Genesis 9-10

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. ²All 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. ³Everything that lives and moves will be your food. Just as I gave you the green grasses, I now give you everything. ⁴However, you must not eat meat with its life, its blood, in it.

⁵I 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.
⁶Whoever sheds human blood,
        by a human his blood will be shed;
for in the divine image
        God made human beings.

⁷As for you, be fertile and multiply. Populate the earth and multiply in it.” ⁸God said to Noah and to his sons with him, ⁹“I am now setting up my covenant with you, with your descendants, ¹⁰and 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] ¹¹I 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.”

¹²God 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. ¹³I have placed my bow in the clouds; it will be the symbol of the covenant between me and the earth. ¹⁴When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow appears in the clouds, ¹⁵I will remember the covenant between me and you and every living being among all the creatures. Floodwaters will never again destroy all creatures. ¹⁶The 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.” ¹⁷God 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

¹⁸Noah’s sons Shem, Ham, and Japheth came out of the ark. Now Ham was Canaan’s father. ¹⁹These were Noah’s three sons, and from them the whole earth was populated. ²⁰Noah, a farmer, made a new start and planted a vineyard. ²¹He drank some of the wine, became drunk, and took off his clothes in his tent. ²²Ham, Canaan’s father, saw his father naked and told his two brothers who were outside. ²³Shem 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. ²⁴When Noah woke up from his wine, he discovered what his youngest son had done to him. ²⁵He said,

“Cursed be Canaan:
    the lowest servant
        he will be for his brothers.”
²⁶He also said,
“Bless the Lord,
    the God of Shem;
Canaan will be his servant.
²⁷May God give space^[b] to Japheth;
    he will live in Shem’s tents,
        and Canaan will be his servant.”

²⁸After the flood, Noah lived 350 years. ²⁹In all, Noah lived 950 years; then he died.

Noah’s descendants

10 These are the descendants of Noah’s sons Shem, Ham, and Japheth, to whom children were born after the flood. ²Japheth’s sons: Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, and Tiras. ³Gomer’s sons: Ashkenaz, Riphath, and Togarmah. ⁴Javan’s sons: Elishah, Tarshish, Kittim, and Rodanim.^[c] ⁵From these the island-nations were divided into their own countries, each according to their languages and their clans within their nations.

⁶Ham’s sons: Cush, Egypt, Put, and Canaan. ⁷Cush’s sons: Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah, and Sabteca. Raamah’s sons: Sheba and Dedan. ⁸Cush fathered Nimrod, the first great warrior on earth. ⁹The Lord saw him as a great hunter, and so it is said, “Like Nimrod, whom the Lord saw as a great hunter.” ¹⁰The most important cities in his kingdom were Babel, Erech, Accad, and Calneh in the land of Shinar. ¹¹Asshur left that land and built Nineveh, Rehoboth City, Calah, ¹²and Resen, the great city between Nineveh and Calah. ¹³Egypt fathered Ludim, Anamim, Lehabim, Naphtuhim, ¹⁴Pathrusim, Casluhim, and Caphtorim,^[d] from which the Philistines came.

¹⁵Canaan fathered Sidon his oldest son, and Heth, ¹⁶the Jebusites, the Amorites, the Girgashites, ¹⁷the Hivites, the Arkites, the Sinites, ¹⁸the Arvadites, the Zemarites, and the Hamathites. After this the Canaanite clans were dispersed. ¹⁹The Canaanite boundary extends from Sidon by way of Gerar to Gaza and by way of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim to Lasha. ²⁰These are Ham’s sons according to their clans, their languages, their lands, and their nations.

²¹Children were also born to Shem the father of all Eber’s children and Japheth’s older brother.

²²Shem’s sons: Elam, Asshur, Arpachshad, Lud, and Aram. ²³Aram’s sons: Uz, Hul, Gether, and Mash. ²⁴Arpachshad fathered Shelah, and Shelah fathered Eber. ²⁵To Eber were born two sons: The first was named Peleg,^[e] because during his lifetime the earth was divided. His brother’s name was Joktan. ²⁶Joktan fathered Almodad, Sheleph, Hazarmaveth, Jerah, ²⁷Hadoram, Uzal, Diklah, ²⁸Obal, Abimael, Sheba, ²⁹Ophir, Havilah, and Jobab. All of these were Joktan’s sons. ³⁰Their settlements extended from Mesha by way of Sephar, the eastern mountains. ³¹These are Shem’s sons according to their clans, their languages, their lands, and their nations.