And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.
Parallel translations
- WEB God saw the earth, and saw that it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth.
- BSB And God looked upon the earth and saw that it was corrupt; for all living creatures on the earth had corrupted their ways.
- NKJV So God looked upon the earth, and indeed it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth.
- NASB And God looked on the earth, and behold, it was corrupt; for humanity had corrupted its way upon the earth.
- NLT God observed all this corruption in the world, for everyone on earth was corrupt.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
God himself sees that all flesh had corrupted its way on the earth. The verdict comes from God's own all-seeing examination.
Overview
This verse echoes the language of creation, where God "saw" that things were good; now he sees only corruption. The universality of "all flesh" shows that the corruption was pervasive, leaving Noah's family as the lone exception by grace. God's righteous seeing of sin sets up his righteous response in judgment and salvation.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 16
- Ps 53:2–3God looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, that did seek God.
- Prov 15:3The eyes of the LORD are in every place, beholding the evil and the good.
- Ps 14:1–3The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good.
- Job 22:15–17Hast thou marked the old way which wicked men have trodden?
- 2 Pet 2:5And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly;
- Gen 6:4–5There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown.
- Job 33:27He looketh upon men, and if any say, I have sinned, and perverted that which was right, and it profited me not;
- 1 Pet 3:19–20By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison;
- Ps 33:13–14The LORD looketh from heaven; he beholdeth all the sons of men.
- Gen 7:1And the LORD said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark; for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation.
- Gen 6:8But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.
- Gen 9:12And God said, This is the token of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations:
- Gen 18:21I will go down now, and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it, which is come unto me; and if not, I will know.
- Gen 7:21And all flesh died that moved upon the earth, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of beast, and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth, and every man:
- Luke 3:6And all flesh shall see the salvation of God.
- Gen 9:16–17And the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Commentaries & study tools
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
From the first promise that the seed of the woman would crush the serpent (3:15), through Abraham's blessing to all nations and Judah's coming ruler, Genesis sows every seed that flowers in Christ — the true offspring, the better Adam, the ram caught for Isaac.
How Genesis 6:12 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.