Chapter 8

¹ Then The All-Powerful, Almighty One turned His attention to Noah, and to all the wild beasts of the land, and all the great livestock that were with him inside the floating vessel; and The All-Powerful, Almighty One caused a Mighty Wind to pass over the land, and the waters began to recede.

² The springs of the great ocean abyss and the floodgates of the sky were closed up, and the torrential downpour from the sky was restrained.

³ The waters receded steadily from the land, continually drawing back; and at the end of 150 days, the water level had decreased significantly.

⁴ In the 7th month, on the 17th day of the month, the floating vessel came to rest on the mountains of Ararat.

⁵ The waters continued to decrease steadily until the 10th month; in the 10th month, on the 1st day of the month, the tops of the mountains became visible.

⁶ When 40 days had passed, Noah opened the window of the floating vessel that he had built,

⁷ and he released a raven. It kept flying back and forth until the waters had completely dried up from the land.

⁸ Then he released a dove to see if the waters had receded from the surface of the ground.

⁹ But the dove found no resting place for the sole of its foot, so it returned to him inside the floating vessel, because water still covered the face of the entire land. He reached out his hand, took the dove, and brought it back to himself inside the floating vessel.

¹⁰ He waited another 7 days, and again he released the dove from the floating vessel.

¹¹ When the dove returned to him in the evening, behold, there was a freshly plucked olive leaf in its beak! So Noah knew that the waters had receded from the land.

¹² He waited another 7 days and released the dove once more, but this time it did not return to him again.

¹³ By the 601st year, in the 1st month, on the 1st day of the month, the waters were completely dried up from the land. Then Noah removed the protective covering of the floating vessel and looked, and behold, the surface of the ground was dry.

¹⁴ By the 2nd month, on the 27th day of the month, the land was completely dry.

¹⁵ Then The All-Powerful, Almighty One spoke to Noah, saying,

¹⁶ “Exit the floating vessel—you, your woman, your sons, and your sons' women with you.

¹⁷ Bring out with you every living creature of all flesh that is with you: winged creatures, the great livestock, and every low-creeping thing that creeps upon the land, so that they may swarm across the land, be fruitful, and multiply upon the land.”

¹⁸ So Noah exited, along with his sons, his woman, and his sons' women.

¹⁹ Every wild beast, every low-creeping thing, every winged creature, and everything that moves upon the land, went out of the floating vessel by their specific families.

²⁰ Then Noah built an altar to The Sovereign, The Self-Existent; he took from every pure animal and from every pure bird, and he offered ascending offerings upon the altar.

²¹ And The Sovereign, The Self-Existent smelled the soothing aroma, and The Sovereign, The Self-Existent said in His heart, “I will never again curse the soil because of humanity, even though the inclination of the human heart is harmful from youth; nor will I ever again strike down every living creature as I have done.

²² As long as the land remains,

seedtime and harvest,

cold and heat,

summer and winter,

and day and night

shall never cease.”