# God said, “I promise I will never again curse the ground because of the evil things that people do, or destroy the world by causing a flood, even though people are sinful from the time they are children.” This is direct quotation. It can also be stated as an indirect quotation: “God promised to never again curse the ground because of the evil things that people do, or destroy the world by causing a flood, even though people are sinful from the time they are children.” (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-quotations]]) # never again This means ‘not ever again’ or ‘not again at any time’ or ‘truly not again.’ Examples: ‘I will not ever again curse the ground’ or ‘I will not curse the ground again at any time’ or ‘I will truly not curse the ground again.’ # curse the ground The earth and the other creatures suffered because of man’s sin. # the world This refers to the earth and the living creatures that lived on it. # people are sinful from the time they are children Another way to say this would be: “people do sinful things their entire lives.”