Genesis 9
English Standard Version
9 And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, (A)“Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. 2 (B)The fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth and upon every bird of the heavens, upon everything that creeps on the ground and all the fish of the sea. Into your hand they are delivered. 3 (C)Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. And (D)as I gave you the green plants, I give you everything. 4 But you shall not eat flesh with its (E)life, that is, its blood. 5 And for your lifeblood I will require a reckoning: (F)from every beast I will require it and (G)from man. From his fellow man I will require a reckoning for the life of man.
6 (H)“Whoever sheds the blood of man,
by man shall his blood be shed,
(I)for God made man in his own image.
7 And you,[a] be fruitful and multiply, increase greatly on the earth and multiply in it.”
8 Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him, 9 “Behold, (J)I establish my covenant with you and your offspring after you, 10 and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the livestock, and every beast of the earth with you, as many as came out of the ark; it is for every beast of the earth. 11 (K)I establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.” 12 And God said, (L)“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: 13 I have set (M)my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. 14 When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds, 15 (N)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. 16 When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it and remember (O)the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh 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.”
Noah's Descendants
18 The sons of Noah who went forth from the ark were (P)Shem, Ham, and Japheth. (Ham was the father of Canaan.) 19 These three were the sons of Noah, and (Q)from these the people of the whole earth were dispersed.[b]
20 Noah began to be a man of the soil, and he planted a vineyard.[c] 21 He drank of the wine and became drunk and lay uncovered in his tent. 22 And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father and told his two brothers outside. 23 Then Shem and Japheth took a garment, laid it on both their shoulders, and walked backward and covered the nakedness of their father. Their faces were turned backward, and they did not see their father's nakedness. 24 When Noah awoke from his wine (R)and knew what his youngest son had done to him, 25 he said,
26 He also said,
“Blessed be the Lord, the God of Shem;
and let Canaan be his servant.
27 May God enlarge Japheth,[d]
and let him dwell in the tents of Shem,
and let Canaan be his servant.”
28 After the flood Noah lived 350 years. 29 All the days of Noah were 950 years, and he died.
Footnotes
- Genesis 9:7 In Hebrew you is plural
- Genesis 9:19 Or from these the whole earth was populated
- Genesis 9:20 Or Noah, a man of the soil, was the first to plant a vineyard
- Genesis 9:27 Japheth sounds like the Hebrew for enlarge
Genesis 9
1599 Geneva Bible
9 1 The confirmation of marriage. 2 Man’s authoritiy over all creatures. 3 Permission of meats. 6 The power of the sword. 14 The rainbow is the sign of God’s promise. 21 Noah is drunk, and mocked of his son, whom he curseth. 29 The age and death of Noah.
1 And God [a]blessed Noah and his sons, and said to them, (A)Bring forth fruit, and multiply, and replenish the earth.
2 Also the [b]fear of you, and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth, and upon every fowl of the heaven, upon all that moveth on the earth, and upon all the fishes of the sea: into your hand are they delivered.
3 Everything [c]that moveth and liveth, shall be meat for you: as the (B)green herb, have I given you all things.
4 (C)[d]But flesh with the life thereof, I mean, with the blood thereof, shall ye not eat.
5 [e]For surely I will require your blood, wherein your lives are: at the hands of every beast will I require it: and at the hand of man, even at the hand of a man’s [f]brother will I require the life of man.
6 Who so (D)sheddeth man’s blood, [g]by man shall his blood be shed: (E)for in the [h]image of God hath he made man.
7 But bring ye forth fruit and multiply: grow plentifully in the earth, and increase therein.
8 ¶ God spake also to Noah and to his sons with him, saying,
9 Behold, I, even I establish my [i]covenant with you, and with your [j]seed after you,
10 And with every living creature that is with you, with the fowl, with the cattle, and with every beast of the earth with you, from all that go out of the Ark, unto every beast of the earth.
