Genesis 8:20-9:17
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
God’s Promise to Noah
20 Then Noah built an altar to the Lord and took of every clean animal and of every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar.(A) 21 And when the Lord smelled the pleasing odor, the Lord said in his heart, “I will never again curse the ground because of humans, for the inclination of the human heart is evil from youth; nor will I ever again destroy every living creature as I have done.(B)
22 As long as the earth endures,
seedtime and harvest, cold and heat,
summer and winter, day and night
shall not cease.”(C)
The Covenant with Noah
9 God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.(D) 2 The fear and dread of you shall rest on every animal of the earth and on every bird of the air, on everything that creeps on the ground and on all the fish of the sea; into your hand they are delivered. 3 Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you, and just as I gave you the green plants, I give you everything.(E) 4 Only, you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood.(F) 5 For your own lifeblood I will surely require a reckoning: from every animal I will require it and from human beings, each one for the blood of another, I will require a reckoning for human life.(G)
6 Whoever sheds the blood of a human,
by a human shall that person’s blood be shed,
for in his own image
God made humans.(H)
7 “And you, be fruitful and multiply, abound on the earth and have dominion over[a] it.”(I)
8 Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him, 9 “As for me, I am establishing my covenant with you and your descendants after you(J) 10 and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the domestic animals, and every animal of the earth with you, as many as came out of the ark.[b](K) 11 I establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of a flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.”(L) 12 God said, “This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations:(M) 13 I have set my bow in the clouds, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth.(N) 14 When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds, 15 I will remember my covenant that is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh, and the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh.(O) 16 When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.”(P) 17 God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant that I have established between me and all flesh that is on the earth.”
Genesis 8:20-9:17
Evangelical Heritage Version
20 Noah built an altar to the Lord and took from every clean animal and every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar. 21 The Lord smelled the pleasant aroma. The Lord said in his heart, “I will never again curse the soil anymore because of man, for the thoughts he forms in his heart are evil from his youth. Neither will I ever again strike every living thing, as I have done. 22 While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.”
God’s Covenant With the Earth
9 God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. 2 Every animal on the earth and every bird in the sky will fear you and dread you. Everything that swarms on the ground and all the fish in the sea are handed over to you. 3 Every living, moving thing will be food for you. I have given everything to you, just as I gave you the green plants. 4 But flesh that has the blood (which is its life) still in it, you shall not eat. 5 In fact, I will hold each animal and each person responsible for your lifeblood. I will hold each man responsible for the life of his brother. 6 Whoever sheds man’s blood, by man his blood shall be shed, for God made man in his own image.
7 “But you, be fruitful and multiply. Increase abundantly on the earth, and multiply on it.”
8 God said to Noah and to his sons, who were with him, 9 “Listen, I will now establish my covenant with you and with your descendants after you 10 and with everything with you that has the breath of life: with the birds, with the livestock, and with every wild animal that is on the earth with you, with everything that went out of the ark, even with every wild animal on the earth. 11 I will establish my covenant with you: Never again will all living creatures[a] be cut off by the waters of a flood. Neither will there ever again be a flood to destroy the earth.”
12 God also said, “This is the sign of the covenant between me and you and every living creature with you that I am giving for all generations to come. 13 I have set my rainbow in the cloud, and it will be the sign of a covenant between me and the earth. 14 Whenever I bring a cloud over the earth and the rainbow is seen in the cloud, 15 I will remember my covenant, which is between me and you and every living creature of every sort,[b] and the waters will never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. 16 The rainbow will be in the cloud. I will look at it so that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of every kind that is on the earth.” 17 God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant that I have established between me and all flesh that is on the earth.”
Footnotes
- Genesis 9:11 Literally all flesh
- Genesis 9:15 Literally all flesh
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.