የጥፋት ውሃ
1ሰዎች በምድር ላይ እየበዙ ሲሄዱ ሴቶች ልጆች ተወለዱላቸው። 2የእግዚአብሔር (ኤሎሂም) ወንዶች ልጆች የሰዎችን ሴቶች ልጆች ውብ ሆነው አዩአቸው፤ ከመካከላቸውም የመረጧቸውን አገቡ። 3እግዚአብሔርም (ያህዌ)፣ “ሰው ሟች6፥3 ወይም በስባሽ ስለሆነ መንፈሴ እያዘነ6፥3 ወይም መንፈሴ አይኖርም ከእርሱ ጋር ለዘላለም አይኖርም፤ ዕድሜው 120 ዓመት ይሆናል” አለ።
4የእግዚአብሔር (ኤሎሂም) ልጆች የሰዎችን ሴቶች ልጆች ተገናኝተው ልጆች በወለዱ ጊዜም ሆነ ከዚያም በኋላ ኔፊሊም የተባሉ ሰዎች በምድር ላይ ነበሩ። እነርሱም በጥንቱ ዘመን በጀግንነታቸው ከፍ ያለ ዝና ያተረፉ ናቸው።
5እግዚአብሔር (ያህዌ) አምላክ የሰው ዐመፅ በምድር ላይ የበዛና የልቡም ሐሳብ ዘወትር ወደ ክፋት ብቻ ያዘነበለ መሆኑን ተመለከተ። 6እግዚአብሔር (ያህዌ) ሰውን በምድር ላይ በመፍጠሩ ተጸጸተ፤ ልቡም እጅግ ዐዘነ። 7ስለዚህም እግዚአብሔር (ያህዌ)፣ “የፈጠርሁትን የሰው ዘር ከምድረ ገጽ አጠፋለሁ፤ ከሰው እስከ እንስሳ በምድር ላይ ከሚሳቡ ፍጡራን እስከ ሰማይ ወፎች አጠፋለሁ፤ ስለ ፈጠርኋቸው ተጸጽቻለሁና” አለ። 8ኖኅ ግን በእግዚአብሔር (ያህዌ) ዘንድ ሞገስን አገኘ።
9የኖኅ ታሪክ እንደሚከተለው ነው፤ ኖኅ በዘመኑ ከነበሩት ሰዎች ሁሉ ይልቅ ጻድቅና ከበደል የራቀ ሰው ነበር፤ አካሄዱንም ከእግዚአብሔር (ኤሎሂም) ጋር አደረገ።
10ኖኅም ሴም፣ ካምና ያፌት የሚባሉ ሦስት ወንዶች ልጆች ነበሩት።
11ምድር በእግዚአብሔር (ኤሎሂም) ፊት በክፉ ሥራ ረከሰች፤ በዐመፅም ተሞላች። 12እግዚአብሔር (ኤሎሂም) ምድር ምን ያህል በክፉ ሥራ እንደ ረከሰች አየ። እነሆ፤ ሰው ሁሉ አካሄዱን አበላሽቶ ነበርና 13ስለዚህ እግዚአብሔር (ኤሎሂም) ኖኅን እንዲህ አለው፦ “ሰውን ሁሉ ላጠፋ ነው፤ ምድር በሰው ዐመፅ ስለ ተሞላች በርግጥ ሰውንም ምድርንም አጠፋለሁ። 14አንተ ግን በጎፈር6፥14 በዕብራይስጥ የዚህ ቃል ትርጕም አይታወቅም። ዕንጨት መርከብ ሥራ፤ ለመርከቧም ክፍሎች አብጅላት፤ ውስጧንና ውጭዋን በቅጥራን ለብጠው። 15እንዲህ አድርገህ ሥራት፦ ርዝመቷ 140 ሜትር፣ ወርዷ 23 ሜትር፣ ከፍታዋ 13.5 ሜትር ይሁን። 16ለመርከቧ ጣራ አብጅላት፣ ጣራና ግድግዳው በሚጋጠምበት ቦታ ግማሽ ሜትር ክፍተት ተው፤6፥16 ወይም ለብርሃን መግቢያ አድርገህ ሥራ ከጐኗ በር አውጣላት፤ ባለ ሦስት ፎቅ አድርገህ ሥራት። 17እኔም ከሰማይ በታች የሕይወት እስትንፋስ ያለባቸውን ሕያዋን ፍጡራን ሁሉ ለማጥፋት እነሆ፤ በምድር ላይ የጥፋት ውሃ አወርዳለሁ፤ በምድር ላይ ያለ ሁሉ ይጠፋል። 18ከአንተ ጋር ግን ቃል ኪዳን እመሠርታለሁ። አንተና ወንዶች ልጆችህ፣ ሚስትህና የልጆችህ ሚስቶች ከአንተ ጋር ወደ መርከቧ ትገባላችሁ። 19ከአንተ ጋር በሕይወት እንዲቈዩ ከሕያዋን ፍጡራን ሁሉ ተባዕትና እንስት እያደረግህ ሁለት ሁለቱን ወደ መርከቧ ታስገባለህ። 20ከእያንዳንዱ የወፍ ወገን፣ ከእያንዳንዱ የእንስሳ ወገን፣ በምድር ላይ ከሚሳቡ ፍጥረት ሁሉ በየወገናቸው በሕይወት ይቈዩ ዘንድ ሁለት ሁለት እየሆኑ ወደ አንተ ይመጣሉ። 21ለአንተና ለእነርሱ የሚያስፈልገውን ምግብ ሁሉ አከማች።”
22ኖኅም ሁሉን እግዚአብሔር (ኤሎሂም) እንዳዘዘው አደረገ።
Wickedness in the world
1When human beings began to increase in number on the earth and daughters were born to them, 2the sons of God saw that the daughters of humans were beautiful, and they married any of them they chose. 3Then the Lord said, ‘My Spirit will not contend with6:3 Or My spirit will not remain in humans for ever, for they are mortal6:3 Or corrupt; their days will be a hundred and twenty years.’
4The Nephilim were on the earth in those days – and also afterwards – when the sons of God went to the daughters of humans and had children by them. They were the heroes of old, men of renown.
