1Deus não se esqueceu de Noé e de toda a vida animal que estava na embarcação. Fez soprar um vento forte e as águas começaram a baixar. 2Os reservatórios profundos do mundo e as comportas do céu estancaram-se e aquela chuva torrencial parou. 3As águas começaram gradualmente a baixar de tal forma que, passados os cento e cinquenta dias, 4no décimo sétimo dia do sétimo mês, a embarcação tocou no cimo do monte Ararat, ficando aí. 5As águas continuaram escoando até o décimo mês e, no primeiro dia do décimo mês, já se viam os cimos das montanhas.
6Ao fim de mais quarenta dias Noé abriu a janela que tinha feito na parte superior da construção, 7e soltou um corvo que voava e voltava, até que a Terra se secou. 8Entretanto, enviou também uma pomba para ver se já haveria alguma parte seca. 9A pomba, contudo, não achou nada onde pousar e voltou para a embarcação, porque o nível das águas ainda era muito elevado. Noé estendeu a mão e tomou-a para dentro.
10Esperou então sete dias e soltou de novo a pomba. 11Desta vez, ela só voltou ao cair da tarde, e trazia no bico uma folha de oliveira. Noé concluiu, assim, que as águas estavam a descer bastante. 12Deixou passar ainda mais uma semana, soltou de novo a pomba, mas desta vez ela não voltou.
13Passaram-se ainda 29 dias depois disso; era o primeiro dia do primeiro mês. Noé tinha a idade de 601 anos, quando levantou a cobertura da construção e verificou que as águas tinham descido totalmente. 14Ao fim de mais 8 semanas, no dia 27 do segundo mês, a terra estava completamente seca.
15Então Deus disse a Noé: 16“Podem sair todos; tu e a tua família. 17Deixa sair igualmente os animais por toda a parte, de forma a que se reproduzam abundantemente na Terra.” 18E assim a embarcação em breve ficou vazia dos seus habitantes, tanto da família de Noé 19como daqueles animais de toda a espécie. 20Noé construiu um altar e sacrificou nele alguns dos animais que o Senhor lhe tinha indicado, como holocausto. 21O Senhor ficou satisfeito com esse sacrifício e disse: “Nunca mais voltarei a amaldiçoar a Terra, destruindo assim tudo o que vive, ainda que a inclinação do ser humano seja sempre para o mal, mesmo desde a sua infância, e ainda que ele continue sempre a praticar o mal.
22Enquanto a Terra durar,
sempre há de haver tempo de sementeiras e de colheitas,
frio e calor,
inverno e verão,
tal como há dia e noite.”
1But God showed concern for Noah. He also showed concern for all the wild animals and livestock that were with Noah in the ark. So God sent a wind to sweep over the earth. And the waters began to go down. 2The springs at the bottom of the oceans had been closed. The windows of the sky had also been closed. And the rain had stopped falling from the sky. 3The water on the earth continued to go down. At the end of the 150 days the water had gone down. 4On the 17th day of the seventh month, the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat. 5The waters continued to go down until the tenth month. On the first day of that month, the tops of the mountains could be seen.
6After 40 days Noah opened a window he had made in the ark. 7He sent out a raven. It kept flying back and forth until the water on the earth had dried up. 8Then Noah sent out a dove. He wanted to see if the water on the surface of the ground had gone down. 9But the dove couldn’t find any place to rest. Water still covered the whole surface of the earth. So the dove returned to Noah in the ark. Noah reached out his hand and took the dove in. He brought it back to himself in the ark. 10He waited seven more days. Then he sent out the dove again from the ark. 11In the evening the dove returned to him. There in its beak was a freshly picked olive leaf! So Noah knew that the water on the earth had gone down. 12He waited seven more days. Then he sent out the dove again. But this time it didn’t return to him.
13It was the first day of the first month of Noah’s 601st year. The water on the earth had dried up. Then Noah removed the covering from the ark. He saw that the surface of the ground was dry. 14By the 27th day of the second month the earth was completely dry.
15Then God said to Noah, 16“Come out of the ark. Bring your wife and your sons and their wives with you. 17Bring out every kind of living thing that is with you. Bring the birds, the animals, and all the creatures that move along the ground. Then they can multiply on the earth. They can have little ones and the number of them can increase.”
18So Noah came out of the ark. His sons and his wife and his sons’ wives were with him. 19All the animals came out of the ark. The creatures that move along the ground also came out. So did all the birds. Everything that moves on land came out of the ark, one kind after another.
20Then Noah built an altar to honor the Lord. He took some of the “clean” animals and birds. He sacrificed them on the altar as burnt offerings. 21The smell of the offerings pleased the Lord. He said to himself, “I will never put a curse on the ground again because of human beings. I will not do it even though their hearts are always directed toward evil. Their thoughts are evil from the time they are young. I will never destroy all living things again, as I have just done.
22“As long as the earth lasts,
there will always be a time to plant
and a time to gather the crops.
As long as the earth lasts,
there will always be cold and heat.
There will always be summer and winter,
day and night.”
