Genesis 9
New American Standard Bible
Covenant of the Rainbow
9 Then God blessed Noah and his sons, and said to them, “(A)Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth. 2 The fear of you and the terror of you will be on every animal of the earth and on every bird of the sky; on everything that crawls on the ground, and on all the fish of the sea. They are handed over to you. 3 Every moving thing that is alive shall be food for you; I have given everything to you, (B)as I gave the green plant. 4 But you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, (C)its blood. 5 I certainly will require [a](D)your lifeblood; [b](E)from every animal I will require it. And [c]from every person, [d]from every man as his brother I will require the life of a person.
6 (F)Whoever sheds human blood,
By man his blood shall be shed,
For (G)in the image of God
He made mankind.
7 As for you, (H)be fruitful and multiply;
[e]Populate the earth abundantly and multiply in it.”
8 Then God spoke to Noah and to his sons with him, saying, 9 “Now behold, (I)I Myself am establishing My covenant with you, and with your [f]descendants after you; 10 and with every living creature that is with you: the birds, the livestock, and every animal of the earth with you; of all that comes out of the ark, every animal of the earth. 11 I establish My covenant with you; and all flesh shall (J)never again be eliminated by the waters of a flood, (K)nor shall there again be a flood to destroy the earth.” 12 God said, “This is (L)the sign of the covenant which I am making between Me and you and every living creature that is with you, for [g]all future generations; 13 I have set My (M)rainbow in the cloud, and it shall [h]serve as a sign of a covenant between Me and the earth. 14 It shall come about, when I make a cloud appear over the earth, that the rainbow will be seen in the cloud, 15 and (N)I will remember My covenant, which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and (O)never again shall the water become a flood to destroy all flesh. 16 When the rainbow is in the cloud, then I will look at it, to remember the (P)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.”
18 Now the sons of Noah who came out of the ark were Shem, Ham, and Japheth; and (Q)Ham was the father of Canaan. 19 These three were the sons of Noah, and (R)from these the whole earth was [i]populated.
20 Then Noah began [j]farming and planted a vineyard. 21 He drank some of the wine and (S)became drunk, and uncovered himself inside his tent. 22 Ham, the father of Canaan, (T)saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brothers outside. 23 But Shem and Japheth took a garment and laid it on both their shoulders and walked backward and covered the nakedness of their father; and their faces were [k]turned away, so that they did not see their father’s nakedness. 24 When Noah awoke from his wine, he knew what his youngest son had done to him. 25 So he said,
26 He also said,
“(W)Blessed be the Lord,
The God of Shem;
And may Canaan be [m]his servant.
27 (X)May God enlarge Japheth,
And may he live in the tents of Shem;
And may Canaan be [n]his servant.”
28 Noah lived 350 years after the flood. 29 So all the days of Noah were 950 years, and he died.
Footnotes
- Genesis 9:5 Lit your blood of your lives
- Genesis 9:5 Lit from the hand of
- Genesis 9:5 Lit from the hand of
- Genesis 9:5 Lit from the hand of
- Genesis 9:7 Lit Swarm in the earth
- Genesis 9:9 Lit seed
- Genesis 9:12 Or everlasting generations
- Genesis 9:13 Lit be for
- Genesis 9:19 Lit scattered
- Genesis 9:20 Lit to be a farmer
- Genesis 9:23 Lit backward
- Genesis 9:25 I.e., The lowest of servants
- Genesis 9:26 Or their
- Genesis 9:27 Or their
Genesis 9
The Voice
9 God spoke a blessing over Noah and his sons.
Eternal One: Be fruitful, multiply, and populate the earth! 2 All the animals on the earth, all the birds in the sky, all the creatures that creep along the ground, and all the fish of the sea will now be afraid and run from you; they have been handed over to you. 3 Every living thing that moves will be available to you as food. Just as I once gave you the green plants to eat, I now give you everything. 4 But listen carefully: Do not eat any meat with its life-blood still in it. 5 More than that, do not spill the blood of any human. If anyone spills your blood, I will hold him responsible. It makes no difference whether it is a man or an animal, both will be accountable to Me! If someone murders a fellow human being, then I will require his life in return.
6 Whoever sheds the blood of a human,
that person’s blood will be shed in return by another
for God made humanity in His own image.
7 Now all of you, be fruitful and multiply; spread out and populate the earth.
All life is sacred. Human life is especially so. Protecting it is of utmost importance to God. He takes this so seriously and personally because He made humanity to reflect Him. We are His earthly representatives, made in His image. To murder another person is to mount an attack on the One who created him.
8 But God was not finished. He had more to say both to Noah and his sons.
Eternal One: 9 Look, for I am now going to make a pact, a special covenant, with you and all your descendants. 10 This covenant also extends to every living creature in the world—the birds, the domesticated animals, and every wild animal on the earth—as many as emerged with you from the ark. 11 As part of this covenant, I promise you I will never again wipe out all living flesh by means of flooding waters. Never again will a flood destroy the earth. 12 As a sign of this perpetual covenant I now make between Me and you and all living creatures along with you, as well as all future generations, 13 I will hang a rainbow among the clouds. It will serve as a sign of the covenant between Me and the earth. 14 And from now on, whenever a cloud rises over the earth and a rainbow appears in the sky, 15 I will remember My covenant—My promise I have made between Me and you and all living creatures. No waters will ever again turn into a flood powerful enough to destroy all living creatures. 16 When that rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember this eternal covenant I have made with all living creatures.
17 Look for the rainbow, and remember My promise. With it I sign the covenant I have made between Me and all the living creatures residing on the earth.
18 Now Noah’s sons who came out of the ark were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. (Ham, by the way, was the father of Canaan.) 19 Yes, these three, Noah’s sons, went on to populate the entire earth.
20 Now Noah became a farmer and decided to plant a vineyard. 21 One day he drank too much of the wine he had made and fell into a deep, drunken sleep in his tent. As he lay there stark naked, 22 Ham (the father of Canaan) peeked in and saw his father’s exposed body. After leaving the tent, he told his two brothers what he had seen. 23 So Shem and Japheth took a large cloak and laid it across their shoulders, and they walked backward into the tent. They never looked behind, as they covered their father’s nakedness. Out of respect, they purposely kept their faces turned away, so they wouldn’t see their father lying there naked. 24 When Noah regained consciousness and realized what his youngest son had done, 25 he uttered this curse:
Noah: A curse upon your son, Canaan!
May he become the lowest of servants to his brothers.
26 May the Eternal One, the God of Shem, be blessed,
and let Canaan be his slave!
27 May God make plenty of room for Japheth’s family
and give them homes among Shem’s tents.
And let Canaan be his slave also!
Noah’s words are not idle words. As the story unfolds, the importance of this curse becomes clear. But as the ancients knew, and we now have forgotten, words have power. It was with a word that God created the heavens above and the earth below. Now Noah’s words create a new reality, a harsh reality for Ham and his children.
28 From the time the flood was over, Noah lived another 350 years. 29 In all, Noah lived 950 years, and then he died.
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.