Genesis 9

God's Promise to Noah

1 # Gn 1.28. God said to Noah and his sons:

I am giving you my blessing. Have a lot of children and grandchildren, so people will live everywhere on this earth. 2All animals, birds, reptiles, and fish will be afraid of you. I have placed them under your control, 3and I have given them to you for food. From now on, you may eat them, as well as the green plants that you have always eaten. 4#Lv 7.26,27; 17.10-14; 19.26; Dt 12.5-19,23,24; 15.23. But life is in the blood, and you must not eat any meat that still has blood in it. 5-6#Gn 1.26; Ex 20.13. I created humans to be like me, and I will punish any animal or person that takes a human life. If an animal kills someone, that animal must die. And if a person takes the life of another, that person must be put to death.

7 # Gn 1.28. I want you and your descendants to have many children, so people will live everywhere on earth.

8Again, God said to Noah and his sons:

9I am going to make a solemn promise to you and to everyone who will live after you. 10This includes the birds and the animals that came out of the boat. 11I promise every living creature that the earth and those living on it will never again be destroyed by a flood.

12-13The rainbow that I have put in the sky will be my sign to you and to every living creature on earth. It will remind you that I will keep this promise forever. 14When I send clouds over the earth, and a rainbow appears in the sky, 15I will remember my promise to you and to all other living creatures. Never again will I let floodwaters destroy all life. 16When I see the rainbow in the sky, I will always remember the promise that I have made to every living creature. 17The rainbow will be the sign of that solemn promise.

Noah and His Family

18Noah and his sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth, left the boat. Ham later had a son named Canaan. 19All people on earth are descendants of Noah's three sons.

20Noah farmed the land and was the first to plant a vineyard. 21One day he got drunk and was lying naked in his tent. 22Ham entered the tent and saw him naked, then went back outside and told his brothers. 23Shem and Japheth put a robe over their shoulders and walked backwards into the tent. Without looking at their father, they placed it over his body.

24When Noah sobered up and learned what his youngest son had done, 25he said,

“I now put a curse on Canaan!

He will be the lowest slave

of his brothers.

26I ask the Lord my God

to bless Shem

and make Canaan his slave.

27I pray God will give Japheth

more and more#9.27 more and more: In Hebrew “Japheth” sounds like “more and more.” land

and let him take over

the territory of Shem.

May Canaan be his slave.”

28Noah lived 350 years after the flood 29and died at the age of 950.

Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)

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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. 3Every creature that lives and moves 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 5And I will require a penalty for your lifeblood;#9:5 Lit And your blood belonging to your life I will seek I will require it from any animal#Ex 21:28 and from any human; if someone murders a fellow human, I will require that person’s life.#Gn 4:2,8

6Whoever sheds human blood,

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

for God made humans 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 establishing 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 establish my covenant with you that never again will every creature be wiped out by floodwaters; 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: 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 permanent covenant#Gn 17:13; 2Sm 23:5; 1Ch 16:17; Is 24:5 between God and all the living creatures on earth.” 17God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant that I have established 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, as a man of the soil, began by planting#9:20 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 is 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:

Blessed be the Lord, the God of Shem;

Let Canaan be#9:26 As a wish or prayer; others interpret the verbs in vv. 26–27 as prophecy: Canaan will be... Shem’s slave.

27Let God extend Japheth;#9:27 In Hb, the name Japheth sounds like the word “extend.”

let Japheth dwell in the tents of Shem;

let Canaan be Shem’s slave.

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

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