And every living thing that moved upon the earth perished—birds, livestock, animals, every creature that swarms upon the earth, and all mankind.
Parallel translations
- WEB All flesh died that moved on the earth, including birds, livestock, animals, every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, and every man.
- KJV And 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:
- NKJV And all flesh died that moved on the earth: birds and cattle and beasts and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, and every man.
- NASB So all creatures that moved on the earth perished: birds, livestock, animals, and every swarming thing that swarms upon the earth, and all mankind;
- NLT All the living things on earth died—birds, domestic animals, wild animals, small animals that scurry along the ground, and all the people.
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
All flesh that moved on the earth died, including birds, animals, and every person. The judgment falls universally on the living.
Overview
The comprehensive list of the dead conveys the staggering scope of the flood's judgment on a world given over to violence. The repetition of categories from creation shows judgment undoing the teeming life God had made. This sobering picture warns of the reality of God's judgment and heightens the grace by which Noah's household alone survives.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 18
- Gen 6:13Then God said to Noah, “The end of all living creatures has come before Me, because through them the earth is full of violence. Now behold, I will destroy both them and the earth.
- Gen 6:17And behold, I will bring floodwaters upon the earth to destroy every creature under the heavens that has the breath of life. Everything on the earth will perish.
- Gen 7:4For seven days from now I will send rain on the earth for forty days and forty nights, and I will wipe from the face of the earth every living thing I have made.”
- Gen 6:6–7And the LORD regretted that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart.
- Rom 8:20For the creation was subjected to futility, not by its own will, but because of the One who subjected it, in hope
- 2 Pet 2:5if He did not spare the ancient world when He brought the flood on its ungodly people, but preserved Noah, a preacher of righteousness, among the eight;
- Isa 24:6Therefore a curse has consumed the earth, and its inhabitants must bear the guilt; the earth’s dwellers have been burned, and only a few survive.
- Job 22:15–17Will you stay on the ancient path that wicked men have trod?
- Rom 8:22We know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until the present time.
- Jer 4:22–27“For My people are fools; they have not known Me. They are foolish children, without understanding. They are skilled in doing evil, but they know not how to do good.”
- Joel 1:17–20The seeds lie shriveled beneath the clods; the storehouses are in ruins; the granaries are broken down, for the grain has withered away.
- Joel 2:3Before them a fire devours, and behind them a flame scorches. The land before them is like the Garden of Eden, but behind them, it is like a desert wasteland—surely nothing will escape them.
- Matt 24:39And they were oblivious, until the flood came and swept them all away. So will it be at the coming of the Son of Man.
- Isa 24:19The earth is utterly broken apart, the earth is split open, the earth is shaken violently.
- Hos 4:3Therefore the land mourns, and all who dwell in it will waste away with the beasts of the field and the birds of the air; even the fish of the sea disappear.
- Luke 17:27People were eating and drinking, marrying and being given in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed them all.
- Zeph 1:3“I will sweep away man and beast; I will sweep away the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, and the idols with their wicked worshipers. I will cut off mankind from the face of the earth,” declares the LORD.
- Jer 12:3–4But You know me, O LORD; You see me and test my heart toward You. Drag away the wicked like sheep to the slaughter and set them apart for the day of carnage.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 7:21 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
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