Noah, his family, and all the animals were safe inside the ark. The door had been shut by the hand of God Himself. Outside, people carried on with their lives as usual, not believing that anything would happen.

Seven days passed after the door of the ark was closed. The sky remained blue and clear, and people laughed at Noah more than ever, saying nothing was going to happen. But God had spoken the truth. On the seventh day, everything changed.

In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, all the fountains of the great deep burst open, and the windows of heaven were opened. Rain fell upon the earth for forty days and forty nights.

At first, people were not worried. They thought it was just a heavy rain. But the rain did not stop. It fell harder and harder, unlike any rain they had ever seen: it poured down from the sky and welled up from the earth itself. The streets flooded, the houses filled with water, the rivers overflowed. The water rose and rose, without stopping.

Then the people were afraid. They ran to the ark and pounded on the door, calling for Noah, begging to come in. But the door had been closed by God, and it was too late. For years Noah had warned them, and no one had wanted to listen.

The waters grew and lifted the ark, and it rose above the earth and began to float. The waters rose so high that they covered all the tall mountains under the whole sky, and climbed fifteen cubits higher still.

Every living thing that moved upon the earth perished: the birds, the tame animals, the wild beasts, everything that crept along the ground, and all people as well. Everything that had the breath of life and lived on dry land died. Only Noah was left, and those who were with him in the ark.

The waters covered the earth for one hundred and fifty days.

Inside the ark, Noah and his family were safe and dry. The animals stayed calm, as if God Himself were quieting them. There were no fights between hunters and prey; it was as if a little piece of paradise were kept inside.

Every day, Noah and his sons cared for the animals, giving them food and water. Their wives helped prepare the meals and keep everything in order. It was hard work, but they were all grateful to be alive.

Outside, the only sounds were the rain drumming on the roof and the waves rocking the ark. There were no more human voices, no more sounds of cities. Only silence and water. Noah looked out of the window and saw water in every direction, with no land in sight. But he was not afraid, because he knew that God was in charge.

God remembered Noah and all the animals that were with him in the ark. He made a wind blow over the earth, and the waters began to go down. The fountains of the deep and the windows of heaven were closed, and the rain stopped. The waters withdrew from the earth, going and returning, and at the end of one hundred and fifty days they had gone down.

In the seventh month, on the seventeenth day, the ark came to rest upon the mountains of Ararat.

The waters kept going down until the tenth month, when the tops of the mountains appeared. Noah felt the moment the ark touched solid ground. After months of floating, they were finally still. But there was water everywhere. When would it be safe to go out?

At the end of forty days, Noah opened the window he had made in the ark and sent out a raven, which flew back and forth while the waters were drying up from the earth.

Then he sent out a dove, to see if the waters had gone down. But the dove found no place to rest her feet, because water still covered the whole surface of the earth, and she returned to the ark. Noah stretched out his hand, took her, and brought her back inside with him.

He waited seven more days and sent the dove out again. In the evening, she came back carrying a fresh olive leaf in her beak. Noah understood that the waters had gone down from the earth, and his heart filled with a quiet joy. There was life out there. The plants were growing again.

He waited yet another seven days and sent out the dove, and this time she did not return.

In the six hundred and first year, on the first day of the first month, the waters had dried up from the earth. Noah removed the covering of the ark and saw that the surface of the ground was dry. In the second month, on the twenty-seventh day, the earth was dry.

Then God spoke to Noah:

Noah went out of the ark with his sons, his wife, and his sons' wives. All the animals, all the creeping things, and all the birds went out as well, each after its kind.

What a joy it was to step outside after so long. To breathe the fresh air, to feel the sun on their faces, to stand on solid ground. The animals ran, leaped, and flew, happy to be free. The earth was clean, washed, ready for a new beginning.

Noah built an altar to the Lord; he took some of every clean animal and every clean bird, and offered sacrifices upon the altar. The Lord smelled the sweet fragrance and said in His heart:

God blessed Noah and his sons, and said to them:

"Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth."

God also said to Noah and to his sons:

And God said:

God explained that when the clouds gathered over the earth and the bow appeared in them, He would remember His covenant with mankind and with every living creature, and the waters would never again spread out to destroy life.

Noah and his family looked up at the sky and saw that wonder: bright colors arching across the heavens, from violet to red, through blue and green and yellow and orange. It was the first rainbow, and it was God's promise that He would never again destroy the earth with a flood.

To this day, every time a rainbow appears, we can remember the promise God made to Noah and to all humanity. God is faithful to what He promises.