7 Before it started to rain, Noah and his wife and his sons went into the boat to escape from the flood water. 8 Pairs of animals, those that God said that he would accept for sacrifices and those that he would not accept for sacrifices, and pairs of birds and pairs of all the kinds of creatures that move close to the ground, 9 males and females, came to Noah and then went into the boat, just as God told Noah that they would do. 10 Seven days later, it started to rain and a flood began to cover the earth.