Genesis 9
9
God Blesses Noah and His Sons
1God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fertile, increase in number, and fill the earth. 2All the wild animals and all the birds will fear you and be terrified of you. Every creature that crawls on the ground and all the fish in the sea have been put under your control. 3Everything that lives and moves will be your food. I gave you green plants as food; I now give you everything else.
4“But you are not to eat meat with blood in it. (Blood is life.) 5In addition, I will demand your blood for your life. I will demand it from any animal or from any person. I will demand the life of any person ⌞who kills⌟ another person.
6Whoever sheds human blood,
by humans his blood will be shed,
because in the image of God, God made humans.
7Be fertile, and increase in number. Spread over the earth, and increase.”
God’s Promise—the Sign of the Rainbow
8God also said to Noah and his sons, 9“I am going to make my promise #9:9 Or “covenant.” to you, your descendants, 10and every living being that is with you—birds, domestic animals, and all the wild animals, all those that came out of the ship—every living thing on earth. 11I am making my promise to you. Never again will all life be killed by floodwaters. Never again will there be a flood that destroys the earth.”
12God said, “This is the sign of the promise I am giving to you and every living being that is with you for generations to come. 13I will put my rainbow in the clouds to be a sign of my promise to the earth. 14Whenever I form clouds over the earth, a rainbow will appear in the clouds. 15Then I will remember my promise to you and every living animal. Never again will water become a flood to destroy all life. 16Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember my everlasting promise to every living animal on earth.”
17So God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the promise I am making to all life on earth.”
Noah Curses Canaan but Blesses Shem and Japheth
18Noah’s sons, who came out of the ship, were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. 19These were Noah’s three sons. From them the whole earth was populated. Ham was the father of Canaan.#9:19 The second part of verse 18 (in Hebrew) has been placed just after verse 19 to express the complex Hebrew sentence structure more clearly in English.
20Noah, a farmer, was the first person to plant a vineyard. 21He drank some wine, got drunk, and lay naked inside his tent. 22Ham, father of Canaan, saw his father naked. So he went outside and told his two brothers.
23Shem and Japheth took a blanket and laid it over their shoulders. Then they walked in backwards and covered their father’s naked body. They turned their faces away so that they didn’t see their father naked.
24When Noah sobered up, he found out what his youngest son had done to him. 25So he said,
“Canaan is cursed!
He will be the lowest slave to his brothers.
26Praise the Lord, the God of Shem!
Canaan will be his slave.
27May God expand the territory of Japheth.#9:27 There is a play on words here between the Hebrew yapht (May God expand) and yepheth (Japheth).
May he live in the tents of Shem.
Canaan will be his slave.”
28Noah lived 350 years after the flood. 29Noah lived a total of 950 years; then he died.
GOD'S WORD® Translation ©1995, 2003, 2013, 2014, 2019, 2020 by God's Word to the Nations Mission Society. All rights reserved.
Bereshis 9
9
1Vayevarech Elohim et Noach and his banim, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish ha'aretz.
2And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of ha'aretz, and upon every bird of the air, upon all that moveth upon ha'adamah, and upon all the dagim of the yam; into your yad are they delivered.
3Every remes that liveth shall be food for you; even as the yarok esev (green plant) have I given you all.
4But basar with the nefesh thereof, which is the dahm thereof, shall ye not eat.
5And surely your dahm of your nefeshot will I require; at the hand of every beast will I require it, and at the yad haAdam; at the hand of every manʼs brother will I require the nefesh haAdam.
6Shofech dahm (one who sheddeth manʼs blood), by man shall his dahm be shed; for in the tzelem Elohim made He man.
7And you, be ye fruitful, and multiply; bring forth abundantly on ha'aretz, and multiply therein.
8And Elohim spoke unto Noach, and to his banim with him, saying,
9And I, hineni, I establish My brit (covenant) with you, and with your zera after you;
10And with kol nefesh that is with you, of the bird, of the behemah, and of every animal of ha'aretz with you; from kol yotzei hatevah (all that go out of the ark), to every creature of ha'aretz.
11And I will establish My brit (covenant) with you, neither shall kol basar yikaret (be cut off, violently killed) any more by the waters of the mabbul; neither shall there be any more mabbul l'shacheit (to destroy) ha'aretz.
12And Elohim said, This is the ot (sign) of the brit (covenant) which I make between Me and you and every nefesh chayyah (living creature) that is with you, for dorot olam (perpetual generations);
13I do set My keshet (bow) in the anan (cloud), and it shall be for an ot brit between Me and ha'aretz.
14And it shall come to pass, when I bring an anan over ha'aretz, that the keshet be'anan (rainbow) shall be seen;
15And I will remember My brit, which is between Me and you and kol nefesh chayyah of kol basar; and the waters shall no more become a mabbul (flood) l'shacheit (to destroy) kol basar.
16And the keshet shall be in the anan; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the brit olam between Elohim and kol nefesh chayyah of kol basar that is upon ha'aretz.
17And Elohim said unto Noach, This is the ot habrit, which I have established between Me and kol basar that is upon ha'aretz.
18And the bnei Noach, that went forth of the tevah, were Shem, and Cham, and Yephet; and Cham is the av of Kena'an (Canaan).
19Shloshah (Three) are the bnei Noach; and of them was the kol ha'aretz populated.
20And Noach began to be an ish ha'adamah (a man of the soil), and he planted a kerem (vineyard);
21And he drank of the yayin, and became shikker (intoxicated); and he lay uncovered inside his ohel.
22And Cham, the av of Kena'an, saw the erom (nakedness) of his av, and told his two achim on the outside.
23And Shem and Yephet took a garment, and laid it upon both their shoulders, and walked backward, and covered the erom of their av; and their faces were turned the other way, and they saw not the erom of their av.
24And Noach awoke from his yayin, and had da'as of what his ben katan had done unto him.
25And he said, Arur (cursed) be Kena'an; an eved of avadim shall he be unto his achim.
26And he said, Baruch Hashem Elohei Shem; and Kena'an shall be his eved.
27Elohim shall enlarge Yephet, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem; and Kena'an shall be his eved.
28And Noach lived after the mabbul three hundred and fifty years.
29And all the days of Noach were nine hundred and fifty years; and he died.
THE ORTHODOX JEWISH BIBLE
FOURTH EDITION © Artists For Israel Intl Inc., 2002-2011, 2021.