Noah's Ark

The verse anchor

"But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD."

Genesis 6:8 · King James Bible

The story

A long time ago, the world grew sad. People had forgotten God. They were not kind to each other. But one man, whose name was Noah, still loved God. And God loved Noah.

God spoke to Noah. He said, "Noah, I want you to build a great big boat — an ark. Make it out of gopher wood. Put a roof on it and a door in the side. Make three floors inside. Build it big enough for you, and for your family, and for two of every kind of animal on the earth."

Noah did what God asked. He was very careful. It took a long time. His neighbours must have looked at him strangely — building a boat on the dry land! But Noah kept building.

When the ark was ready, the animals came. Two by two. Cows and sheep. Lions and elephants. Sparrows and doves. Everything that walked, and everything that crept, and everything that flew. Noah and his wife and his three sons and their wives went inside. And God shut the door.

Then it began to rain. It rained and rained and rained. It rained for forty days and forty nights. The water rose higher and higher, until even the mountains were covered. The ark floated on the water. Inside, everyone was safe.

After a long time, the rain stopped. The water went down slowly. One day the ark came to rest on a mountain called Ararat. Noah sent out a dove to see if there was dry land yet. The dove came back with an olive leaf in her mouth. The next time Noah sent the dove, she did not come back — she had found a home. Then Noah knew the earth was dry again.

God said, "Come out of the ark, Noah — you and your family and all the animals." Noah did. And the first thing he did on the dry ground was build an altar and thank God.

Then God set a rainbow in the sky. And God said, "This is a sign of my promise. Never again will I flood the whole earth. Whenever you see a rainbow, remember."

One thing we learn

God keeps his promises.

Every rainbow is a reminder.

Memory verse

A prayer