Genesis 8:20-9:17
International Standard Version
20 Then Noah built an altar to the Lord and offered burnt offerings on it[a] from every clean animal and every clean bird. 21 When the Lord smelled the pleasing aroma, he told himself, “I will never again curse the land because of human beings—even though human inclinations remain evil from youth—nor will I destroy every living being ever again, as I’ve done.
22 “Never[b] again, as long as the earth exists,
will sowing and harvest,
cold and heat,
summer and winter,
and day and night ever cease.”
The Covenant with Noah
9 God blessed Noah and his sons and ordered them, “Be productive, multiply, and fill the earth. 2 All the living creatures of the earth will be filled with fear and terror of you from now on, including all the creatures that fly in the sky, everything that crawls on the ground, and all the fish of the ocean. They’ve been assigned to live under your dominion.[c]
3 “Every living, moving creature will be food for you. Just as I gave you green plants before, so now you have everything. 4 However, you are not to eat meat with its life—that is, its blood—in it! 5 Also, I will certainly demand an accounting regarding bloodshed, from every animal and from every human being. I’ll demand an accounting from every human being for the life of another human being.
6 “Whoever sheds human blood,
by a human his own blood is to be shed;
because God made human beings
in his own image.
7 Now as for you, be productive
and multiply;
spread out over the land
and multiply throughout it.”
8 Later, God told Noah and his sons, 9 “Pay attention! I’m establishing my covenant with you and with your descendants after you, 10 and with every living creature that is with you—the flying creatures, the livestock, and all the wildlife of the earth that are with you—all the earth’s animals that came out of the ark. 11 I will establish my covenant with you: No living beings will ever be cut off again by flood waters, and there will never again be a flood that destroys the earth.”
The Sign of God’s Covenant
12 God also said, “Here’s the symbol that represents the covenant that I’m making between me and you and every living being with you, for all future generations: 13 I’ve set my rainbow in the sky[d] to symbolize the covenant between me and the earth. 14 Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow becomes visible in the clouds, 15 I’ll remember my covenant between me and you and every living creature, so that water will never again become a flood to destroy all living beings. 16 When the rainbow is in the clouds, I will observe it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living beings on the earth.”
17 God also told Noah, “This is the symbol of the covenant that I’ve established between me and everything[e] that lives on the earth.”
Footnotes
- Genesis 8:20 Lit. on the altar
- Genesis 8:22 The Heb. lacks Never
- Genesis 9:2 Lit. your hand
- Genesis 9:13 Lit. cloud
- Genesis 9:17 Lit. all flesh
Copyright © 1995-2014 by ISV Foundation. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED INTERNATIONALLY. Used by permission of Davidson Press, LLC.
