7 The Lord then said to Noah, “Go into the ark, you and your whole family,^(A) because I have found you righteous^(B) in this generation. ² Take with you seven pairs of every kind of clean^(C) animal, a male and its mate, and one pair of every kind of unclean animal, a male and its mate, ³ and also seven pairs of every kind of bird, male and female, to keep their various kinds alive^(D) throughout the earth. ⁴ Seven days from now I will send rain^(E) on the earth^(F) for forty days^(G) and forty nights,^(H) and I will wipe from the face of the earth every living creature I have made.^(I)”

⁵ And Noah did all that the Lord commanded him.^(J)

⁶ Noah was six hundred years old^(K) when the floodwaters came on the earth. ⁷ And Noah and his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives entered the ark^(L) to escape the waters of the flood. ⁸ Pairs of clean and unclean^(M) animals, of birds and of all creatures that move along the ground, ⁹ male and female, came to Noah and entered the ark, as God had commanded Noah.^{(N) 10} And after the seven days^(O) the floodwaters came on the earth.

¹¹ In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life,^(P) on the seventeenth day of the second month^(Q)—on that day all the springs of the great deep^(R) burst forth, and the floodgates of the heavens^(S) were opened. ¹² And rain fell on the earth forty days and forty nights.^(T)

¹³ On that very day Noah and his sons,^(U) Shem, Ham and Japheth, together with his wife and the wives of his three sons, entered the ark.^{(V) 14} They had with them every wild animal according to its kind, all livestock according to their kinds, every creature that moves along the ground according to its kind and every bird according to its kind,^(W) everything with wings. ¹⁵ Pairs of all creatures that have the breath of life in them came to Noah and entered the ark.^{(X) 16} The animals going in were male and female of every living thing, as God had commanded Noah.^(Y) Then the Lord shut him in.

¹⁷ For forty days^(Z) the flood kept coming on the earth, and as the waters increased they lifted the ark high above the earth. ¹⁸ The waters rose and increased greatly on the earth, and the ark floated on the surface of the water. ¹⁹ They rose greatly on the earth, and all the high mountains under the entire heavens were covered.^{(AA) 20} The waters rose and covered the mountains to a depth of more than fifteen cubits.^{[a][b] (AB) 21} Every living thing that moved on land perished—birds, livestock, wild animals, all the creatures that swarm over the earth, and all mankind.^{(AC) 22} Everything on dry land that had the breath of life^(AD) in its nostrils died. ²³ Every living thing on the face of the earth was wiped out; people and animals and the creatures that move along the ground and the birds were wiped from the earth.^(AE) Only Noah was left, and those with him in the ark.^(AF)

²⁴ The waters flooded the earth for a hundred and fifty days.^(AG)

8 But God remembered^(AH) Noah and all the wild animals and the livestock that were with him in the ark, and he sent a wind over the earth,^(AI) and the waters receded. ² Now the springs of the deep and the floodgates of the heavens^(AJ) had been closed, and the rain^(AK) had stopped falling from the sky. ³ The water receded steadily from the earth. At the end of the hundred and fifty days^(AL) the water had gone down, ⁴ and on the seventeenth day of the seventh month^(AM) the ark came to rest on the mountains^(AN) of Ararat.^{(AO) 5} The waters continued to recede until the tenth month, and on the first day of the tenth month the tops of the mountains became visible.

⁶ After forty days^(AP) Noah opened a window he had made in the ark ⁷ and sent out a raven,^(AQ) and it kept flying back and forth until the water had dried up from the earth.^{(AR) 8} Then he sent out a dove^(AS) to see if the water had receded from the surface of the ground. ⁹ But the dove could find nowhere to perch because there was water over all the surface of the earth; so it returned to Noah in the ark. He reached out his hand and took the dove and brought it back to himself in the ark. ¹⁰ He waited seven more days and again sent out the dove from the ark. ¹¹ When the dove returned to him in the evening, there in its beak was a freshly plucked olive leaf! Then Noah knew that the water had receded from the earth.^{(AT) 12} He waited seven more days and sent the dove out again, but this time it did not return to him.

