Genesis 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.

Holy Bible, New International Reader’s Version®, NIrV®

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Genesis 9

God’s Covenant with Noah

1God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. # Gn 1:28; 8:17; 9:7; 35:11 2The fear and terror of you will be in every living creature on the earth, every bird of the sky, every creature that crawls on the ground, and all the fish of the sea. They are placed under your authority. # Lit are given in your hand 3Every living creature will be food for you; # Dt 12:15; 1Tm 4:3-4 as I gave the green plants, I have given you everything. # Gn 1:28-30 4However, you must not eat meat with its lifeblood in it. # Lv 3:17; 7:20; 17:10-16; 19:26; Dt 12:16,23; 15:23; 1Sm 14:34; Ac 15:20,29 5I will require the life of every animal # Ex 21:28 and every man for your life and your blood. I will require the life of each man’s brother for a man’s life. # Gn 4:2,8

6Whoever sheds man’s blood,

his blood will be shed by man, # Ex 21:12-14; Lv 24:17; Nm 35:33; Mt 26:52

for God made man in His image. # Gn 1:26-27

7But you, be fruitful and multiply; spread out over the earth and multiply on it.” # Gn 1:28

8Then God said to Noah and his sons with him, 9“Understand that I am confirming My covenant # Gn 6:18; 8:22; 17:2; Ex 6:4; 19:5; Lv 26:9 with you and your descendants after you, 10and with every living creature that is with you — birds, livestock, and all wildlife of the earth that are with you — all the animals of the earth that came out of the ark. 11I confirm My covenant with you that never again will every creature be wiped out by the waters of a flood; there will never again be a flood to destroy the earth.” # Is 54:9-10

12And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant # Gn 17:11 I am making between Me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all future generations: 13I have placed My bow in the clouds, # Ezk 1:28; Rv 4:3; 10:1 and it will be a sign of the covenant between Me and the earth. 14Whenever I form clouds over the earth and the bow appears in the clouds, 15I will remember My covenant # Lv 26:42,45; Dt 7:9; 1Kg 8:23; Ezk 16:60 between Me and you and all the living creatures: # Lit and creatures of all flesh water will never again become a flood to destroy every creature. 16The bow will be in the clouds, and I will look at it and remember the everlasting covenant # Gn 17:13; 2Sm 23:5; 1Ch 16:17; Is 24:5 between God and all the living creatures # Lit creatures of all flesh on earth.” 17God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant that I have confirmed between Me and every creature on earth.”

Prophecies about Noah’s Family

18Noah’s sons who came out of the ark were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Ham was the father of Canaan. 19These three were Noah’s sons, and from them the whole earth was populated. # Gn 9:1,7; 10:32; 1Ch 1:4

20Noah, a man of the soil, was the first to plant # Or Noah began to be a farmer and planted a vineyard. 21He drank some of the wine, became drunk, and uncovered himself inside his tent. 22Ham, the father of Canaan, saw his father naked and told his two brothers outside. # Lm 4:21; Hab 2:15 23Then Shem and Japheth took a cloak and placed it over both their shoulders, and walking backward, they covered their father’s nakedness. Their faces were turned away, and they did not see their father naked.

24When Noah awoke from his drinking and learned what his youngest son had done to him, 25he said:

Canaan will be cursed. # Dt 27:16

He will be the lowest of slaves to his brothers. # Jos 9:23; Jdg 1:28; 1Kg 9:20-21

26He also said:

Praise the Lord, the God of Shem;

Canaan will be # As a prophecy; others interpret the verbs in vv. 26-27 as a wish or prayer: let Canaan be . . . his slave.

27God will extend # In Hb, the name Japheth sounds like the word “extend.” Japheth;

he will dwell in the tents of Shem;

Canaan will be his slave.

28Now Noah lived 350 years after the flood. 29So Noah’s life lasted 950 years; then he died.

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