Noah was 600 years old when the flood covered the earth. He went on board the boat to escape the flood-he and his wife and his sons and their wives. with them were all the various kinds of animals-those approved for eating and for sacrifice and those that were not-along with all the birds and small animals that scurry along the ground. The entered the boat in pairs, male and female, just as God had commanded Noah. After seven days, the waters of the flood came over the earth.
When Noah was 600 years old, on the seventeenth day of the second month, all the underground waters erupted from the earth, and the rain fell in mighty torrents from the sky. The rain continued to fall for forty ays and forty nights.
That very day that Noah had gone into the boat with his wives and sone-Shem, Ham and Japeth-and their wives. With them in the boat were pairs of every kind of animal-domestic, wild, large and small-along with birds of every kind. Two by two they came into the boat, representing every living thing that breathes. A male and female of each kind entered, just as God had commanded Noah. The the Lord closed the door behind them. (vv. 6-16, NLT)