re = /^(?:[^N\n]|N(?:[^O\n]|O(?:[^A\n]|$)|$)|$)+/m
str = 'I want to delete anything in a line but stop before the word NOA if that is present in a line. NOA will also follow a colon.
1: NOA Keep this)
2 lkajsflk: DONT KEEP THIS
asdlkjfaskldjf: Dont keep this
asdfjlka: NOA
asdf:NOA(lkjasdlfkjasf)
Version: RE2 for Google Sheets
'
subst = ''
result = str.gsub(re, subst)
# Print the result of the substitution
puts result
Please keep in mind that these code samples are automatically generated and are not guaranteed to work. If you find any syntax errors, feel free to submit a bug report. For a full regex reference for Ruby, please visit: http://ruby-doc.org/core-2.2.0/Regexp.html