Genesis 9
9
Covenant of the Rainbow
1Then God blessed Noah and his sons, and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth. 2The fear of you and the terror of you will be on every animal of the earth and on every bird of the sky; on everything that crawls on the ground, and on all the fish of the sea. They are handed over to you. 3Every moving thing that is alive shall be food for you; I have given everything to you, as I gave the green plant. 4But you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood. 5I certainly will require #9:5 Lit your blood of your livesyour lifeblood; #9:5 Lit from the hand offrom every animal I will require it. And #9:5 Lit from the hand offrom every person, #9:5 Lit from the hand offrom every man as his brother I will require the life of a person.
6“Whoever sheds human blood,
By man his blood shall be shed,
For in the image of God
He made mankind.
7“As for you, be fruitful and multiply;
# 9:7 Lit Swarm in the earth Populate the earth abundantly and multiply in it.”
8Then God spoke to Noah and to his sons with him, saying, 9“Now behold, I Myself am establishing My covenant with you, and with your #9:9 Lit seeddescendants after you; 10and with every living creature that is with you: the birds, the livestock, and every animal of the earth with you; of all that comes out of the ark, every animal of the earth. 11I establish My covenant with you; and all flesh shall never again be eliminated by the waters of a flood, nor shall there again be a flood to destroy the earth.” 12God said, “This is the sign of the covenant which I am making between Me and you and every living creature that is with you, for #9:12 Or everlasting generationsall future generations; 13I have set My rainbow in the cloud, and it shall #9:13 Lit be forserve as a sign of a covenant between Me and the earth. 14It shall come about, when I make a cloud appear over the earth, that the rainbow will be seen in the cloud, 15and I will remember My covenant, which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and never again shall the water become a flood to destroy all flesh. 16When the rainbow is in the cloud, then I will look at it, to remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.” 17And God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant which I have established between Me and all flesh that is on the earth.”
18Now the 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 these the whole earth was #9:19 Lit scatteredpopulated.
20Then Noah began #9:20 Lit to be a farmerfarming and planted a vineyard. 21He drank some of the wine and became drunk, and uncovered himself inside his tent. 22Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brothers outside. 23But Shem and Japheth took a garment and laid it on both their shoulders and walked backward and covered the nakedness of their father; and their faces were #9:23 Lit backwardturned away, so that they did not see their father’s nakedness. 24When Noah awoke from his wine, he knew what his youngest son had done to him. 25So he said,
“Cursed be Canaan;
# 9:25 I.e., The lowest of servants A servant of servants
He shall be to his brothers.”
26He also said,
“Blessed be the Lord,
The God of Shem;
And may Canaan be #9:26 Or theirhis servant.
27“May God enlarge Japheth,
And may he live in the tents of Shem;
And may Canaan be #9:27 Or theirhis servant.”
28Noah lived 350 years after the flood. 29So all the days of Noah were 950 years, and 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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