And Noah begat three sons, Shem, Cham, and Japheth.

And the earth was corrupted through the inhabitants thereof, who had declined from the ways of righteousness before the Lord; and the earth was filled with rapine. [Jerusalem. And the earth was filled with violences and frauds.] And the Lord beheld the earth; and, lo, it was corrupt; for all flesh had every one corrupted his way upon the earth.

And the Lord said to Noah, The end of all flesh cometh before Me, because the earth is filled with rapine by their evil works; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth. Make thee an ark of the wood of cedars; a hundred and fifty cells shalt thou make to the ark in its left side, and thirty and six in its breadth; and ten cabins in the midst, to lay up in them provision; and five repositories on the right, and five on the left; and thou shalt protect it within and without with pitch. Go thou unto Phison, and take from thence a precious stone, and fix it in the ark to illuminate you: with the measure of a cubit (or span) shalt thou complete it above. And a door shalt thou set in the side of the ark; and with dwelling-places, inferior, second, and third, shalt thou make it. And I, behold, I bring a flood of waters upon the earth to swallow up all flesh which hath in it the spirit of life from under the heavens: whatever is upon the earth shall be swept away. But I will establish my covenant with thee; and thou shalt go into the ark, thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and the wives of thy sons with thee. And of all that liveth of all flesh, two of every (kind) shall go into the ark, to be preserved alive with thee: male and female shall they be. Of the fowl after its kind, and of all cattle after its kind, and of every reptile of the earth after its kind, two of every (sort) shall enter to

thee by the hand of the angel, who will take and cause them to enter to thee, to be preserved. And thou, take to thee of all food that is eaten, and let it be to thee and to them for food. And Noah did according to all that the Lord had instructed him..

VII. And the Lord said to Noah, Enter, thou, and every one of thy house, into the ark; for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation. Of all clean cattle take thou seven by seven, male and female, and of all cattle not clean, two (and two), male and female. But of birds of the heaven, seven by seven, male and female, to preserve from them seed upon the earth. For, behold, I give you space of seven days; if they will be converted, it shall be forgiven them; but if they will not be converted, after a time of days yet seven, I will cause rain to come down upon the earth forty days and forty nights, and will destroy all bodies of man and of beast upon the earth. And Noah did according to all that the Lord had commanded him. And Noah was the son of six hundred years when the deluge of waters was upon the earth. And Noah entered, and his sons and his wife and the wives of his sons with him, into the ark, from before the waters of the deluge. Of all cattle clean, and of cattle unclean, of birds, and of whatever creepeth upon the earth, two and two they entered unto Noah into the ark, male and female, as the Lord had instructed Noah.

And it was at the time of seven days after the conclusion of the mourning for Methushelach, that the Lord beheld, and, lo, the sons of men had not turned. And the waters of the deluge came down hotly from the heavens upon the earth. In the six-hundredth year of the life of Noah, in the second month, which

2

2 Rethichin, "boiling." The Midrash says, that “the generation of the flood was chastised with scalding water."

4

was the month of Marchesvan, for hitherto the months had been numbered from Tishri which was the beginning of the year at the completion of the world, in the seventeenth day of the month, in that day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up. And the giants were gathered there together with their sons and perturbed them, and afterwards the windows of heaven were opened. [Jerusalem. And the windows of heaven were opened.] And the rain came down upon the earth forty days and forty nights. In that same day entered Noah, and Shem, and Cham, and Yapheth, the sons of Noah, and the wife of Noah, and the three wives of his sons with him, into the ark: they, and every animal after his kind, and all cattle after their kind, and every reptile that creepeth upon the earth after his kind, and every fowl after its kind, every bird which flieth. And they entered to Noah into the ark, two and two of all flesh in which was the breath of life. And they coming entered, male and female, of all flesh unto him, as the Lord had instructed him; and the Word of the Lord covered over the door of the ark upon the face thereof. [Jerusalem. And the Word of the Lord was merciful upon him.] And there was a flood forty days upon the earth, and the waters were multiplied and bare up the ark, and it was lifted from the earth. And the waters waxed mighty and increased greatly upon the earth, and the ark went floating upon the face of the waters. And the waters prevailed greatly upon the earth, and all the high hills which were under the heavens were covered: fifteen cubits higher did the waters prevail, and the mountains were covered. And all flesh expired which moveth upon the earth; of fowl, and of cattle, and of wild beasts, and every moving thing that moveth upon 4 October.

3 November.

the earth, and all the sons of men,—every thing in whose nostrils was the breath of life, of all on the dry land, died. And all the bodies of men and of beasts upon the face of the earth, from man to cattle, to creeping thing, and to the fowl which wingeth in the air of heaven, perished from the earth; and Noah only was left, and they who were with him in the ark. And the waters prevailed upon the earth a hundred and fifty days.

VIII. And the Lord in His Word remembered Noah, and all the animals and the cattle which were with him in the ark; and the Lord caused the wind of mercies to pass over the earth, and the waters were dried. [Jerusalem. And He remembered in His mercies the good which was with Noah. And the Lord caused the wind of mercies.] And the fountains of the deep were shut up, and the windows of heaven, and the rain was forbidden to descend from heaven. And the waters returned from being on the earth, going and returning. And the waters were minished at the end of a hundred and fifty days. And the ark rested in the seventh month, which is the month of Nisan, in the seventeenth day of the month, upon the mountains of Qadron; the name of the one mountain is Qardania, and the name of the other mountain Irmenia; and there was builded the city of Armenia in the land of the east. And the waters went and diminished until the tenth month, the month Tammuz. In Tammuz, in the first of the month, the heads of the mountains were seen. And it was at the end of forty days, and Noah opened the aperture of the ark which he had made. And he sent out a raven; and it went forth, going forth and returning, until the waters had dried from the earth. And he sent forth a house-dove Or, "Kurdania."

from being with him, to see whether the waters were lightened from off the faces of the earth. And the dove found no rest for the sole of the foot, and returned unto him to the ark; and he knew that the waters were (yet) upon the face of all the earth. And he reached out his hand, and took and brought her unto him into the ark. And he prolonged (waited) yet seven days, [Jerusalem. And he began to number,] and again he sent the dove from the ark. And the dove came to him at the evening time, and, behold, a leaf of olive gathered, broken off, she brought in her mouth, and which she had taken from the Mount of the Meshiha.6 And Noah understood that the waters had lightened from being on the earth. And he prolonged yet seven days, and added to send forth the dove; but she added not to return to him again. And it was in the six hundred and first year, in Tishri, in the first of the month, in the beginning of the year, that the waters were dried from upon the earth. And Noah removed the covering of the ark, and saw the faces of the ground to be dried. And in the month Marchesvan, in the twenty-seventh day of the month, the earth was dry.

And the Lord spake with Noah, saying: Go forth from the ark, thou, and thy wife, and thy sons, and the wives of thy sons, with thee. Every living animal that is with thee of all flesh, of fowl, of cattle, and of every reptile that creepeth on the earth, bring forth with thee, that they may produce in the earth, and spread abroad and multiply on the earth. And Noah went forth, and his sons, and his wife, and the wives of his sons, with him. Every animal, every reptile, and every bird, which moveth upon the earth, according to its seed, went forth from the ark.

And Noah builded the altar before the Lord; that

The Mount of Olives.