Genesis 9
Young's Literal Translation
9 And God blesseth Noah, and his sons, and saith to them, `Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the earth;
2 and your fear and your dread is on every beast of the earth, and on every fowl of the heavens, on all that creepeth on the ground, and on all fishes of the sea -- into your hand they have been given.
3 Every creeping thing that is alive, to you it is for food; as the green herb I have given to you the whole;
4 only flesh in its life -- its blood -- ye do not eat.
5 `And only your blood for your lives do I require; from the hand of every living thing I require it, and from the hand of man, from the hand of every man's brother I require the life of man;
6 whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man is his blood shed: for in the image of God hath He made man.
7 And ye, be fruitful and multiply, teem in the earth, and multiply in it.'
8 And God speaketh unto Noah, and unto his sons with him, saying,
9 `And I, lo, I am establishing My covenant with you, and with your seed after you,
10 and with every living creature which [is] with you, among fowl, among cattle, and among every beast of the earth with you, from all who are going out of the ark -- to every beast of the earth.
11 And I have established My covenant with you, and all flesh is not any more cut off by waters of a deluge, and there is not any more a deluge to destroy the earth.'
12 And God saith, `This is a token of the covenant which I am giving between Me and you, and every living creature that [is] with you, to generations age-during;
13 My bow I have given in the cloud, and it hath been for a token of a covenant between Me and the earth;
14 and it hath come to pass (in My sending a cloud over the earth) that the bow hath been seen in the cloud,
15 and I have remembered My covenant which is between Me and you, and every living creature among all flesh, and the waters become no more a deluge to destroy all flesh;
16 and the bow hath been in the cloud, and I have seen it -- to remember the covenant age-during between God and every living creature among all flesh which [is] on the earth.'
17 And God saith unto Noah, `This [is] a token of the covenant which I have established between Me and all flesh that [is] upon the earth.'
18 And the sons of Noah who are going out of the ark are Shem, and Ham, and Japheth; and Ham is father of Canaan.
19 These three [are] sons of Noah, and from these hath all the earth been overspread.
20 And Noah remaineth a man of the ground, and planteth a vineyard,
21 and drinketh of the wine, and is drunken, and uncovereth himself in the midst of the tent.
22 And Ham, father of Canaan, seeth the nakedness of his father, and declareth to his two brethren without.
23 And Shem taketh -- Japheth also -- the garment, and they place on the shoulder of them both, and go backward, and cover the nakedness of their father; and their faces [are] backward, and their father's nakedness they have not seen.
24 And Noah awaketh from his wine, and knoweth that which his young son hath done to him,
25 and saith: `Cursed [is] Canaan, Servant of servants he is to his brethren.'
26 And he saith: `Blessed of Jehovah my God [is] Shem, And Canaan is servant to him.
27 God doth give beauty to Japheth, And he dwelleth in tents of Shem, And Canaan is servant to him.'
28 And Noah liveth after the deluge three hundred and fifty years;
29 and all the days of Noah are nine hundred and fifty years, and he dieth.
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
New King James Version
God’s Promise to Noah
9 So God blessed Noah and his sons, and said to them: (A)“Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth. 2 (B)And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be on every beast of the earth, on every bird of the air, on all that move on the earth, and on all the fish of the sea. They are given into your hand. 3 (C)Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. I have given you (D)all things, even as the (E)green herbs. 4 (F)But you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood. 5 Surely for your lifeblood I will demand a reckoning; (G)from the hand of every beast I will require it, and (H)from the hand of man. From the hand of every (I)man’s brother I will require the life of man.
6 “Whoever (J)sheds man’s blood,
By man his blood shall be shed;
(K)For in the image of God
He made man.
7 And as for you, (L)be fruitful and multiply;
Bring forth abundantly in the earth
And multiply in it.”
8 Then God spoke to Noah and to his sons with him, saying: 9 “And as for Me, (M)behold, I establish (N)My covenant with you and with your [a]descendants after you, 10 (O)and with every living creature that is with you: the birds, the cattle, and every beast of the earth with you, of all that go out of the ark, every beast of the earth. 11 Thus (P)I establish My covenant with you: Never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood; never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.”
12 And God said: (Q)“This is the sign of the covenant which I make between Me and you, and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations: 13 I set (R)My rainbow in the cloud, and it shall be for the sign of the covenant between Me and the earth. 14 It shall be, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the rainbow shall be seen in the cloud; 15 and (S)I will remember My covenant which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. 16 The rainbow shall be in the cloud, and I will look on it to remember (T)the 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.”
Noah and His Sons
18 Now the sons of Noah who went out of the ark were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. (U)And Ham was the father of Canaan. 19 (V)These three were the sons of Noah, (W)and from these the whole earth was populated.
20 And Noah began to be (X)a farmer, and he planted a vineyard. 21 Then he drank of the wine (Y)and was drunk, and became uncovered in his tent. 22 And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brothers outside. 23 (Z)But Shem and Japheth took a garment, laid it on both their shoulders, and went backward and covered the nakedness of their father. Their faces were [b]turned away, and they did not see their father’s nakedness.
24 So Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done to him. 25 Then he said:
26 And he said:
(AC)“Blessed be the Lord,
The God of Shem,
And may Canaan be his servant.
27 May God (AD)enlarge Japheth,
(AE)And may he dwell in the tents of Shem;
And may 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 9:9 Lit. seed
- Genesis 9:23 Lit. backwards
Genesis 9
Modern English Version
The Noahic Covenant
9 Then God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. 2 Every beast of the earth and every bird of the sky and all that moves on the earth and all the fish of the sea will fear you and be terrified of you. They are given into your hand. 3 Every moving thing that lives will be food for you. I give you everything, just as I gave you the green plant.
4 “Only you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood. 5 But for your own lifeblood I will surely require a reckoning; from every animal will I require it; of man, too, will I require a reckoning for human life, of every man for that of his fellow man.
6 Whoever sheds the blood of man,
by man shall his blood be shed;
for God made man
in His own image.
7 And as for you, be fruitful and multiply; increase abundantly in the earth and multiply in it.”
8 Again God spoke to Noah and to his sons with him, saying, 9 “As for Me, I establish My covenant with you, and with your descendants after you; 10 and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the livestock, and every beast of the earth with you; of all that comes out of the ark, every beast of the earth. 11 I establish My covenant with you. Never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of a flood. Never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.”
12 Then God said, “This is the sign of the covenant which I am making between Me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations. 13 I have set My rainbow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of a covenant between Me and the earth. 14 When I bring a cloud over the earth, the rainbow will be seen in the cloud; 15 then I will remember My covenant, which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh, and the waters will never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. 16 The rainbow will appear in the cloud, and I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.”
17 So 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.”
The Sons of Noah
18 The sons of Noah who went forth from the ark were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Ham was the father of Canaan. 19 These were the three sons of Noah, and from them the whole earth was populated.
20 Noah began to be a man of the soil, and he planted a vineyard. 21 Then he drank some 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 So Shem and Japheth took a garment, and laid it upon both their shoulders, and went backward, and covered the nakedness of their father. Their faces were turned away, and they did not see their father’s nakedness.
24 When Noah awoke from his wine and knew what his younger son had done to him, 25 he said,
“Canaan be cursed!
He will be a servant of servants
to his brothers.”
26 He also said,
“Blessed be the Lord God of Shem,
and let Canaan be his servant.
27 May God enlarge Japheth,
and may he dwell in the tents of Shem,
and may Canaan be his servant.”
28 Noah lived after the flood three hundred and fifty years. 29 All the days of Noah were nine hundred and fifty years, and then he died.
The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.