Genesis 9
Common English Bible
God’s covenant with all life
9 God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fertile, multiply, and fill the earth. 2 All of the animals on the earth will fear you and dread you—all the birds in the skies, everything crawling on the ground, and all of the sea’s fish. They are in your power. 3 Everything that lives and moves will be your food. Just as I gave you the green grasses, I now give you everything. 4 However, you must not eat meat with its life, its blood, in it.
5 I will surely demand your blood for a human life,
from every living thing I will demand it.
From humans, from a man for his brother,
I will demand something for a human life.
6 Whoever sheds human blood,
by a human his blood will be shed;
for in the divine image
God made human beings.
7 As for you, be fertile and multiply. Populate the earth and multiply in it.” 8 God said to Noah and to his sons with him, 9 “I am now setting up my covenant with you, with your descendants, 10 and with every living being with you—with the birds, with the large animals, and with all the animals of the earth, leaving the ark with you.[a] 11 I will set up my covenant with you so that never again will all life be cut off by floodwaters. There will never again be a flood to destroy the earth.”
12 God said, “This is the symbol of the covenant that I am drawing up between me and you and every living thing with you, on behalf of every future generation. 13 I have placed my bow in the clouds; it will be the symbol of the covenant between me and the earth. 14 When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow appears in the clouds, 15 I will remember the covenant between me and you and every living being among all the creatures. Floodwaters will never again destroy all creatures. 16 The bow will be in the clouds, and upon seeing it I will remember the enduring covenant between God and every living being of all the earth’s creatures.” 17 God said to Noah, “This is the symbol of the covenant that I have set up between me and all creatures on earth.”
Shem’s blessing and Canaan’s curse
18 Noah’s sons Shem, Ham, and Japheth came out of the ark. Now Ham was Canaan’s father. 19 These were Noah’s three sons, and from them the whole earth was populated. 20 Noah, a farmer, made a new start and planted a vineyard. 21 He drank some of the wine, became drunk, and took off his clothes in his tent. 22 Ham, Canaan’s father, saw his father naked and told his two brothers who were outside. 23 Shem and Japheth took a robe, threw it over their shoulders, walked backward, and covered their naked father without looking at him because they turned away. 24 When Noah woke up from his wine, he discovered what his youngest son had done to him. 25 He said,
“Cursed be Canaan:
the lowest servant
he will be for his brothers.”
26 He also said,
“Bless the Lord,
the God of Shem;
Canaan will be his servant.
27 May God give space[b] to Japheth;
he will live in Shem’s tents,
and Canaan will be his servant.”
28 After the flood, Noah lived 350 years. 29 In all, Noah lived 950 years; then he died.
Footnotes
- Genesis 9:10 LXX; MT includes for all the animals of the earth.
- Genesis 9:27 Heb sounds like Japheth.
Genesis 9
Contemporary English Version
God's Promise to Noah
9 (A) 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. 2 All animals, birds, reptiles, and fish will be afraid of you. I have placed them under your control, 3 and 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 (B) But life is in the blood, and you must not eat any meat that still has blood in it. 5-6 (C) 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 (D) I want you and your descendants to have many children, so people will live everywhere on earth.
8 Again, God said to Noah and his sons:
9 I am going to make a solemn promise to you and to everyone who will live after you. 10 This includes the birds and the animals that came out of the boat. 11 I promise every living creature that the earth and those living on it will never again be destroyed by a flood.
12-13 The 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. 14 When I send clouds over the earth, and a rainbow appears in the sky, 15 I will remember my promise to you and to all other living creatures. Never again will I let floodwaters destroy all life. 16 When I see the rainbow in the sky, I will always remember the promise that I have made to every living creature. 17 The rainbow will be the sign of that solemn promise.
Noah and His Family
18 Noah and his sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth, left the boat. Ham later had a son named Canaan. 19 All people on earth are descendants of Noah's three sons.
20 Noah farmed the land and was the first to plant a vineyard. 21 One day he got drunk and was lying naked in his tent. 22 Ham entered the tent and saw him naked, then went back outside and told his brothers. 23 Shem 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.
24 When Noah sobered up and learned what his youngest son had done, 25 he said,
“I now put a curse on Canaan!
He will be the lowest slave
of his brothers.
26 I ask the Lord my God
to bless Shem
and make Canaan his slave.
