1Then 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. 2Take seven pairs of every kind of ‘clean’ animal with you. Take a male and a female of each kind. Take one pair of every kind of animal that is not ‘clean.’ Take a male and a female of each kind. 3Also take seven pairs of every kind of bird. Take a male and a female of each kind. Then every kind will be kept alive. They can spread out again over the whole earth. 4Seven 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 creature I have made.”
5Noah did everything the Lord commanded him to do.
6Noah was 600 years old when the flood came on the earth. 7He 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. 8Male and female pairs of “clean” animals and pairs of animals that were not “clean” came to Noah. So did male and female pairs of birds and of all the creatures that move along the ground. 9All of them came to Noah and entered the ark. Everything happened just as God had commanded Noah. 10After seven days the flood came on the earth.
11Noah 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 sky. 12Rain fell on the earth for 40 days and 40 nights.
13On that same day Noah entered the ark together with his sons Shem, Ham and Japheth. Noah’s wife and the wives of his three sons also entered it. 14They had every kind of wild animal with them. They had every kind of livestock, creature that moves along the ground, and bird that flies. 15Pairs of all living creatures that breathe came to Noah and entered the ark. 16The animals going in were male and female of every living thing. Everything happened just as God had commanded Noah. Then the Lord shut him in.
17For 40 days the flood kept coming on the earth. As the waters rose higher, they lifted the ark high above the earth. 18The waters rose higher and higher on the earth. And the ark floated on the water. 19The waters rose on the earth until all the high mountains under the entire sky were covered. 20The waters continued to rise until they covered the mountains by more than 20 feet. 21Every living thing that moved on land 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. 22Every breathing thing on dry land died. 23Every living thing on earth was wiped out. People and animals were destroyed. The creatures that move along the ground and the birds in the sky were wiped out. Everything on earth was destroyed. Only Noah and those with him in the ark were left.
24The waters flooded the earth for 150 days.
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1とうとうその日がきました。主はノアに言いました。「さあ、家族全員で船に入りなさい。この地上で正しい人間といえるのは、あなただけだから。 2動物も一つがいずつ連れて入りなさい。ただし、食用と神へのささげ物に特別に選んだ動物は、それぞれ七つがいずつだ。 3ほかに、鳥も七つがいずつ入れなさい。こうしておけば、洪水が終わってから、もう一度生き物が繁殖できる。 4あと一週間たつと雨が降り始め、四十日の間、昼も夜も降り続く。わたしが造ったすべての生き物はみな死に絶えるだろう。」
5ノアは、すべて命じられたとおりにしました。 6洪水が襲ってきた時、彼は六百歳でした。 7大水から逃れるため、彼は急いで妻と息子夫婦を連れて船に乗り込みました。 8-9あらゆる種類の動物もみないっしょです。食用と神へのささげ物の動物も、そうでない動物も、鳥もはうものもです。すべて神がノアに命じたとおり、雄と雌のつがいで入りました。
10-12一週間後、ノアが生まれて六百年と二か月十七日たった日のことです。大雨が降り始め、地下水までが勢いよく吹き出してきました。四十日の間、昼も夜もそんな状態が続きました。 13しかし、まさにその日にノアは、妻と息子セム、ハム、ヤペテとその妻たちを連れて船に乗り込んだのです。 14-15家畜といわず野生のものといわず、あらゆる種類の動物、はうもの、鳥もいっしょでした。 16主の命令どおり、それぞれが雄と雌のつがいで入れられたのです。そのあと神が船の扉を閉じ、心配はなくなりました。
17四十日の間、地上はすさまじい勢いで増水しました。世界中がすっかり水で覆われたので、船は水の上に浮かびました。 18みるみる水かさが増していきましたが、船は水に浮かんでいるので安全でした。
19とうとう、世界中の山という山がすべて水に覆われてしまいました。 20一番高い頂でさえ、水面から七メートルも下に沈んだほどです。 21ついに、鳥も家畜と野生の動物もはうものも、そして全人類も、地上の生き物はみな死に絶えました。 22かつて、乾いた地の上で生き、呼吸していたものは、絶滅しました。 23こうして、地上の全生物が姿を消しました。神が滅ぼされたのです。かろうじて生き残ったのは、ノアといっしょに船に乗っていたものたちだけでした。 24水はさらに百五十日の間、地上を覆っていました。
