Genesis 8:20-22·~1 min

Noah Builds an Altar

Noah builds an altar to the LORD and offers burnt offerings from every kind of clean animal and clean bird.

T²⁰hen Noah built an altar to the LORD. And taking from every kind of clean animal and clean bird, he offered burnt offerings on the altar.

The LORD receives the offering and speaks in His heart of restraint: though the human heart is still bent toward evil, He will not again strike the ground and living creatures as He has done. That resolve is set against the ongoing life of the earth.

²¹When the LORD smelled the pleasing aroma, He said in His heart, “Never again will I curse the ground because of man, even though every inclination of his heart is evil from his youth. And never again will I destroy all living creatures as I have done. ²²As long as the earth endures,

Section summaryNoah’s first act on dry ground is worship. His offering rises before the LORD, and the chapter closes with God’s inward resolve to spare the ground and living creatures from another destruction like this, even while human evil remains.

Role in the chapterThis closing section interprets the new beginning through sacrifice and divine mercy. It does not deny the human problem; instead, it sets God’s restraint beside it as the ground of the world’s continued life.