Bible fact · Direct biblical statement
Noah sent out a raven and a dove
After the flood Noah first sent out a raven, then a dove three times; the second time it came back with an olive leaf. Genesis 8:6–12
Discover why
After forty days Noah opened the window and sent out a raven, which went back and forth until the waters dried up. Genesis 8:6–7
He sent out a dove, which found no place to rest and came back. Seven days later the dove returned with a fresh olive leaf; seven days after that it did not return. Genesis 8:8–12
Read the passage
Genesis 8:6–12 WEB
6At the end of forty days, Noah opened the window of the ship which he had made, 7and he sent out a raven. It went back and forth, until the waters were dried up from the earth. 8He himself sent out a dove to see if the waters were abated from the surface of the ground, 9but the dove found no place to rest her foot, and she returned into the ship to him, for the waters were on the surface of the whole earth. He put out his hand, and took her, and brought her to him into the ship. 10He waited yet another seven days; and again he sent the dove out of the ship. 11The dove came back to him at evening and, behold, in her mouth was a freshly plucked olive leaf. So Noah knew that the waters were abated from the earth. 12He waited yet another seven days, and sent out the dove; and she didn’t return to him any more.
Test yourself
For children
Noah sent out a raven and then a dove to see if the land was dry. The dove came back with an olive leaf in its beak!