saw that the daughters of human origin were beautiful, and they took as wives whomever they chose. ^a a v2 The verse pairs two categories of beings — those of divine origin and those of human origin — and names a boundary being crossed between them. Christian readers have understood the divine-origin beings either as heavenly beings or as the godly line of Seth; both readings rest on the same point the verse makes about origin.

³ Then our Father said, "My Spirit will not keep wrestling with humanity forever, for they are flesh; their days will be one hundred and twenty years."

⁴ The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of divine origin came to the daughters of human origin and they bore children to them. These were the mighty men of old, the men of renown. ^b b v4 The pairing of v.2 continues here — beings of divine origin joined with beings of human origin — the union from which the Nephilim came. The verse keeps its focus on that boundary between the two categories.

⁵ Our Father saw how great the wickedness of humanity had become on the earth, that every thought and desire of their hearts was only evil all the time. ⁶ And he was grieved that he had made humanity on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain. ^c c v6 Our Father's heart breaks when his children turn against him. This is the first time scripture shows our Father grieving — not detached judgment, but a Father whose heart aches over his lost children.

⁷ So our Father said, "I will wipe out humanity, whom I have created, from the face of the earth — people and animals, the crawling things and the birds of the sky — for I am grieved that I have made them."

⁸ But Noah found favor in the eyes of our Father.

⁹ This is the account of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and Noah walked faithfully with our Father.

Shem, Ham, and Japheth

¹⁰ And Noah had three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth. ¹¹ Now the earth was corrupt in the sight of our Father, and the earth was filled with violence. ¹² Our Father saw the earth, and indeed it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted their ways on the earth.

¹³ Then our Father said to Noah, "The time has come to put an end to all flesh, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. Now I am going to destroy them along with the earth." ¹⁴ Make yourself an ark of cypress wood. Make rooms in the ark, and coat it inside and out with pitch. ^d d v14 Pitch was a tar-like substance brushed over the wood to seal the ark and keep the water out. ¹⁵ This is how you are to make it: the ark is to be about four hundred and fifty feet long, about seventy-five feet wide, and about forty-five feet high. ^e e v15 A cubit was an ancient measurement, roughly the length from an adult's elbow to fingertip — about 18 inches or 45 centimeters. ¹⁶ Make a roof for the ark, and finish it to within eighteen inches of the top. Put a door in the side of the ark, and make it with lower, middle, and upper decks. ¹⁷ And I myself am about to bring floodwaters upon the earth to destroy all flesh under the heavens that has the breath of life in it; everything on the earth will perish. ¹⁸ But I will establish my covenant with you, and you will come into the ark, you and your sons and your wife and your sons' wives with you. ¹⁹ Bring two of every kind of living creature into the ark to keep them alive with you — a male and a female. ²⁰ Of the birds according to their kinds, and of the animals according to their kinds, and of every crawling thing of the ground according to its kind, two of every kind will come to you to be kept alive. ²¹ Take every kind of food that can be eaten and store it up; it will be food for you and for them.

²² Noah did everything just as our Father commanded him.