Forsothe Noe whanne he was of fyue hundrid yeer gendride Sem, Cham, and Jafeth. And whanne men bigunnen to be multiplied on erthe, and hadden gendrid douytris,
2 the sones of God seiyen the douytris of men that thei weren faire, and token wyues to hem of alle whiche thei hadden chose.
3 And God seide, My spirit schal not dwelle in man with outen ende, for he is fleisch; and the daies of hym schulen be an hundrid and twenti yeer.
4 Sotheli giauntis weren on erthe in tho daies, forsothe aftir that the sones of God entriden to the douytris of men, and tho douytris gendriden; these weren myyti of the world and famouse men.
5 Sotheli God seiy that myche malice of men was in erthe, and that al the thouyt of herte was ententif to yuel in al tyme,
6 and repentide him [1] that he hadde maad man in erthe; and God was war bifore ayens tyme to comyng, and was touchid with sorewe of herte [2] with ynne;
7 and seide, Y schal do awei man, whom Y made of nouyt, fro the face of the erthe, fro man til to lyuynge thingis, fro crepynge beeste til to the briddis of heuene; for it repentith me that Y made hem.
8 Forsothe Noe foond grace bifore the Lord.
9 These ben the generaciouns of Noe. Noe was a iust man and perfit in hise generaciouns; Noe yede with God,
10 and gendride thre sones, Sem, Cam, and Jafeth.
11 Forsothe the erthe was corrupt bifore God, and was fillid with wickidnes.
12 And whanne God seiy, that the erthe was corrupt, for ech fleisch ether man hadde corrupt his weie on erthe,
13 he seide to Noe, The ende of al fleisch is comen bifore me; the erthe is fillid with wickidnesse of the face of hem, and Y schal distrye hem with the erthe.
14 Make thou to thee a schip of trees hewun and planed; thou schalt make dwellynge placis in the schip, and thou schalt anoynte it with pitche with ynne and with outforth.
15 And so thou schalt make it. The lengthe of the schip schal be of thre hundrid cubitis, the brede schal be of fifti cubitis, and the hiynesse therof schal be of thretti cubitis.
16 Thou schalt make a wyndow in the schip, and thou schalt ende the hiynesse therof in a cubite; sotheli thou schalt sette the dore of the schip in the side binethe; thou shalt make soleris and placis of thre chaumbris in the schip.
17 Lo! Y schal brynge `watris of diluuye ether greet flood on erthe, and Y schal sle ech fleisch in which is the spirit of lijf vndir heuene, and alle thingis that ben in erthe, schulen be wastid.
18 And Y schal sette my couenaunt of pees with thee; and thou schalt entre in to the schip, and thy sones, and thi wijf, and the wiues of thi sones schulen entre with thee.
19 And of alle lyuynge beestis of al fleisch thou schalt brynge in to the schip tweyne and tweyne, of male kynde and female, that thei lyue with thee;
20 of briddis bi her kynde, and of werk beestis in her kynde, and of ech crepynge beeste of erthe, by her kynde; tweyne and tweyne of alle schulen entre with thee, that thei moun lyue.
21 Therfore thou schalt take with thee of alle metis that moun be etun, and thou schalt bere to gidre at thee, and tho schulen be as well to thee as to the beestis in to mete.
22 Therfor Noe dide alle thingis whiche God comaundide to hym.
1 ↑ [Note: repentide hym. Penaunce, sorowe, and othere passyouns, ethir disesis, ben not in ony maner in God by truthe, but by liknesse; and therfore it is seid that he repentide, for he hadde hym silf at the maner of a man repentinge, and wolde distrye that that he made bifore.]
2 ↑ [Note: sorowe of herte. For he hadde him silf at the maner of a man sorowinge, in doynge awey man, whom he hadde formed to his ymage. Penaunce, either sorewe of herte, fallith not in God, to whom the sentence of alle thingis is as stidefast as the biforeknowynge is certeyn, sith hooly scripture vsith comoun wordis,]
Chapter 7
1 Also the Lord seide to Noe, Entre thou and al thin hous in to the schip, for Y seiy thee iust bifore me in this generacioun.
2 Of alle clene lyuynge beestis thou schalt take bi seuene and bi seuene, male and female; forsothe of vnclene lyuynge beestis thou schalt take bi tweyne and bi tweyne, male and female;
3 but also of volatils of heuene thou schalt take, bi seuene and bi seuene, male and female, that her seed be saued on the face of al erthe.
4 For yit and aftir seuene daies Y schal reyne on erthe fourti daies and fourti nyytis, and Y schal do awey al substaunce which Y made, fro the face of erthe.
5 Therfor Noe dide alle thingis whiche the Lord comaundide to hym.
6 And he was of sixe hundrid yeer, whanne the watris of the greet flood flowiden on erthe.
7 And Noe entride in to the schip, and hise sones, and hise wijf, and the wyues of his sones, entriden with him for the watris of the greet flood.
8 And of lyuynge beestis clene and vnclene, and of briddis of heuene, and of ech beeste which is moued on erthe,
9 bi tweyne and bi tweyne, male and female entriden to Noe in to the schip, as the Lord comaundide to Noe.
10 And whanne seuene daies hadden passid, the watris of the greet flood flowiden on erthe.
11 In the sixe hundrid yeer of the lijf of Noe, in the secunde moneth, in the seuententhe dai of the moneth, alle the wellis of the greet see weren brokun, and the wyndowis of heuene weren opened,
12 and reyn was maad on erthe fourti daies and fourti nyytis.
13 In the ende of that dai Noe entride, and Sem, Cham, and Japheth, hise sones, his wijf, and the wyues of hise sones, entriden with hem into the schip.
14 Thei entriden, and ech beeste bi his kynde, and alle werk beestis in her kynde, and ech beeste which is moued on erthe in his kynde, and ech volatil bi his kynde; alle briddis and alle volatils entriden to Noe in to the schip,
15 bi tweyne and bi tweyne of ech fleisch in whiche the spirit of lijf was.
16 And tho that entriden, entriden male and female of ech fleisch, as God comaundide to hym. And the Lord encloside hym fro with out-forth.
17 And the greet flood was maad fourti daies and fourti niytis on erthe, and the watris weren multiplied, and reiseden the schip on hiy fro erthe.
18 The watris flowiden greetli, and filliden alle thingis in the face of erthe. Forsothe the schip was borun on the watris.
19 And the watris hadden maistrie greetli on erthe, and alle hiye hillis vndur alle heuene weren hilid;
20 the watyr was hiyere bi fiftene cubitis ouer the hilis whiche it hilide.
21 And ech fleisch was wastid that was moued on erthe, of briddis, of lyuynge beestis, of vnresonable beestis, and of alle `reptilis that crepen on erthe.
22 Alle men, and alle thingis in whiche the brething of lijf was in erthe, weren deed.
23 And God dide awei al substaunce that was on erthe, fro man til to beeste, as wel a crepynge beeste as the briddis of heuene;