27 I pray God will give Japheth
more and more[a] land
and let him take over
the territory of Shem.
May Canaan be his slave.”
28 Noah lived 350 years after the flood 29 and died at the age of 950.
Footnotes
- 9.27 more and more: In Hebrew “Japheth” sounds like “more and more.”
Genesis 9
New Life Version
God’s Agreement with Noah
9 God made good come to Noah and his sons, and said to them, “Have many children, and cover the earth. 2 Every animal of the earth, every bird of the sky, everything that moves on the ground, and all the fish of the sea will be afraid of you. They are given into your hand. 3 Every moving thing that lives will be food for you. I give all to you as I gave you the green plants. 4 But you must not eat meat with blood in it because that is its life. 5 For sure, I will take the life of every animal and every person for taking a life. I will punish every man’s brother for taking the life of man. 6 Whoever takes the life of a man will have his life taken. For God made man to be like Him. 7 As for you, have many children. Cover the earth with many people.”
8 Then God said to Noah and his sons, 9 “See, I make My agreement with you, and with your children after you, 10 and with every living thing that is with you, the birds, the cattle, and every animal of the earth, of all that came out of the large boat, every living thing on earth. 11 I make My agreement with you, that never again will all flesh be destroyed by the water of a flood. There will never again be a flood to destroy the earth.” 12 Then God said, “This is something special to see for all time, because of the agreement that I am making between Me and you and every living thing that is with you: 13 I will set My rain-bow in the cloud, and it will be something special to see because of an agreement between Me and the earth. 14 When I bring clouds over the earth and the rain-bow is seen in the clouds, 15 I will remember My agreement that is between Me and you and every living thing of all flesh. Never again will the water become a flood to destroy all flesh. 16 When the rain-bow is in the cloud, I will look upon it to remember the agreement that will last forever between God and every living thing of all flesh that is on the earth.” 17 God said to Noah, “This is the special thing to see because of the agreement I have made between Me and all flesh upon the earth.”
Noah and His Sons
18 The sons of Noah who came out of the large boat were Shem, Ham and Japheth. Ham was the father of Canaan. 19 These three were the sons of Noah. And all the people of the earth came from them.
20 Then Noah became a farmer and planted a grape-field. 21 And he drank of the wine, and drank too much, and lay without covering himself in his tent. 22 Then Ham, the father of Canaan, saw that his father was without clothes. And he told his two brothers outside. 23 But Shem and Japheth took a coat and laid it upon their shoulders and walked in with their backs toward their father and covered him. Their faces were turned away, so that they did not see their father without clothes. 24 When Noah awoke from his wine, he knew what his youngest son had done to him. 25 So he said, “May Canaan be cursed! He will be a servant of servants to his brothers.” 26 He also said, “Honor and thanks be to the Lord, the God of Shem. Let Canaan be his servant. 27 May God make Japheth great. Let him live in the tents of Shem. And let Canaan be his servants.”
28 Noah lived 350 years after the flood. 29 So Noah lived 950 years, and he died.
Genesis 9
Easy-to-Read Version
The New Beginning
9 God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Have many children. Fill the earth with your people. 2 Every animal on earth, every bird in the air, every animal that crawls on the ground, and every fish in the sea will be afraid of you. All of them will be under your control. 3 In the past, I gave you the green plants to eat. Now every animal will also be food for you. I give you everything on earth—it is yours. 4 But I give you one command. You must not eat meat that still has its life (blood) in it. 5 Also, I will demand your blood for your lives. That is, I will demand the life of any person or animal that takes a human life.
6 “God made humans to be like himself.
So whoever kills a person must be killed by another person.
7 “Have many children and fill the earth with your people.”
8 Then God said to Noah and his sons, 9 “I now make my promise to you and to your people who will live after you. 10 I make my promise to all the birds, and to all the cattle, and to all the animals that came out of the boat with you. I make my promise to every living thing on earth. 11 This is my promise to you: All life on the earth was destroyed by the flood. But that will never happen again. A flood will never again destroy all life on the earth.”
