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 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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