New International Reader s Version - NIrV - 1996
Genesis 7
1
Then the Lord said to Noah, "Go into the ark with your whole family. I know that you are a godly man among the people of today.
Reference
Parallel theme
Genesis 7:13
1 Peter 3:20
Luke 17:26
Genesis 7:7
References Lord
Acts 2:39
Proverbs 14:26
Righteousness
Genesis 6:9
Hebrews 11:7
Proverbs 18:10
Zephaniah 2:3
2
"Take seven of every kind of 'clean' animal with you. Take male and female of them. Take two of every kind of animal that is not 'clean.' Take male and female of them.
Reference
3
Also take seven of every kind of bird. Take male and female of them. That will keep every kind alive. Then they can spread out again over the whole earth.
4
"Seven days from now I will send rain on the earth. It will rain for 40 days and 40 nights. I will destroy from the face of the earth every living thing I have made."
Reference
Creation
Genesis 6:7
Parallel theme
Genesis 7:17
Genesis 7:12
Genesis 6:17
Genesis 6:13
Psalm 69:28
Revelation 3:5
Job 22:16
Job 28:25
Genesis 8:12
7
He and his sons entered the ark. His wife and his sons' wives went with them. They entered the ark to escape the waters of the flood.
Reference
8
Pairs of "clean" animals and pairs of animals that were not "clean" came to Noah. So did pairs of birds and pairs of all of the creatures that move along the ground.
9
Male and female of all of them came to Noah and entered the ark. Everything happened exactly as God had commanded Noah.
Reference
11
Noah was 600 years old. It was the 17th day of the second month of the year. On that day all of the springs at the bottom of the oceans burst open. God opened the windows of the skies.
Reference
13
On that same day Noah entered the ark together with Shem, Ham and Japheth. Noah's wife and the wives of his three sons also entered it.
Reference
14
They had every kind of wild animal with them. They had every kind of livestock. They had every kind of creature that moves along the ground. And they had every kind of bird that flies.
15
Pairs of all living creatures that breathe came to Noah and entered the ark.
16
The animals going in were male and female of every living thing. Everything happened exactly as God had commanded Noah. Then the Lord shut him in.
Reference
Parallel theme
Matthew 25:10
Psalm 46:2
References God
Deuteronomy 33:27
1 Peter 1:5
References Lord
Luke 13:25
17
For 40 days the flood kept coming on the earth. As the waters rose higher, they lifted the ark high above the earth.
Reference
18
The waters rose higher and higher on the earth. And the ark floated on the water.
Reference
Parallel theme
Exodus 14:28
19
The waters rose on the earth until all of the high mountains under the entire sky were covered.
20
The waters continued to rise until they covered the mountains by more than 20 feet.
21
Every living thing that moved on the earth died. The birds, the livestock and the wild animals died. All of the creatures that fill the earth also died. And so did every human being.
Reference
23
Every living thing on the earth was wiped out. People and animals were destroyed. The creatures that move along the ground and the birds of the air were wiped out. Everything was destroyed from the earth. Only Noah and those who were with him in the ark were left.
Reference
24
The waters flooded the earth for 150 days.
Chapter Summary
Genesis chapter seven continues the narrative of God beginning the process of bringing judgment upon the people of the earth. The ark construction is finished, and the preparations are in place, and now the fulfillment of the plans takes place.
"God commanded Noah to enter the ark, along with his household, for he was the only righteous man in the land." (Genesis 7:1)
This introduction of Noah as "the only righteous man in the land" indicates that Noah was far from perfect in his righteousness but was simply better than the rest of the people of his generation. God then instructs Noah to bring two of every kind of animal into the ark with him, specifying that seven pairs should be brought of the clean animals that arefit for sacrifice. The birds are to be brought in the same fashion, providing variety in their species throughout the earth when released. This distinction of bringing more clean animals may be because they will be used in the sacrifices that Noah offers to God, and therefore, more are needed to assure that enough offspring are present to continue their species after the flood.
"And He said to Noah, 'Of everything that you bring into the ark, bring in two of every kind to keep them alive for you; take along male and female of the animals that are clean, and of the animals that are unclean, and of the birds, and of everything that moves about on the earth.'
Then Noah did so; he brought them into the ark according to God's command. And God said to him, 'Wait there until I tell you, for in seven days I will send rain over the earth for forty days and forty nights.' " (Genesis 7:2-5)
Noah and his family and the animals that he brings with him must spend the next seven days loading the animals and provisions of food into the ark. Noah knows that the rain will come, and it will last for a long period of time. The rain that will fall will be relentless, and it will consume the earth, killing every living creature that moves upon it.
So it came about when Noah was six hundred years old, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, that the waters of the Flood became great upon the earth. "The waters increased greatly upon the earth, and all living creatures that moved upon the earth were perished, mankind and beasts and creeping things and birds of the heavens, and everything that moves upon the earth was perished; also every man that was upon the earth died." (Genesis 7:6-24)
The text of Genesis seven has a tone of elegy and lamentation that is reinforced by the repetitions of the phrases describing the loss of species of living creatures. The author seems almost to be wailing in grief at the extermination of all the life that God had created.
