Genesis 9
9
God Makes a Covenant With Noah
1Then God blessed Noah and his sons. He said to them, “Have children so that there are many of you. Fill the earth. 2All the land animals will be afraid of you. All the birds in the sky will be afraid of you. Every creature that moves along the ground will be afraid of you. So will every fish in the seas. Every living thing is put under your control. 3Everything that lives and moves about will be food for you. I have already given you the green plants for food. Now I am giving you everything.
4“But you must not eat meat that still has blood in it. 5I will certainly hold someone accountable if you are murdered. I will even hold animals accountable if they kill you. I will also hold anyone accountable who murders another person.
6“Anyone who murders a human being
will be killed by a human being.
That is because I have made human beings
so that they are like me.
7Have children so that there will be many of you. Multiply and become many on the earth.”
8Then God spoke to Noah and to his sons who were with him. He said, 9“I am now making my covenant with you and with all your children who will be born after you. 10I am making it also with every living creature that was with you in the ark. I am making my covenant with the birds, the livestock and all the wild animals. I am making it with all the creatures that came out of the ark with you. In fact, I am making it with every living thing on earth. 11Here is my covenant I am making with you. The waters of a flood will never again destroy all life. A flood will never again destroy the earth.”
12God continued, “My covenant is between me and you and every living creature with you. It is a covenant for all time to come. Here is the sign of the covenant I am making. 13I have put my rainbow in the clouds. It will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. 14Sometimes when I bring clouds over the earth, a rainbow will appear in them. 15Then I will remember my covenant between me and you and every kind of living creature. The waters will never again become a flood to destroy all life. 16When the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it. I will remember that my covenant will last forever. It is a covenant between me and every kind of living creature on earth.”
17So God said to Noah, “The rainbow is the sign of my covenant. I have made my covenant between me and all life on earth.”
The Sons of Noah
18The sons of Noah who came out of the ark were Shem, Ham and Japheth. Ham was the father of Canaan. 19The people who were scattered over the earth came from Noah’s three sons.
20Noah was a man who farmed the land. He decided to plant a field that produced grapes for making wine. 21When he drank some of the wine, it made him drunk. Then he lay down inside his tent without any clothes on. 22Ham saw his father naked. Then Ham, the father of Canaan, went outside and told his two brothers. 23But Shem and Japheth picked up a piece of clothing and laid it across their shoulders. Then they walked backward into the tent. They covered their father’s body. They turned their faces away because they didn’t want to see their father naked.
24Then Noah woke up from his sleep that was caused by the wine. He found out what his youngest son had done to him. 25He said,
“May a curse be put on Canaan!
He will be the lowest of slaves to his brothers.”
26Noah also said,
“May the Lord, the God of Shem, be praised.
May Canaan be the slave of Shem.
27May God add land to Japheth’s territory.
May Japheth live in the tents of Shem.
And may Canaan be the slave of Japheth.”
28After the flood Noah lived 350 years. 29Noah lived a total of 950 years. And then he died.
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Genesis 9
9
The Covenant of the Rainbow
1And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. 2The fear and dread of you will fall on every living creature on the earth, every bird of the air, every creature that crawls on the ground, and all the fish of the sea. They are delivered into your hand. 3Everything that lives and moves will be food for you; just as I gave you the green plants, I now give you all things. 4But you must not eat meat with its lifeblood still in it. 5And surely I will require the life of any man or beast by whose hand your lifeblood is shed. I will demand an accounting from anyone who takes the life of his fellow man:
6Whoever sheds the blood of man,
by man his blood will be shed;
for in His own image
God has made mankind.
7But as for you,
be fruitful and multiply;
spread out across the earth
and multiply upon it.”
8Then God said to Noah and his sons with him, 9“Behold, I now establish My covenant with you and your descendants after you, 10and with every living creature that was with you—the birds, the livestock, and every beast of the earth—every living thing that came out of the ark. 11And I establish My covenant with you: Never again will all life be cut off by the waters of a flood; never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth.”
12And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant I am making between Me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come: 13I have set My rainbow in the clouds, and it will be a sign of the covenant between Me and the earth.
14Whenever I form clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, 15I will remember My covenant between Me and you and every living creature of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. 16And whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of every kind that is on the earth.”
17So God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant that I have established between Me and every creature on the earth.”
Noah’s Shame and Canaan’s Curse
18The sons of Noah who came out of the ark were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. And Ham was the father of Canaan. 19These three were the sons of Noah, and from them the whole earth was populated.
20Now Noah, a man of the soil, proceeded #9:20 Or was the first to plant a vineyard. 21But when he drank some of its wine, he became drunk and uncovered himself inside his tent. 22And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw his father’s nakedness and told his two brothers outside.
23Then Shem and Japheth took a garment and placed it across their shoulders, and walking backward, they covered their father’s nakedness. Their faces were turned away so that they did not see their father’s nakedness.
24When Noah awoke from his drunkenness and learned what his youngest son had done to him, 25he said,
“Cursed be Canaan!
A servant of servants
shall he be to his brothers.”
Shem’s Blessing and Noah’s Death
26He also declared:
“Blessed be the Lord, the God of Shem!
May Canaan be the servant of Shem.
27May God expand the territory of Japheth;#9:27 Japheth sounds like the Hebrew for expand.
may he dwell in the tents of Shem,
and may Canaan be his servant.”
28After the flood, Noah lived 350 years. 29So Noah lived a total of 950 years, and then he died.
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