11 (F)And my covenant will I establish with you, that from henceforth all flesh shall not be rooted out by the waters of the flood, neither shall there be a flood to destroy the earth anymore.
12 Then God said, This is the token of the covenant which I make between me and you, and between every living thing that is with you unto perpetual generations.
13 I have set my [k]bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a sign of the covenant between me and the earth.
14 And when I shall cover the earth with a cloud, and the bow shall be seen in the cloud,
15 Then will I remember my [l]covenant which is between me and you, and between every living thing in all flesh, and there shall be no more waters of a flood to destroy all flesh.
16 Therefore the bow shall be in the cloud, that I may see it, and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living thing, in all flesh that is upon the earth.
17 God said yet to Noah, [m]This is the sign of the covenant, which I have established between me and all flesh that is upon the earth.
18 ¶ Now the sons of Noah going forth of the Ark, were Shem and Ham and Japheth. And Ham is the father of Canaan.
19 These are the three sons of Noah, and of them was the whole earth [n]overspread.
20 [o]Noah also began to be an husbandman, and planted a vineyard.
21 And he drunk of the wine, and was [p]drunken, and was uncovered in the midst of his tent.
22 And when Ham the father of [q]Canaan saw the nakedness of his father, [r]he told his two brethren without.
23 Then took Shem and Japheth a garment, and put it upon both their shoulders, and went backward and covered the nakedness of their father with their faces backward: so they saw not their father’s nakedness.
24 Then Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done unto him,
25 And said, [s]Cursed be Canaan: a [t]servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren.
26 He said moreover, Blessed be the Lord God of Shem, and let Canaan be his [u]servant.
27 God [v][w]persuade Japheth, that he may dwell in the tents of Shem, and let 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 9:1 God increased them with fruit, and declared unto them his counsel as touching the replenishing of the earth.
- Genesis 9:2 By the virtue of this commandment beasts rage not so much against man as they would, yea, and many serve to his use thereby.
- Genesis 9:3 By this permission man may with a good conscience use the creatures of God for his necessity.
- Genesis 9:4 That is, living creatures, and the flesh of beasts that are strangled: and hereby all cruelty is forbidden.
- Genesis 9:5 That is, I will take vengeance for your blood.
- Genesis 9:5 Or, neighbor.
- Genesis 9:6 Not only by the magistrate, but oft times God raiseth up one murderer to kill another.
- Genesis 9:6 Therefore to kill man is to deface God’s image, and so injury is not only done to man, but also to God.
- Genesis 9:9 To assure you that the world shall be no more destroyed by a flood.
- Genesis 9:9 The children which are not yet born, are comprehended in God’s covenant made with their fathers.
- Genesis 9:13 Hereby we see that signs or sacraments ought not to be separate from the word.
- Genesis 9:15 When men shall see my bow in the heaven, they shall know that I have not forgotten my covenant with them.
- Genesis 9:17 God doth repeat this the oftener, to confirm Noah’s faith so much the more.
- Genesis 9:19 This declareth what was the virtue of God’s blessing, when he said, increase and bring forth, Gen. 1:28.
- Genesis 9:20 Or, Noah began again.
- Genesis 9:21 This is set before our eyes to show what an horrible thing drunkenness is.
- Genesis 9:22 Of whom came the Canaanites that wicked nation, who were also cursed of God.
- Genesis 9:22 In derision and contempt of his father.
- Genesis 9:25 He pronounceth as a Prophet the curse of God against all them that honor not their parents: for Ham and his posterity were accursed.
- Genesis 9:25 That is, a most vile slave.
- Genesis 9:26 Or, their.
- Genesis 9:27 Or, enlarge, or cause to return.
- Genesis 9:27 He declareth that the Gentiles, which came of Japheth, and were separated from the Church, should be joined to the same by the persuasion of God’s Spirit, and preaching of the Gospel.
The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025.
Geneva Bible, 1599 Edition. Published by Tolle Lege Press. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without written permission from the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations in articles, reviews, and broadcasts.