The springs of the great deep were broken up, and the floodgates of the heavens were opened. The waters broke out over the earth, and the rain fell from the heavens for forty days and nights. The waters prevailed and increased greatly upon the earth, and Noah and his family and the animals that had entered with them were shut up safely in the ark by the Lord. The Lord had shut them in, and He caused it to be so that they were left alone in the ark as the waters continued to increase until they covered the earth completely, and then for several more days, until all traces of the civilization that had been before the flood were gone. The ark floated upon the waters, bearing its cargo of animals of every species that had been brought into it, and the few human inhabitants that had entered with Noah.
The great irony of this chapter is that while the entire world outside of the ark was consumed with death and destruction, yet those few few people and animals few safely upon the waters, sheltered from the storm by the wooden vessel that Noah had built at the command of God. In contrast to the vastness of the watery waste that surrounded the ark, the few people that had taken refuge in it seem to be almost insignificant in their presence. Even more significant, though, is the fact that it was the Lord who had shut them in, assuring their safety as He brought judgment upon all those that had rejected Him.
Noah obeyed the instructions of the Lord when He spoke to him in chapter six, and in doing so, he secured his own life, along with those of his family and his animals. Now in chapter seven, the Lord continues to reveal His plan of judgment to Noah, and the chapter concludes before the fulfillment of the plan. The ark continues to float safely upon the waters as the hundred and fifty days of judgment continue. The waters held the earth under their grasp, drowning every living creature that moved upon it. Yet all the while, the cargo of animals and people few safely above the storm as the Lord delivered them from the destruction that he had brought upon the rest of the world.
"God commanded Noah to enter the ark, along with his household, for he was the only righteous man in the land." (Genesis 7:1)
This introduction of Noah as "the only righteous man in the land" indicates that Noah was far from perfect in his righteousness but was simply better than the rest of the people of his generation. God then instructs Noah to bring two of every kind of animal into the ark with him, specifying that seven pairs should be brought of the clean animals that arefit for sacrifice. The birds are to be brought in the same fashion, providing variety in their species throughout the earth when released. This distinction of bringing more clean animals may be because they will be used in the sacrifices that Noah offers to God, and therefore, more are needed to assure that enough offspring are present to continue their species after the flood.
"And He said to Noah, 'Of everything that you bring into the ark, bring in two of every kind to keep them alive for you; take along male and female of the animals that are clean, and of the animals that are unclean, and of the birds, and of everything that moves about on the earth.'
Then Noah did so; he brought them into the ark according to God's command. And God said to him, 'Wait there until I tell you, for in seven days I will send rain over the earth for forty days and forty nights.' " (Genesis 7:2-5)
Noah and his family and the animals that he brings with him must spend the next seven days loading the animals and provisions of food into the ark. Noah knows that the rain will come, and it will last for a long period of time. The rain that will fall will be relentless, and it will consume the earth, killing every living creature that moves upon it.
So it came about when Noah was six hundred years old, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, that the waters of the Flood became great upon the earth. "The waters increased greatly upon the earth, and all living creatures that moved upon the earth were perished, mankind and beasts and creeping things and birds of the heavens, and everything that moves upon the earth was perished; also every man that was upon the earth died." (Genesis 7:6-24)
The text of Genesis seven has a tone of elegy and lamentation that is reinforced by the repetitions of the phrases describing the loss of species of living creatures. The author seems almost to be wailing in grief at the extermination of all the life that God had created.
The springs of the great deep were broken up, and the floodgates of the heavens were opened. The waters broke out over the earth, and the rain fell from the heavens for forty days and nights. The waters prevailed and increased greatly upon the earth, and Noah and his family and the animals that had entered with them were shut up safely in the ark by the Lord. The Lord had shut them in, and He caused it to be so that they were left alone in the ark as the waters continued to increase until they covered the earth completely, and then for several more days, until all traces of the civilization that had been before the flood were gone. The ark floated upon the waters, bearing its cargo of animals of every species that had been brought into it, and the few human inhabitants that had entered with Noah.
The great irony of this chapter is that while the entire world outside of the ark was consumed with death and destruction, yet those few few people and animals few safely upon the waters, sheltered from the storm by the wooden vessel that Noah had built at the command of God. In contrast to the vastness of the watery waste that surrounded the ark, the few people that had taken refuge in it seem to be almost insignificant in their presence. Even more significant, though, is the fact that it was the Lord who had shut them in, assuring their safety as He brought judgment upon all those that had rejected Him.
Noah obeyed the instructions of the Lord when He spoke to him in chapter six, and in doing so, he secured his own life, along with those of his family and his animals. Now in chapter seven, the Lord continues to reveal His plan of judgment to Noah, and the chapter concludes before the fulfillment of the plan. The ark continues to float safely upon the waters as the hundred and fifty days of judgment continue. The waters held the earth under their grasp, drowning every living creature that moved upon it. Yet all the while, the cargo of animals and people few safely above the storm as the Lord delivered them from the destruction that he had brought upon the rest of the world.