Genesis 9
9
1 And God blessed Noah and his sons. And he said to them: "Increase, and multiply, and fill the earth.
2 And let the fear and trembling of you be upon all the animals of the earth, and upon all the birds of the air, along with all that moves across the earth. All the fish of the sea have been delivered into your hand.
3 And everything that moves and lives will be food for you. Just as with the edible plants, I have delivered them all to you,
4 except that flesh with blood you shall not eat.
5 For I will examine the blood of your lives at the hand of every beast. So also, at the hand of mankind, at the hand of each man and his brother, I will examine the life of mankind.
6 Whoever will shed human blood, his blood will be poured out. For man was indeed made to the image of God.
7 But as for you: increase and multiply, and go forth upon the earth and fulfill it."
8 To Noah and to his sons with him, God also said this:
9 "Behold, I will establish my covenant with you, and with your offspring after you,
10 and with every living soul that is with you: as much with the birds as with the cattle and all the animals of the earth that have gone forth from the ark, and with all the wild beasts of the earth.
11 I will establish my covenant with you, and no longer will all that is flesh be put to death by the waters of a great flood, and, henceforth, there will not be a great flood to utterly destroy the earth."
12 And God said: "This is the sign of the pact that I grant between me and you, and to every living soul that is with you, for perpetual generations.
13 I will place my arc in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the pact between myself and the earth.
14 And when I obscure the sky with clouds, my arc will appear in the clouds.
15 And I will remember my covenant with you, and with every living soul that enlivens flesh. And there will no longer be waters from a great flood to wipe away all that is flesh.
16 And the arc will be in the clouds, and I will see it, and I will remember the everlasting covenant that was enacted between God and every living soul of all that is flesh upon the earth."
17 And God said to Noah, "This will be the sign of the covenant that I have established between myself and all that is flesh upon the earth."
18 And so the sons of Noah, who came out of the ark, were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Now Ham himself is the father of Canaan.
19 These three are the sons of Noah. And from these all the family of mankind was spread over the whole earth.
20 And Noah, a good farmer, began to cultivate the land, and he planted a vineyard.
21 And by drinking its wine, he became inebriated and was naked in his tent.
22 Because of this, when Ham, the father of Canaan, had indeed seen the privates of his father to be naked, he reported it to his two brothers outside.
23 And truly, Shem and Japheth put a cloak upon their arms, and, advancing backwards, covered the privates of their father. And their faces were turned away, so that they did not see their father's manhood.
24 Then Noah, awaking from the wine, when he had learned what his younger son had done to him,
25 he said, "Cursed be Canaan, a servant of servants will he be to his brothers."
26 And he said: "Blessed be the Lord God of Shem, let Canaan be his servant.
27 May God enlarge Japheth, and may he live in the tents of Shem, and let Canaan be his servant."
28 And after the great flood, Noah lived for three hundred and fifty years.
29 And all his days were completed in nine hundred and fifty years, and then he died.
Genesis 9
9
1-4God blessed Noah and his sons: He said, “Prosper! Reproduce! Fill the Earth! Every living creature—birds, animals, fish—will fall under your spell and be afraid of you. You’re responsible for them. All living creatures are yours for food; just as I gave you the plants, now I give you everything else. Except for meat with its lifeblood still in it—don’t eat that.
5“But your own lifeblood I will avenge; I will avenge it against both animals and other humans.
6-7Whoever sheds human blood,
by humans let his blood be shed,
Because God made humans in his image
reflecting God’s very nature.
You’re here to bear fruit, reproduce,
lavish life on the Earth, live bountifully!”
8-11Then God spoke to Noah and his sons: “I’m setting up my covenant with you including your children who will come after you, along with everything alive around you—birds, farm animals, wild animals—that came out of the ship with you. I’m setting up my covenant with you that never again will everything living be destroyed by floodwaters; no, never again will a flood destroy the Earth.”
12-16God continued, “This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and everything living around you and everyone living after you. I’m putting my rainbow in the clouds, a sign of the covenant between me and the Earth. From now on, when I form a cloud over the Earth and the rainbow appears in the cloud, I’ll remember my covenant between me and you and everything living, that never again will floodwaters destroy all life. When the rainbow appears in the cloud, I’ll see it and remember the eternal covenant between God and everything living, every last living creature on Earth.”
17And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant that I’ve set up between me and everything living on the Earth.”
18-19The sons of Noah who came out of the ship were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Ham was the father of Canaan. These are the three sons of Noah; from these three the whole Earth was populated.
20-23Noah, a farmer, was the first to plant a vineyard. He drank from its wine, got drunk and passed out, naked in his tent. Ham, the father of Canaan, saw that his father was naked and told his two brothers who were outside the tent. Shem and Japheth took a cloak, held it between them from their shoulders, walked backward and covered their father’s nakedness, keeping their faces turned away so they did not see their father’s exposed body.
24-27When Noah woke up with his hangover, he learned what his youngest son had done. He said,
Cursed be Canaan! A slave of slaves,
a slave to his brothers!
Blessed be God, the God of Shem,
but Canaan shall be his slave.
God prosper Japheth,
living spaciously in the tents of Shem.
But Canaan shall be his slave.
28-29Noah lived another 350 years following the flood. He lived a total of 950 years. And he died.
THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved. Used by permission of NavPress. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers.