When two of every kind of animal had come, the Lord himself closed the door and the storms began. For 40 days it rained and floods washed over the highest peaks for the next 150 days. It took another 150 days for the water to begin to go down. By the first day of the tenth month, the tops of the mountains showed. Noah waited 40 days and then sent out a dove. When the bird could not find a dry place to land, Noah knew it was not yet time to leave the ark. Two weeks later, the dove did not return. Noah opened the door and released the animals, after spending more then a year inside the boat.

After all the flood waters dried up, Noah released the animals from the ark and offered a sacrifice to God. This pleased the Lord, and He promised Noah that never again would He send water to destroy every living thing on the earth. God told Noah and his family that the rainbow would be a sign of this promise. Whenever rain clouds filled the sky and colors bridged the heavens, God would remember His covenant: that as long as the earth continued, there would never be another great flood.