God: "I'm sick of this"
1Humans had sex a lot. Earth’s population exploded. Some of the daughters born to the families 2grew into gorgeous women. Sons of God [1] took notice, and then took the women—any women they wanted. 3The LORD said, “I’m not going to let my Spirit stay [2] in these people for such a long time anymore. They’re only human. Flesh and bone. From now on I’m going to cut their lifespan to no more than 120 years.”4A race of giants called the Nephilim [3] lived on earth at the time, when sons of God married whatever women they wanted. Their children grew up to become heroes—legendary warriors. 5The LORD saw that the human race was stinking up the planet with wickedness. Nasty, rotten thoughts and desires controlled them. 6It hurt the LORD to see what humans had become. He was sorry he ever made them.
7The LORD said, “I’m sick of this. I’m going to wipe humans off the face of my good Earth. I’m going to destroy all the people and every animal that crawls, walks, or flies because I am sorry I made them.” 8Noah was the exception. God liked what he saw in Noah.
Noah, Earth’s one good soul
9This is the story of Noah and his family. He was a good man who obeyed God. No one had reason to criticize him. 10Noah had three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth. 11God saw that violence had corrupted the earth. 12God saw all of this for himself. Everyone had gone bad. The whole world was polluted with evil.13God told Noah, “I have had it with humans. They have poisoned my world with violence. So I’m going to destroy all life on earth. 14Build a big boathouse with good wood. [4] Build decks, cabins, and stalls inside. Waterproof the whole thing with tar, inside and out. 15Here are the measurements for the boat: 150 yards long, 25 yards wide, and 15 yards high. [5] 16Build a roof on the boat. Just under the roof, build an opening 18 inches high [6] all the way around the boat. Build three decks inside the boat, and put a door on the side.
17Look, this is for real. I’m going to send a flood that will kill everything under the sky that breathes. Everything will die. 18But I’m going to make a deal [7] with you. When the boat is finished, go inside the boat and take your wife along with your sons and their wives. 19Also take one pair of every kind of animal, one male and one female of each. I want you to keep them alive during the flood. 20Bring birds, land animals, and every crawling critter that creeps along the ground—two of every kind, one male and one female. This will keep their kind alive. 21Stock up on food for you and the animals.” 22Noah did everything God told him to do.
