he embarked with his sons, at God's command,--that 1370
wise man, with the young people, his dear kinsfolk.

The Lord sent rain from heaven, and likewise let
the springs from every source rush upon the world far
and wide, [let] the dark ocean-streams burst forth in 1375
tumult: the seas rose up over the boundaries of the
shore. Strong and stern was He who ruled the waters,
for he covered and shrouded with wan waters the accursed
wickedness of the sons of the earth and devastated the 1380
land and homes of men: the Lord wreaked [his fury]
upon men for their offences. The sea cruelly gripped
the wretched folk for forty days, and nights as many
bitter was the suffering then, cruelly fateful to men.
The waves of the King of Glory drove the souls of the 1385
vicious ones forth from their bodies. The flood covered
everything; turbid under the sky [it covered] the high
mountains over the broad earth, and on its crest raised
the Ark aloft from the ground, and its noble crew with it,
[the Ark] which the Lord Himself, our Creator, blessed, 1390
when he locked the ship. Thereafter this best of ships
rode widely under the skies over the circle of the sea,
fared [forth] with its freight: the terrors of the flood 1395
would have seized them with violence in the sea-traver-
sing vessel, but the Holy God led and preserved them.
Fifteen ells deep, by man's measure, stood the deluge
over the hills. That is a memorable occurrence: there 1400
was nothing at hand for [the Ark] but destruction,
except that it was raised aloft into the upper air when
the inundation killed all creatures upon earth other than