A long time passed. People were born. They had children. They died. And all the time things were going from bad to worse in God's world. People fought one another. They hated and hurt one another. They did not care about God, or the way he wanted them to live. No one listened to him any more - and God began to be sorry he had ever made human beings. There was only one thing to do. He must make a fresh start with new people. Sadly, he decided to destroy every living creature on the  earth. He decided to send a great flood.         

      But there was one good man who lived as God's friend. His name was Noah. God talked to Noah about the flood, and explained his plan. He wanted to save Noah and his family. God told Noah and his wife, their three sons, Ham, Shem and Japheth with their wives, and two of every kind of animal and bird. And there had to be  room to store food to feed them all for a very long time. Noah listened carefully, and did exactly as God said.

     People came to watch him work on the boat- it was a long job. Every day when they asked him what he was doing he told them what God had said about the flood. But they took no notice. They thought Noah was crazy. He must be. Fancy building a boat on dry land, miles from a river or sea! But Noah did not let them stop him. He got on with the work and at last the boat was finished. 

      Then the rain came.

      That day Noah and his family and all the birds and animals went into the boat, as God had said. And God shut the door tight behind them.

      The rain came down in torrents. And it kept on raining, day after day. Soon all the rivers overflowed and the water spread over the ground. It reached the boat. It swirled around, growing deeper and deeper. Then it lifted the boat, and Noah and all his family were afloat.

      Still the rain came and the water rose and rose until everything was covered. No one, nothing survived . Not even the tops of the mountains could be seen. Noah and his family, and the animals with them in the boat, were the only left alive. It was an empty, lonely world.

      At last the rain stopped . Slowly, Slowly the water began to go down,until the boat came to rest among  the mountains.Noah wanted to find out if the earth was dry enough for everyone to leave the boat. So he opened a window and let out a raven. When the raven did not came back, Noah let out a dove. But it was not yet dry enough for the dove, so she flew back and Noah let her in again. 

     The next time the dove flew out she brought back a fresh green leaf from an olive-tree. Then Noah knew that the earth was nearly dry. The third time the dove flew out, she did not return. Soon Noah could see the dry land for himself.

     Then God told Noah it was time for them all to leave the boat and make a fresh start in the clean, new world. What an exciting day that was! Animals and people tumbled over one another in the  rush to get out of the boat and stand on dry land again. Noah and his family laughed and shouted , and ran about. Then they thanked God for keeping them safe.

      They built up a heap of big stones and put wood on top, to make an 'altar' where they  could roast meat as a special thank-you present to God. And, as the sun broke through, overhead, across the sky, arched a beautiful rainbow. For God  had promised Noah that he would never again send a flood to destroy the earth. And the rainbow was a sign, for everyone to see, that he would keep his promise for ever and ever.