Origin of the Nephilim.* 1When human beings began to grow numerous on the earth and daughters were born to them, 2the sons of God* saw how beautiful the daughters of human beings were, and so they took for their wives whomever they pleased.a 3Then the Lord said: My spirit shall not remain in human beings forever, because they are only flesh. Their days shall comprise one hundred and twenty years.

4The Nephilim appeared on earth in those days, as well as later,* after the sons of God had intercourse with the daughters of human beings, who bore them sons. They were the heroes of old, the men of renown.b

Warning of the Flood. 5* When the Lord saw how great the wickedness of human beings was on earth, and how every desire that their heart conceived was always nothing but evil,c 6the Lord regretted making human beings on the earth, and his heart was grieved.*

7So the Lord said: I will wipe out from the earth the human beings I have created, and not only the human beings, but also the animals and the crawling things and the birds of the air, for I regret that I made them.* 8But Noah found favor with the Lord.

9These are the descendants of Noah. Noah was a righteous man and blameless in his generation;d Noah walked with God. 10Noah begot three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

11But the earth was corrupt* in the view of God and full of lawlessness.e 12When God saw how corrupt the earth had become, since all mortals had corrupted their ways on earth,f 13God said to Noah: I see that the end of all mortals has come, for the earth is full of lawlessness because of them. So I am going to destroy them with the earth.g

Preparation for the Flood. 14Make yourself an ark of gopherwood,* equip the ark with various compartments, and cover it inside and out with pitch. 15This is how you shall build it: the length of the ark will be three hundred cubits, its width fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits.* 16Make an opening for daylight* and finish the ark a cubit above it. Put the ark’s entrance on its side; you will make it with bottom, second and third decks. 17I, on my part, am about to bring the flood waters on the earth, to destroy all creatures under the sky in which there is the breath of life; everything on earth shall perish.h 18I will establish my covenant with you. You shall go into the ark, you and your sons, your wife and your sons’ wives with you.i 19Of all living creatures you shall bring two of every kind into the ark, one male and one female,* to keep them alive along with you. 20Of every kind of bird, of every kind of animal, and of every kind of thing that crawls on the ground, two of each will come to you, that you may keep them alive. 21Moreover, you are to provide yourself with all the food that is to be eaten, and store it away, that it may serve as provisions for you and for them. 22Noah complied; he did just as God had commanded him.*