Genesis 9
Tree of Life Version
Covenant with Noah’s Descendants
9 God blessed Noah and his sons, and He said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the land. 2 The fear and terror of you will be on every wild animal, and on every flying creature of the sky, with everything that crawls on the ground and with all the fish of the sea—into your hand they are given. 3 Every crawling thing that is alive will be food for you, as are the green plants—I have now given you everything. 4 Only flesh with its life—that is, its blood—you must not eat! 5 Surely your lifeblood will I avenge. From every animal and from every person will I avenge it. From every person’s brother will I avenge that person’s life.
6 The one who sheds human blood,
by a human will his blood be shed,
for in God’s image He made humanity.
7 But as for you, be fruitful and multiply! Flourish in the land and multiply in it.”
8 Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him, saying, 9 “Now I, behold, I am about to establish My covenant with you, and with your seed after you, 10 and with every living creature that is with you, including the flying creatures, the livestock, and every wild animal with you, of all that is coming out of the ark—every animal of the earth. 11 I will confirm My covenant with you—never again will all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood, and never again will there be a flood to ruin the land.”
12 Then God said, “This is the sign of the covenant that I am making between Me and you, and every living creature that is with you for all future generations. 13 My rainbow do I place in the cloud, and it will be a sign of the covenant between Me and the land. 14 Whenever I bring clouds over the land and the rainbow appears in the clouds, 15 I will remember My covenant that is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all flesh. 16 When the rainbow is in the cloud, I will look at it, to remember the perpetual covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the land.”
17 Then God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant that I have confirmed between Me and all flesh that is on the land.”
Dispersion of Noah’s Family
18 Noah’s sons who came out from the ark were Shem, Ham and Japheth, and Ham was the father of Canaan. 19 These three were Noah’s sons, and from these the whole earth dispersed.
20 Then Noah, a man of the soil, was first to plant a vineyard. 21 He drank some of the wine, got drunk, and was uncovered in his tent. 22 Then Ham, Canaan’s father, saw his father’s private parts and told his two brothers outside. 23 So Shem and Japheth took the cloak and laid it over both their shoulders and walked backwards and with it covered their father’s private parts. But their faces were turned away, so they did not see their father’s private parts.
24 When Noah woke up from his wine, he learned what his youngest son had done to him. 25 So he said,
“Cursed is Canaan: the lowest slave will he be to his brothers.”
26 He also said,
“Blessed be Adonai, God of Shem,
and let Canaan be his servant.
27 May God enlarge Japheth,
may he dwell in the tents of Shem,
and may Canaan be his slave.”
28 Now Noah lived 350 years after the flood. 29 So all Noah’s days were 950 years. Then he died.
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
Expanded Bible
The New Beginning
9 Then God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “·Have many children; grow in number [T Be fruitful and multiply] and fill the earth [1:22, 29]. 2 Every ·animal [living thing] on earth, every bird in the ·sky [heavens], every animal that crawls on the ground, and every fish in the sea will ·respect [fear] and ·fear [dread; be terrified of] you. I have given them ·to you [L into your hand].
3 “Everything that moves, everything that is alive, is yours for food. Earlier I gave you the green plants [1:29–30], but now I give you everything for food. 4 But you must not eat ·meat [flesh] that still has blood in it, because blood ·gives [L is] life [Lev. 3:17; 7:26–27; 17:10–14]. 5 I will ·demand [require; L seek] blood for life. I will ·demand [require; L seek] the life of any animal that kills a person, and I will ·demand [require; L seek] the life of anyone who takes another person’s life.
6 “Whoever ·kills [L sheds the blood of] a human being
will ·be killed [L have his blood shed] by a human being,
because God made humans
in ·his own image [L the image of God; 1:26–27].
7 “As for you, Noah, ·I want you and your family to have many children, to grow in number on the earth, and to become many [L be fruitful and multiply, swarm/teem over the earth and multiply on it; 9:1].”
8 Then God said to Noah and his sons, 9 “·Now [or Look] I am making my ·agreement [covenant; treaty; 6:18] with you and your ·people [seed] ·who will live after you [L after you], 10 and with every living thing that is with you—the birds, the ·tame [livestock; cattle] and the wild animals, and with everything that came out of the ·boat [ark] with you—with every living thing on earth. 11 I ·make [establish] this ·agreement [covenant; treaty; 6:18] with you: ·I will never again destroy all living things by a flood [L a flood will never again cut off all flesh]. A flood will never again destroy the earth.”
12 And God said, “This is the sign [C a symbol that represents this relationship between God and Noah; 17:11; Ex. 31:13, 17] of the ·agreement [covenant; treaty; 6:18] between me and you and every living creature that is with you for all future generations. 13 I am putting my ·rainbow [bow; C may represent God hanging up his weapon after warring against humanity] in the clouds as the sign of the ·agreement [covenant; treaty; 6:18] between me and the earth. 14 When I bring clouds over the earth and a ·rainbow [bow] appears in them, 15 I will remember my ·agreement [covenant; treaty; 6:18] between me and you and every living thing [L of all flesh]. [L The waters of the] Floods will never again destroy all ·life on the earth [L flesh]. 16 When the ·rainbow [bow] appears in the clouds, I will see it and I will remember the ·agreement that continues forever [L eternal covenant] between me and every living thing [L of all flesh] on the earth.”
17 So God said to Noah, “·The rainbow [L This] is a ·sign [9:12] of the ·agreement [covenant; treaty; 6:18] that I made with all living things on earth.”
Noah and His Sons
18 The sons of Noah who came out of the ·boat [ark] with him were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. (Ham was the father of Canaan.) 19 These three men were Noah’s sons, and all the people on earth ·came [spread out; C see the genealogy in ch. 10] from these three sons.
20 Noah ·became a farmer [L was the first man of the ground/soil] and planted a vineyard. 21 When he drank ·wine made from his grapes [L the wine], he became drunk and lay ·naked [uncovered] in his tent. 22 Ham, the father of Canaan, looked at his naked father and told his [L two] brothers outside [C an act of disrespect; he should have helped his father, as in the next verse]. 23 Then Shem and Japheth got a coat and, carrying it on both their shoulders, they walked backwards into the tent and covered [L the nakedness of] their father. They turned their faces away so that they did not see their father’s nakedness [C they acted appropriately according to ancient custom].
24 Noah ·was sleeping because of the wine. When he woke up [woke up from his wine] and ·learned [L he knew] what his youngest son, Ham, had done to him, 25 he said,
“May there be a curse on Canaan [C the ancestor and representative of the inhabitants of Palestine that Israel displaced at the time of the conquest of the Promised Land; Josh. 1–12]!
May he be the lowest ·slave [servant] to his brothers.”
26 Noah also said,
“May the Lord, the God of Shem, be ·praised [blessed]!
May Canaan be Shem’s ·slave [servant; L Shem is the ancestor of Israel].
27 May God ·give more land to [make space for; C the verb sounds like his name] Japheth.
May Japheth live in Shem’s tents,
and may Canaan be their slave [10:2–4; 1 Chr. 1:5–7].”
28 After the flood Noah lived 350 years. 29 ·He lived a total of [L All the days of Noah were] 950 years, and then he died.
Tree of Life (TLV) Translation of the Bible. Copyright © 2015 by The Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society.
The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025.
The Expanded Bible, Copyright © 2011 Thomas Nelson Inc. All rights reserved.