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“Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD.” — Isaiah 1:18
Come, Follow Me · Old Testament 2026 · Week 7
“Noah Found Grace in the Eyes of the Lord”
February 9–15, 2026Genesis 6–11; Moses 87 chapters · 191 verses
The world fills with violence, and Noah preaches repentance to people who won't listen. The Flood cleanses the earth, and God makes a covenant never to destroy it by water again, with a rainbow as its token. Then people try to build a tower to heaven on their own terms, and the Lord scatters them.
Chapter
Also read in
The text shown is the King James Version, the Church's preferred English Bible for classes and meetings. The General Handbook lists the ESV and NRSV as helpful translations for ages 14 and up. They are copyrighted, so they open on their publishers' sites. Highlighted verses have a study note with links to compare that verse.
Study guide
The Flood and Babel are two stories about a world going wrong, and God's response. These notes give you their structure and the restored details.
How to read this week
Start with Moses 8. It shows that Noah preached the gospel to his generation. The Flood came after people rejected repeated warnings.
Notice the structure. The Flood story rises and falls like a mirror: the waters rise for 150 days, “God remembered Noah” (8:1), then the waters fall. The center is God's faithfulness.
Read the Flood as mercy as well as judgment. The manual notes that God ended a cycle of violence that harmed His children (Genesis 6:11–13).
See Babel as a counter-image. Enoch's people were taken up to God; Babel's builders tried to climb up on their own. One is Zion; the other is pride.
Watch the transition. Genesis 11 ends with Abram. The story narrows from all humanity to one family through whom all nations will be blessed.
From the Flood to Abram
Before the Flood — Noah preaches; the people reject him (Moses 8)
The Flood — Noah's family preserved in the ark (Genesis 7–8)
After the Flood — God's covenant and the rainbow (Genesis 9)
The nations — Noah's descendants spread out (Genesis 10)
Babel — Languages confused; the Jaredites depart (Genesis 11; Ether 1)
Shem to Terah — Ten generations to Abram (Genesis 11:10–26)
Images and ideas to recognize
Passage
Image
What it means
Gen 6:14
The ark
A place of safety prepared by God, entered by faith.
Gen 7:16
The shut door
Safety is in God's hands.
Gen 8:11
The olive leaf
New life and peace after judgment.
Gen 9:13
The rainbow
A covenant token: God remembers His promises.
Gen 11:4
The tower
Pride: trying to reach heaven by our own means.
Moses 8:24
Noah's message
The same gospel taught from Adam to the present.
Restoration connections
Ether 1:33–43 — The brother of Jared prays, and the Lord does not confound their language.
Joseph Smith—Matthew 1:41–43 — “As it was in the days of Noah, so it shall be also at the coming of the Son of Man.”
D&C 20:75–79 — The sacrament as a covenant token, like the rainbow (paired in the manual).
Helaman 6:26–28 — The same spirit that inspired Babel's builders.
Questions for the week
Noah preached to people who wouldn't listen. How do you stay faithful when others reject your beliefs?
How is following a living prophet like entering the ark?
What “tokens” help you remember your covenants with God?
Where are you tempted to build a “tower,” relying on yourself rather than God?
What does “God remembered Noah” (8:1) mean to you in a hard season?
Conference talks & Church resources
Talks the Church's lesson points to this week, plus other Church resources that teach from these chapters.
Scholarly papers
Faithful scholarship from BYU and related publishers, tagged with the chapters each one discusses.
Podcasts & video
Come, Follow Me shows and episodes covering this week's reading.