The ark floated on the water for many, many days. Inside the ark, Noah and his sons took care of the animals every day. But the water was like a great sea. When Noah and the other people looked out the window of the ark, they saw only water, water all around them. Far to the left, and fat to the right, as far away as the could see, there was only water. There was not one house, not one tree, not one green hill. There was just water everywhere. And the ark was all alone on the water.

But above the water, and above the ark, there was the blue sky. At night the start twinkled there, and the moon sailed slowly from east to west. And high above the stars, God watched over all.
 
God had not forgotten Noah. He saw the ark floating on the deep waters. And He sent a wind to dry up the waters. The wind blew. The water began to dry up. The ark began to go down -- down, down a little farther each day. One morning Noah looked out the window and called to his sons. "Come and see! The water is going down! We can see the top of the rocky hills!" Noah was happy to see that the water was going down. Now he knew that God was not forgetting him. After awhile the ark came to rest on one of the hilltops. Noah waited a little longer. Then one day he took a dove from the roomful of birds. He let the dove fly out of the window. He thought maybe the dove would find a tree to rest in, and would not come back. But soon he saw the dove fluttering by the window. He opened the window and reached out his hand. The dove flew to Noah, and he took it in. Now Noah knews that the trees were still covered with water.

Another week passed. Noah sent out the dove again. This time the dove stayed away until evening. Then it came back. Noah opened the window for it. The dove flew in. And Noah saw that it had an olive leaf in its bill. Now Noah knew that the treetops were uncovered. The dove had found a leaf. Another week passed. Again Noah sent the down out. This time the dove did not come back at all. The water had dried up off the earth at last.

Then Noah opened the roof of the ark. He and his sons looked out upon the earth. It was clean and beautiful. Everywhere new plants were growing. How pleasant it all looked! They were eager to get out of the ark. They had been in the ark for more than a year. But they did not go out. They waited for God to open the door. At last God spoke to Noah. God told Noah to go out of the ark. What a happy day that was! Noah and his wife stepped out upon the clean new earth.

Noah's sons and their wives stepped out. And then the animals! The great big ones, the little ones, and all the creeping things - they ran out to play on the green earth. The birds spread their wings and flew up into the blue sky and sang. What a day that was!

As soon as they were all out of the ark, Noah picked out stones and built an altar. On the altar he brought a thanksgiving gift to God. He took some of the animals that God had sent into the ark by sevens. He gave them as an offering to God on the altar. God was pleased with Noah's gift. He came to talk to Noah again. God said, " I promise you that i shall never again send such a flood to cover the whole earth. I will never again send a flood to kill all that lives upon the earth." Then God pointed to the sky. Noah looked. He saw a beautiful big rainbow there. It was very beautiful. Its colours were very bright. God said, "The rainbow is a sign of My promise. When I see the rainbow, I will remember My promise."

And never again has God sent such a terrible flood.