Here is an extract from the story of Noah, taken from the Bible. The text is from the Contemporary English Version of the Bible (pictured left). To order your copy of this fresh, new version, click here for Amazon UK or US.
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God's final solution
The Lord saw how bad the people on earth were and that everything they thought and planned was evil. He was very sorry that he had made them, and he said, "I'll destroy every living creature on earth! I'll wipe out people, animals, birds, and reptiles. I'm sorry I ever made them."
But the Lord was pleased with Noah, and this is the story about him. Noah was the only person who lived right and obeyed God. He had three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
God knew that everyone was terribly cruel and violent. So he told Noah:
Cruelty and violence have spread everywhere. Now I'm going to destroy the whole earth and all its people. Get some good timber and build a boat. Put rooms in it and cover it with tar inside and out.
Make it one hundred and thirty-three metres long, twenty-two metres wide, and thirteen metres high. Build a roof on the boat and leave a space of about forty-four centimetres between the roof and the sides. Make the boat three storeys high and put a door on one side.
I'm going to send a flood that will destroy everything that breathes! Nothing will be left alive. But I solemnly promise that you, your wife, your sons, and your daughters-in-law will be kept safe in the boat.
Bring into the boat with you a male and a female of every kind of animal and bird, as well as a male and a female of every reptile. I don't want them to be destroyed. Store up enough food both for yourself and for them.
Noah did everything the Lord told him to do.
The Book of Genesis
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