But among these wicked men there was one just and virtuous man, who was called Noe. Noe found favour[1] with the Lord, and the Lord said to him: “Make thee an ark[2] of timber-planks; thou shalt make little rooms in the ark, and .thou shalt pitch it within and without with bitumen. The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, and the breadth of it fifty cubits, and the height of it thirty cubits[3]. Thou shalt make a window in the ark, and a door in its side; and thou shalt divide the ark into lower, middle, and third [4] stories. Behold, I will bring the waters of a great flood upon the earth, to destroy all flesh wherein is the breath of life. But I will establish my covenant[5] with thee. Thou shalt enter into the ark, thou and thy sons, and thy wife and the wives of thy sons with thee. And of every living creature[6], of all flesh, thou shalt bring two of a sort into the ark that they may live with thee. Thou shalt take unto thee of all food which may be eaten, and thou shalt lay it up with thee.”
Noe did all that the Lord had commanded him to do. He spent a hundred years in building[7] the ark (Fig. 2), during which time he preached[8] penance to the people. But men heeded not the warning. They ate, drank, and were married just as before, without a thought of the terrible punishment that was to come upon them. Then the Lord said to Noe: “Go in, thou and all
- ↑ Found favour . It was God’s will to spare him, and not punish the just with the unjust.
- ↑ Ark. A great house, resting on a sort of raft made of wood, shaped and fitted together.
- ↑ Cubits. The Hebrew cubit was about 18 inches.
- ↑ Third, i. e. upper.
- ↑ Covenant. Of what did this bond or covenant consist? Almighty God promised to save Noe in the ark; and Noe, on his part, undertook to serve God faithfully with his family.
- ↑ Every living creature. Of clean beasts he was to take seven pair. Those beasts were styled clean which lived on herbage; and especially domestic animals were thus classed. Only clean beasts could be offered in sacrifice. Unclean beasts included (besides swine) all beasts of prey (because they shed blood), all vermin and creeping things.
- ↑ Building. With the help of his sons.
- ↑ Preached. Foretelling the coming punishment. The building of the ark ought to have confirmed his words, for each person must have said to himself: “Surely Noe would never have undertaken this great and laborious work if he did not believe in this coming judgment.” But they would not allow any serious thoughts to interfere with their impious frivolity, and went on with their pleasure, refusing to believe Noe’s words, and scoffing at his warnings. Thus they let the hour of grace go by without profiting by it.
