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.
Copyright © 2015 by Tommy Nelson™, a Division of Thomas Nelson, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
Genesis 9
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.
© 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers, Nashville, Tennessee. All rights reserved.