Genesis 9
9
The New Beginning
1Then God blessed Noah and his sons. He said to them, “Have many children. Grow in number and fill the earth. 2Every animal on earth and every bird in the sky will respect and fear you. So will every animal that crawls on the ground and every fish in the sea respect and fear you. I have given them to you.
3“Everything that moves, everything that is alive, is yours for food. Earlier I gave you the green plants. And now I give you everything for food. 4But you must not eat meat that still has blood in it, because blood gives life. 5I will demand your blood for your lives. That is, I will demand the life of any animal that kills a person. And I will demand the life of anyone who takes another person’s life.
6“Whoever kills a human being
will be killed by a human being.
This is because God made humans
in his own image.
7“Noah, I want you and your family to have many children. Grow in number on the earth and become many.”
8Then God said to Noah and his sons, 9“Now I am making my agreement with you and your people who will live after you. 10And I also make it with every living thing that is with you. It is with the birds, the tame animals and the wild animals. It is with all that came out of the boat with you. I make my agreement with every living thing on earth. 11I make this agreement with you: I will never again destroy all living things by floodwaters. A flood will never again destroy the earth.”
12And God said, “I am making an agreement between me and you and every living creature that is with you. It will continue from now on. This is the sign: 13I am putting my rainbow in the clouds. It is the sign of the agreement between me and the earth. 14When I bring clouds over the earth, a rainbow appears in the clouds. 15Then I will remember my agreement. It is between me and you and every living thing. Floodwaters will never again destroy all life on the earth. 16When the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it. Then I will remember the agreement that continues forever. It is between me and every living thing on the earth.”
17So God said to Noah, “That rainbow is a sign. It is the sign of the agreement that I made with all living things on earth.”
Noah and His Sons
18The sons of Noah came out of the boat with him. They were Shem, Ham and Japheth. (Ham was the father of Canaan.) 19These three men were Noah’s sons. And all the people on earth came from these three sons.
20Noah became a farmer and planted a vineyard. 21He drank wine made from his grapes. Then he became drunk and lay naked in his tent. 22Ham, the father of Canaan, looked at his naked father. Ham told his brothers outside. 23Then Shem and Japheth got a coat and carried it on both their shoulders. They walked backwards into the tent and covered their father. They turned their faces away. In this way they did not see their father without clothes.
24Noah was sleeping because of the wine. Later he woke up. Then he learned what his youngest son, Ham, had done to him. 25So Noah said,
“May there be a curse on Canaan!
May he be the lowest slave to his brothers.”
26Noah also said,
“May the Lord, the God of Shem, be praised!
May Canaan be Shem’s slave.
27May God give more land to Japheth.
May Japheth live in Shem’s tents,
and may Canaan be their slave.”
28After the flood Noah lived 350 years. 29He lived a total of 950 years. 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.
The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible, BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee. This text of God's Word has been dedicated to the public domain.