¹³ By the first day of the first month of Noah’s six hundred and first year,^(AU) the water had dried up from the earth. Noah then removed the covering from the ark and saw that the surface of the ground was dry. ¹⁴ By the twenty-seventh day of the second month^(AV) the earth was completely dry.

¹⁵ Then God said to Noah, ¹⁶ “Come out of the ark, you and your wife and your sons and their wives.^{(AW) 17} Bring out every kind of living creature that is with you—the birds, the animals, and all the creatures that move along the ground—so they can multiply on the earth and be fruitful and increase in number on it.”^(AX)

¹⁸ So Noah came out, together with his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives.^{(AY) 19} All the animals and all the creatures that move along the ground and all the birds—everything that moves on land—came out of the ark, one kind after another.

²⁰ Then Noah built an altar to the Lord^(AZ) and, taking some of all the clean animals and clean^(BA) birds, he sacrificed burnt offerings^(BB) on it. ²¹ The Lord smelled the pleasing aroma^(BC) and said in his heart: “Never again will I curse the ground^(BD) because of humans, even though^[c] every inclination of the human heart is evil from childhood.^(BE) And never again will I destroy^(BF) all living creatures,^(BG) as I have done.

Zophar

11 Then Zophar the Naamathite^(A) replied:

Jesus Sends Out the Twelve^{(A)(B)(C)(D)(E)}

10 Jesus called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to drive out impure spirits^(F) and to heal every disease and sickness.^(G)

² These are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon (who is called Peter) and his brother Andrew; James son of Zebedee, and his brother John; ³ Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; ⁴ Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.^(H)

⁵ These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: “Do not go among the Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans.^{(I) 6} Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel.^{(J) 7} As you go, proclaim this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven^(K) has come near.’ ⁸ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy,^[a] drive out demons. Freely you have received; freely give.

⁹ “Do not get any gold or silver or copper to take with you in your belts^(L)— ¹⁰ no bag for the journey or extra shirt or sandals or a staff, for the worker is worth his keep.^{(M) 11} Whatever town or village you enter, search there for some worthy person and stay at their house until you leave. ¹² As you enter the home, give it your greeting.^{(N) 13} If the home is deserving, let your peace rest on it; if it is not, let your peace return to you. ¹⁴ If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, leave that home or town and shake the dust off your feet.^{(O) 15} Truly I tell you, it will be more bearable for Sodom and Gomorrah^(P) on the day of judgment^(Q) than for that town.^(R)

¹⁶ “I am sending you out like sheep among wolves.^(S) Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.^{(T) 17} Be on your guard; you will be handed over to the local councils^(U) and be flogged in the synagogues.^{(V) 18} On my account you will be brought before governors and kings^(W) as witnesses to them and to the Gentiles. ¹⁹ But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it.^(X) At that time you will be given what to say, ²⁰ for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father^(Y) speaking through you.

²¹ “Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; children will rebel against their parents^(Z) and have them put to death.^{(AA) 22} You will be hated by everyone because of me,^(AB) but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.^{(AC) 23} When you are persecuted in one place, flee to another. Truly I tell you, you will not finish going through the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.^(AD)

²⁴ “The student is not above the teacher, nor a servant above his master.^{(AE) 25} It is enough for students to be like their teachers, and servants like their masters. If the head of the house has been called Beelzebul,^(AF) how much more the members of his household!

²⁶ “So do not be afraid of them, for there is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known.^{(AG) 27} What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight; what is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the roofs. ²⁸ Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One^(AH) who can destroy both soul and body in hell. ²⁹ Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care.^{[b] 30} And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered.^{(AI) 31} So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.^(AJ)

³² “Whoever acknowledges me before others,^(AK) I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven. ³³ But whoever disowns me before others, I will disown before my Father in heaven.^(AL)

³⁴ “Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. ³⁵ For I have come to turn

³⁷ “Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.^{(AO) 38} Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me.^{(AP) 39} Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it.^(AQ)

⁴⁰ “Anyone who welcomes you welcomes me,^(AR) and anyone who welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me.^{(AS) 41} Whoever welcomes a prophet as a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and whoever welcomes a righteous person as a righteous person will receive a righteous person’s reward. ⁴² And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones who is my disciple, truly I tell you, that person will certainly not lose their reward.”^(AT)