Some had climbed up to the tops of higher mountains, but the water rose higher and higher, until even the mountains were covered and all the people, wicked as they had been, were drowned in the great sea that now rolled over all the earth where man had lived.  And all the animals, the tame animals, cattle, and sheep, and oxen, were drowned; and the wild animals, lions, and tigers, and all the rest were drowned also.  Even the birds were drowned, for their nests in the trees were swept away, and there was no place where they could fly from the terrible storm.  For forty days and nights the rain kept on, until there was no breath of life remaining outside of the ark.

[Illustration:  The water rose higher and higher]

After forty days the rain stopped, but the water stayed upon the earth for more than six months, and the ark with all that were in it floated over the great sea that covered the land.  Then God sent a wind to blow over the waters, and to dry them up; so by degrees the waters grew less and less.  First mountains rose above the waters, then the hills rose up, and finally the ark ceased to float and lay aground on a mountain which is called Mount Ararat.

But Noah could not see what had happened on the earth, because the door was shut, and the only window was up in the roof.  But he felt that the ark was no longer moving, and he knew that the water must have gone down.  So, after waiting for a time, Noah opened a window, and let loose a bird called a raven.  Now the raven has strong wings; and this raven flew round and round until the waters had gone down, and it could find a place to rest, and it did not come back to the ark.

After Noah had waited for it awhile, he sent out a dove; but the dove could not find any place to rest, so it flew back to the ark, and Noah took it into the ark again.  Then Noah waited a week longer, and afterward he sent out the dove again.  And at the evening, the dove came back to the ark, which was its home; and in its bill was a fresh leaf which it had picked off from an olive tree.

So Noah knew that the water had gone down enough to let the trees grow again.  He waited another week, and sent out the dove again; but this time the dove flew away and never came back.  And Noah knew that the earth was becoming dry again.  So he took off a part of the roof, and looked out, and saw that there was dry land all around the ark, and the waters were no longer everywhere.

Noah had now lived in the ark a little more than a year, and he was glad to see the green land and the trees once more.  And God said to Noah: 

“Come out of the ark, with your wife, and your sons, and their wives, and all the living things that are with you in the ark.”

[Illustration:  So Noah opened the door of the Ark]

So Noah opened the door of the ark, and with his family came out, and stood once more on the ground.  And the animals, and birds, and creeping things in the ark, came out also, and began again to bring life to the earth.