Genesis 8–9; Ephesians 5; Psalm 8

red bookmark icon blue bookmark icon gold bookmark icon
Genesis 8–9

The Flood Subsides

But God dremembered Noah and all the beasts and all the livestock that were with him in the ark. And eGod made a wind blow over the earth, and the waters subsided. fThe fountains of the deep and fthe windows of the heavens were closed, the rain from the heavens was restrained, and the waters receded from the earth continually. At the end gof 150 days the waters had abated, and in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, the ark came to rest on the mountains of hArarat. And the waters continued to abate until the tenth month; in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, the tops of the mountains were seen.

At the end of forty days Noah opened the window of the ark that he had made and sent forth a raven. It went to and fro until the waters were dried up from the earth. Then he sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters had subsided from the face of the ground. But the dove found no place to set her foot, and she returned to him to the ark, for the waters were still on the face of the whole earth. So he put out his hand and took her and brought her into the ark with him. 10 He waited another seven days, and again he sent forth the dove out of the ark. 11 And the dove came back to him in the evening, and behold, in her mouth was a freshly plucked olive leaf. So Noah knew that the waters had subsided from the earth. 12 Then he waited another seven days and sent forth the dove, and she did not return to him anymore.

13 In the six hundred and first year, in the first month, the first day of the month, the waters were dried from off the earth. And Noah removed the covering of the ark and looked, and behold, the face of the ground was dry. 14 In the second month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, the earth had dried out. 15 Then God said to Noah, 16 Go out from the ark, iyou and your wife, and your sons and your sons’ wives with you. 17 Bring out with you every living thing that is with you of all fleshbirds and animals and every creeping thing that creeps on the earththat they may swarm on the earth, and jbe fruitful and multiply on the earth. 18 So Noah went out, and his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives with him. 19 Every beast, every creeping thing, and every bird, everything that moves on the earth, went out by families from the ark.

God’s Covenant with Noah

20 Then Noah built an altar to the Lord and took some of every clean animal and some of every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar. 21 And when the Lord smelled kthe pleasing aroma, the Lord said in his heart, I will never again lcurse1 the ground because of man, for mthe intention of man’s heart is evil from his youth. nNeither will I ever again strike down every living creature as I have done. 22 oWhile the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, pday and night, shall not cease.

And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, qBe fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. rThe fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth and upon every bird of the heavens, upon everything that creeps on the ground and all the fish of the sea. Into your hand they are delivered. sEvery moving thing that lives shall be food for you. And tas I gave you the green plants, I give you everything. But you shall not eat flesh with its ulife, that is, its blood. And for your lifeblood I will require a reckoning: vfrom every beast I will require it and wfrom man. From his fellow man I will require a reckoning for the life of man.

xWhoever sheds the blood of man,

by man shall his blood be shed,

yfor God made man in his own image.

And you,2 be fruitful and multiply, increase greatly on the earth and multiply in it.

Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him, Behold, zI establish my covenant with you and your offspring after you, 10 and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the livestock, and every beast of the earth with you, as many as came out of the ark; it is for every beast of the earth. 11 aI establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth. 12 And God said, bThis is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations: 13 I have set cmy bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. 14 When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds, 15 dI will remember my covenant that is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh. And the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. 16 When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it and remember ethe everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth. 17 God said to Noah, This is the sign of the covenant that I have established between me and all flesh that is on the earth.

Noah’s Descendants

18 The sons of Noah who went forth from the ark were fShem, Ham, and Japheth. (Ham was the father of Canaan.) 19 These three were the sons of Noah, and gfrom these the people of the whole earth were dispersed.3

20 Noah began to be a man of the soil, and he planted a vineyard.4 21 He drank of the wine and became drunk and lay uncovered in his tent. 22 And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father and told his two brothers outside. 23 Then Shem and Japheth took a garment, laid it on both their shoulders, and walked backward and covered the nakedness of their father. Their faces were turned backward, and they did not see their father’s nakedness. 24 When Noah awoke from his wine hand knew what his youngest son had done to him, 25 he said,

iCursed be Canaan;

ja servant of servants shall he be to his brothers.

26 He also said,

Blessed be the Lord, the God of Shem;

and let Canaan be his servant.

27  May God enlarge Japheth,5

and let him dwell in the tents of Shem,

and let Canaan be his servant.

28 After the flood Noah lived 350 years. 29 All the days of Noah were 950 years, and he died.


Ephesians 5

Walk in Love

jTherefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And kwalk in love, las Christ loved us and mgave himself up for us, a nfragrant ooffering and sacrifice to God.

But psexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness qmust not even be named among you, as is proper among saints. Let there be rno filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, swhich are out of place, but instead tlet there be thanksgiving. For you may be sure of this, that ueveryone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous (vthat is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. wLet no one xdeceive you with empty words, for because of these things ythe wrath of God comes upon zthe sons of disobedience. Therefore ado not become partners with them; for bat one time you were cdarkness, but now you are light in the Lord. dWalk as children of light (for ethe fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true), 10 and ftry to discern what is pleasing to the Lord. 11 gTake no part in the hunfruitful iworks of darkness, but instead jexpose them. 12 For kit is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret. 13 But when lanything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible, 14 for anything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says,

mAwake, O sleeper,

and narise from the dead,

and oChrist will shine on you.

15 pLook carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, 16 pmaking the best use of the time, because qthe days are evil. 17 Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what rthe will of the Lord is. 18 And sdo not get drunk with wine, for that is tdebauchery, but ube filled with the Spirit, 19 addressing one another in vpsalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, 20 wgiving thanks always and for everything to God the Father xin the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, 21 ysubmitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.

Wives and Husbands

22 zWives, asubmit to your own husbands, bas to the Lord. 23 For cthe husband is the head of the wife even as dChrist is the head of the church, his body, and is ehimself its Savior. 24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit fin everything to their husbands.

25 gHusbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and hgave himself up for her, 26 that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by ithe washing of water jwith the word, 27 so kthat he might present the church to himself in splendor, lwithout spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.1 28 In the same way mhusbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29 For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, 30 because nwe are members of his body. 31 oTherefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and pthe two shall become one flesh. 32 This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. 33 However, qlet each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she rrespects her husband.


Psalm 8

How Majestic Is Your Name

To the choirmaster: according to The pGittith.1 A Psalm of David.

O Lord, our Lord,

how majestic is your qname in all the earth!

You have set your rglory above the heavens.

sOut of the mouth of babies and infants,

you have established tstrength because of your foes,

to still uthe enemy and the avenger.

When I vlook at your heavens, the work of your wfingers,

the moon and the stars, xwhich you have set in place,

ywhat is man that you are zmindful of him,

and athe son of man that you bcare for him?

Yet you have made him a little lower than cthe heavenly beings2

and crowned him with dglory and honor.

You have given him edominion over the works of your hands;

fyou have put all things under his feet,

all sheep and oxen,

and also the beasts of the field,

the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea,

whatever passes along the paths of the seas.

O Lord, our Lord,

how majestic is your name in all the earth!