004 Noah's Ark - A Bible Story for Children

Genesis 6-9

God looked at the world he had made, and was unhappy. He saw that the people were acting in evil ways and had become mean and selfish. And their meanness had spread through the world like a sickness, poisoning all things on the earth. Earthquakes and volcanoes shook the land, for the earth itself was infected by evil.

God was sorry that he had made the world, and thought, "I shall destroy man, whom I created, and all the animals, and all the birds."

But there was one man who found favor in the eyes of the Lord. His name was Noah, the son of Lamech. Noah was the father of three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. He was an honest man who followed God's way.

And God said to Noah, "I have decided to make a great flood that will destroy everything on the earth. Only you and your family will be saved."

Noah listened carefully to what God told him to do.

"Build an ark of wood, three hundred cubits long, fifty cubits wide, and thirty cubits high. Inside, make rooms, and take great care to seal all the cracks with pitch so the water will not come through. The ark must have three decks, with a window near the top and a door on the side. When the flood waters cover the earth, this ark will be a safe place for you and your wife, and your sons and their wives."

"Bring into the ark two of each living creature, one male and one female--two of each bird, two of each beast, two off each creeping thing, to keep its kind alive. Then you must bring food for yourself and your family, and for all the animals."

Noah was a very old man, but he and his sons set to work as God had commanded.

When Noah's neighbors saw what he was doing, they laughed at him. When he talked of the great storm that was coming, they pointed to the cloudless blue sky. When Noah warned them that a great flood would cover the earth, they joked that they could use some water because their wells were running dry.

Even when Noah told them that God was planning to destroy the world because of the evil of men, his neighbors laughed.

After many months of hard work, the ark was finished. Then God said to Noah, "Go into the ark, and bring your family with you. And bring into the ark two of each animal and each bird and each reptile and enough food to keep them alive. For in seven days the rains will begin, and they will sweep off the earth all the creatures I made."

Noah did exactly as God commanded. And it came to pass that after seven days the skies darkened, and the waters of the great flood covered the earth.

Forty days and forty nights the rains fell. Water burst from the springs of the deep, and flooded through the windows of heaven.

For one hundred fifty days the flood waters rose, bearing the ark higher and higher. Water covered the hills and crested over the highest mountains.

There was water everywhere. Not a bird, not a beast, not a man or a woman, could be seen. God had wiped out all the living beings he had made. Only Noah and his family and the animals in the ark survived.

Then God remembered Noah, and sent a great wind over the waters. The waters began to drop, and rains stopped. For one hundred fifty days the waters receded, until the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat. Finally the tops of the mountains appeared. Noah waited forty more days before opening the window of the ark, and then he sent a raven from the ark. The raven flew around and around and could not find a place to land.

Then Noah sent a dove out. But dove could not find a place to perch either, and it returned to the ark.

For seven more days Noah waited, and then he sent the dove out again. That evening the dove flew back to the ark with an olive branch in its beak. And so Noah knew that the waters were drying up.

Noah waited another seven days, and again sent the dove out. This time the dove did not return. Then Noah opened the ark, and saw that the land had dried.

And God said to Noah, "Leave the ark with your wife and your sons and their wives, and all the animals and birds and reptiles. Build your homes again, and be fruitful and multiply."

Then Noah built an altar and made a great sacrifice to the Lord. And when God smelled the sweet smoke, the thought, "Never again shall I curse the earth in this way. Never again shall I destroy all the people and animals on it. Seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, all these will continue for as long as the earth remains."

And God blessed Noah and his family, saying, "Behold, I will make a promise to you, and to all who come after you, that I shall never again destroy all life with a flood. And as a sign of this promise, I shall set a rainbow in the clouds. So whenever a rain cloud passes and a rainbow appears, it will be a sign to me and to you, and to all who come after, that I remember my promise and shall not send another flood."

Category: Children's Bible Stories