Genesis 9
Lexham English Bible
God’s Covenant with Noah and Humankind
9 And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth. 2 And fear of you and dread of you shall be upon every animal of the earth, and on every bird of heaven,[a] and on everything that moves upon the ground, and on all the fish of the sea. Into your hand they shall be given. 3 Every moving thing that lives shall be for you as food. As I gave the green plants to you, I have now given you everything. 4 Only you shall not eat raw flesh with blood in it.[b] 5 And[c] your lifeblood[d] I will require; from every animal[e] I will require it. And from the hand of humankind, from the hand of each man to his brother I will require the life of humankind.
6 “As for the one shedding the blood of humankind,
by humankind his blood shall be shed,
for God made humankind in his own image.
7 “And you, be fruitful and multiply, swarm on the earth and multiply in it.” 8 And God said to Noah and to his sons with him, 9 “As for me, behold, I am establishing my covenant with you and with your seed after you, 10 and with every living creature that is with you—the birds, the animals, and every animal of the earth with you, from all that came out of the ark to all the animals of the earth. 11 I am establishing my covenant with you, that never again will all flesh be cut off by the waters of a flood, nor will there ever be a flood that destroys the earth.” 12 And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant that I am making between me and you, and between every living creature that is with you for future generations. 13 My bow I have set in the clouds, and it shall be for a sign of the covenant between me and between the earth. 14 And when I make clouds appear over the earth the bow shall be seen in the clouds. 15 Then[f] I will remember my covenant that is between me and you, and between every living creature, with all flesh. And the waters of a flood will never again cause the destruction[g] of all flesh. 16 The bow shall be in the clouds, and I will see it, so as to remember the everlasting covenant between God and between every living creature, with all flesh that is upon the earth.” 17 And God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant which I am establishing between me and all flesh that is upon the earth.
Noah’s Descendants
18 Now[h] the sons of Noah who came out of the ark were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. (Ham was the father of Canaan.) 19 These three were the sons of Noah, and from these the whole earth was populated.[i] 20 And Noah began to be a man of the ground, and he planted a vineyard. 21 And he drank some of the wine and became drunk, and he exposed himself in the midst of his tent. 22 And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and he told his two brothers outside. 23 Then[j] Shem and Japheth took a garment, and the two of them put it on their shoulders and, walking backward, they covered the nakedness of their father. And their faces were turned backward, so that[k] they did not see the nakedness of their father. 24 Then[l] Noah awoke from his drunkenness,[m] and he knew what his youngest son had done to him. 25 And he said,
“Cursed be Canaan,
a slave of slaves he shall be to his brothers.”
26 Then[n] he said,
“Blessed be Yahweh, the God of Shem,
and let Canaan be a slave to them.
27 May God make space for Japheth,
and let him dwell in the tents of Shem,
and let Canaan be a slave for him.”
28 And Noah lived three hundred and fifty years after the flood. 29 And all the days of Noah were nine hundred and fifty years, and he died.
Footnotes
- Genesis 9:2 Or “the sky”
- Genesis 9:4 Literally “flesh with its life, its blood”
- Genesis 9:5 Or “only”; the same word that occurs at the beginning of v. 4
- Genesis 9:5 Literally “your blood belonging to your life”
- Genesis 9:5 Literally “from the hand of every animal”
- Genesis 9:15 Or “And”
- Genesis 9:15 Literally “be to destroy”
- Genesis 9:18 Or “And”
- Genesis 9:19 Literally “all the earth branched out”
- Genesis 9:23 Or “And”
- Genesis 9:23 Or “and”
- Genesis 9:24 Or “And”
- Genesis 9:24 Or “his wine”
- Genesis 9:26 Or “And”
Genesis 9
International Standard Version
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.[a]
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[b] 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[c] that lives on the earth.”
Noah and His Family
18 Noah’s sons who came out of the ark were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. (Ham later fathered Canaan.) 19 These three were Noah’s sons, and from these men the whole earth was repopulated.
20 Noah, a man of the soil, was the first to plant and farm a vineyard. 21 He drank some of the wine, got drunk, and lay down naked[d] right in the middle of his tent. 22 Ham, who fathered Canaan, saw his father’s genitals and told his two brothers outside. 23 Then Shem and Japheth took their father’s[e] cloak, laid it across both their shoulders, and walking backwards, they both covered their father’s genitals. Their faces were turned away, and they did not see their father’s genitals. 24 When Noah sobered up and learned what his youngest son had done to him, 25 he said,
“Canaan is cursed!
He will be the lowest of slaves to his relatives.”
26 He also said,
“Blessed be the Lord God of Shem,
and may Canaan be his slave.
27 May God make room for[f] Japheth;
may God[g] live in Shem’s tents,
and may Canaan serve him.”
28 Noah lived 350 years after the flood. 29 After Noah had lived a total of 950 years, he died.
Footnotes
- Genesis 9:2 Lit. your hand
- Genesis 9:13 Lit. cloud
- Genesis 9:17 Lit. all flesh
- Genesis 9:21 Or and exposed himself
- Genesis 9:23 Lit. took the
- Genesis 9:27 Or God extend; the Heb. verb sounds like the name Japheth
- Genesis 9:27 Lit. he
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