Of all Adam’s sons, Seth was the best. He and his sons called on the name of the Lord; but in process of time, man indulging himself in all manner of riot and excess, God repented that he had made him; and determined to destroy the whole world by an universal flood. Noah, however, who was one of Seth’s posterity, found grace in the eyes of the Lord. Whereupon God commanded him to build an ark of sufficient bulk for the reception of himself, his family, and two of each species of animals. No sooner were they entered than the windows of the heavens were opened, and it rained heavily for forty days and forty nights. By this general deluge every living substance was destroyed, except Noah, his wife, his three sons and their wives, and the other creatures that were admitted with them into the ark. But soon after the deluge ceased, the earth was stocked with inhabitants by the three sons of Noah, viz. Shem, Ham, and Japheth.