Noah and the rainbow

It rained until the whole earth was under water. Then it stopped raining, and God sent a wind to dry everything out. The ark drifted gently on the water until it bumped against the mountain of Ararat.

And there it stopped, but there was still water everywhere. Noah, his family and the animals had to wait inside the ark for the earth to dry out. At last, the tips of the mountains began to appear. The water was beginning to go down! After some time, Noah opened a window and sent out a raven. He wanted to see how much water was left. The raven flew back and forth because it couldn’t find a dry place to sit. Then Noah sent out a dove. The dove couldn’t find any place to rest either, so it came back to the ark. Noah waited for seven days and then sent the dove out again. The dove came back that evening, carrying an olive leaf in its beak. Then Noah knew that plants had started to grow again. The soil was drying out.

After seven days, Noah sent the dove out again, and this time the dove didn’t come back. It had found a dry place to stay.

Then God told Noah, “You can all come out of the ark now. The earth is dry again.”

And so Noah, his family and all the animals and birds went out of the ark.

The first thing Noah did was build an altar to honour the Lord.

Then God blessed Noah and his family. He told them, “I have made the earth new. I know that people will forget about me and do evil things again. But I will never destroy the earth like this again. There will always be rainy seasons, but there will also be dry seasons. There will be summer and winter. There will be a time to plant and a time to harvest your crops.” God also said, “You can eat the plants that grow on earth and the animals that live there. But you must also take care of everything that lives on earth. You are the caretakers of the earth.”

And he said, “You mustn’t kill other human beings. My Spirit lives in all of you. Respect one another.” Then God put a rainbow in the sky. He said, “Whenever you see a rainbow you must remember my promise to you. I won’t destroy the earth with water again. When I see the rainbow, I will also remember my promise to you.” Genesis 8 and 9