(Genesis 6–9)
Generations passed. The earth filled with people, but also with wickedness. Every thought of mankind was evil continually, and God grieved over what His creation had become. But among the corruption, one man stood out: Noah, righteous in his generation.
God spoke to Noah: "I will bring a flood to wipe away all life. Build an ark of gopher wood. Bring your family, and pairs of every living creature, male and female, to survive within it."
Noah obeyed. For years, he labored as the world mocked him. When the ark was complete, rain began to fall. Waters burst from the heavens and the deep, covering mountains and valleys alike. For forty days and nights the flood consumed the earth. Every living thing perished — except Noah, his family, and the creatures within the ark.
At last, the rains ceased. The waters receded. A dove returned to Noah with a fresh olive leaf, a sign that life had returned to the land. When the ark came to rest upon the mountains of Ararat, Noah and his family stepped out onto a cleansed world.
Noah built an altar, and God made a covenant: never again would He destroy the earth by flood. As a sign, He set a rainbow across the sky — a bridge of colors, a promise stretching from heaven to earth.