12 And God said, “I will give you something to prove that I made this promise to you. It will continue forever to show that I have made an agreement with you and every living thing on earth. 13 I am putting a rainbow in the clouds as proof of the agreement between me and the earth. 14 When I bring clouds over the earth, you will see the rainbow in the clouds. 15 When I see this rainbow, I will remember the agreement between me and you and every living thing on the earth. This agreement says that a flood will never again destroy all life on the earth. 16 When I look and see the rainbow in the clouds, I will remember the agreement that continues forever. I will remember the agreement between me and every living thing on the earth.”
17 So God said to Noah, “This rainbow is proof of the agreement that I made with all living things on earth.”
Problems Begin Again
18 Noah’s sons came out of the boat with him. Their names were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. (Ham was the father of Canaan.) 19 These three men were Noah’s sons. And all the people on earth came from these three sons.
20 Noah became a farmer and planted a vineyard. 21 One day Noah made some wine. He got drunk, went into his tent, and took off all his clothes. 22 Ham, the father of Canaan, saw that his father was naked and told his brothers who were outside the tent. 23 Shem and Japheth took a robe, put it across their shoulders, and walked backward into the tent. Then they covered their father without looking at him.
24 Later, Noah woke up. (He was sleeping because of the wine.) When he learned what his youngest son Ham had done to him, 25 he said,
“May there be a curse on Canaan[a]!
May he be a slave to his brothers.”
26 Noah also said,
“May the Lord, the God of Shem, be praised!
May Canaan be Shem’s slave.
27 May God give more land to Japheth.
May God live in Shem’s tents,
and may Canaan be their slave.”
28 After the flood Noah lived 350 years. 29 He lived a total of 950 years; then he died.
Footnotes
- Genesis 9:25 Canaan Ham’s son. The people of Canaan lived along the coast of Palestine, Lebanon, and Syria. Later, God gave this land to the Israelites.
Genesis 9
New King James Version
God’s Promise to Noah
9 So God blessed Noah and his sons, and said to them: (A)“Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth. 2 (B)And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be on every beast of the earth, on every bird of the air, on all that move on the earth, and on all the fish of the sea. They are given into your hand. 3 (C)Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. I have given you (D)all things, even as the (E)green herbs. 4 (F)But you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood. 5 Surely for your lifeblood I will demand a reckoning; (G)from the hand of every beast I will require it, and (H)from the hand of man. From the hand of every (I)man’s brother I will require the life of man.
6 “Whoever (J)sheds man’s blood,
By man his blood shall be shed;
(K)For in the image of God
He made man.
7 And as for you, (L)be fruitful and multiply;
Bring forth abundantly in the earth
And multiply in it.”
8 Then God spoke to Noah and to his sons with him, saying: 9 “And as for Me, (M)behold, I establish (N)My covenant with you and with your [a]descendants after you, 10 (O)and with every living creature that is with you: the birds, the cattle, and every beast of the earth with you, of all that go out of the ark, every beast of the earth. 11 Thus (P)I establish My covenant with you: Never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood; never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.”
12 And God said: (Q)“This is the sign of the covenant which I make between Me and you, and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations: 13 I set (R)My rainbow in the cloud, and it shall be for the sign of the covenant between Me and the earth. 14 It shall be, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the rainbow shall be seen in the cloud; 15 and (S)I will remember My covenant which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. 16 The rainbow shall be in the cloud, and I will look on it to remember (T)the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.” 17 And God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant which I have established between Me and all flesh that is on the earth.”
Noah and His Sons
18 Now the sons of Noah who went out of the ark were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. (U)And Ham was the father of Canaan. 19 (V)These three were the sons of Noah, (W)and from these the whole earth was populated.
20 And Noah began to be (X)a farmer, and he planted a vineyard. 21 Then he drank of the wine (Y)and was drunk, and became uncovered in his tent. 22 And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brothers outside. 23 (Z)But Shem and Japheth took a garment, laid it on both their shoulders, and went backward and covered the nakedness of their father. Their faces were [b]turned away, and they did not see their father’s nakedness.
24 So Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done to him. 25 Then he said:
26 And he said:
(AC)“Blessed be the Lord,
The God of Shem,
And may Canaan be his servant.
27 May God (AD)enlarge Japheth,
(AE)And may he dwell in the tents of Shem;
And may Canaan be his servant.”
28 And Noah lived after the flood three hundred and fifty years. 29 So all the days of Noah were nine hundred and fifty years; and he died.
Footnotes
- Genesis 9:9 Lit. seed
- Genesis 9:23 Lit. backwards
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Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