5The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time. 6The Lord regretted that he had made human beings on the earth, and his heart was deeply troubled. 7So the Lord said, ‘I will wipe from the face of the earth the human race I have created – and with them the animals, the birds and the creatures that move along the ground – for I regret that I have made them.’ 8But Noah found favour in the eyes of the Lord.
Noah and the flood
9This is the account of Noah and his family.
Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked faithfully with God. 10Noah had three sons: Shem, Ham and Japheth.
11Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight and was full of violence. 12God saw how corrupt the earth had become, for all the people on earth had corrupted their ways. 13So God said to Noah, ‘I am going to put an end to all people, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. I am surely going to destroy both them and the earth. 14So make yourself an ark of cypress6:14 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain. wood; make rooms in it and coat it with pitch inside and out. 15This is how you are to build it: the ark is to be three hundred cubits long, fifty cubits wide and thirty cubits high.6:15 That is, about 135 metres long, 23 metres wide and 14 metres high 16Make a roof for it, leaving below the roof an opening one cubit6:16 That is, about 45 centimetres high all around.6:16 The meaning of the Hebrew for this clause is uncertain. Put a door in the side of the ark and make lower, middle and upper decks. 17I am going to bring floodwaters on the earth to destroy all life under the heavens, every creature that has the breath of life in it. Everything on earth will perish. 18But I will establish my covenant with you, and you will enter the ark – you and your sons and your wife and your sons’ wives with you. 19You are to bring into the ark two of all living creatures, male and female, to keep them alive with you. 20Two of every kind of bird, of every kind of animal and of every kind of creature that moves along the ground will come to you to be kept alive. 21You are to take every kind of food that is to be eaten and store it away as food for you and for them.’
22Noah did everything just as God commanded him.
