Noah, his family, and the animals went into the ark. Jehovah closed the door, and it began to rain. It rained so much that the ark started to float. Eventually, the whole earth was covered with water. Outside the ark, all the bad people died. But Noah and his family were safe inside. Can you imagine how glad they were that they had obeyed Jehovah?
Rain poured down for 40 days and 40 nights, and then it stopped. Slowly the water went down. Finally, the ark settled on the mountains. But there was still a lot of water everywhere, so Noah and his family could not leave the ark right away.
Little by little, the water dried up. Altogether Noah and his family were inside the ark for more than a year. Then Jehovah told them that they could go out of the ark into what seemed like a new world. They were very thankful that Jehovah had saved them, and they showed it by making an offering to Jehovah.
Jehovah was happy with this offering. He promised that he would never again destroy everything on the earth in a flood. As a sign of that promise, he made the first rainbow appear in the sky. Have you ever seen a rainbow?
Then Jehovah told Noah and his family to have children and fill the earth.
“Noah entered into the ark, and [people] took no note until the Flood came and swept them all away.”—Matthew 24:38, 39