Genesis 9
New Catholic Bible
Chapter 9
1 God blessed Noah and his sons and told them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. 2 [a]Fear and dread of you will come upon every wild animal and every bird of the air, everything that crawls upon the earth and all the fish of the sea; they will be under your dominion.
3 “Whatever moves and has life will be used for your food. I give you all these things, just as I have already given you every green plant. 4 [b]Only do not eat flesh along with its life, that is, with its blood. 5 For your blood, that is, your life, I will require an accounting. I will require it of every living creature, and I will require it of every human in regard to other humans, each person for his brother.
6 “Whoever spills human blood,
that person’s blood will be shed;
for in the image of God
has God made man.
7 And as for you, be fruitful and multiply; become numerous upon the earth and have dominion over it.”
Covenant of Mercy.[c] 8 God said to Noah and his sons, 9 “As for me, I will establish my covenant with you and your descendants after you, 10 with every living creature along with you—the birds, tame and wild animals, and with all the animals which left the ark. 11 I will establish my covenant with you: never again will all living creatures be cut off by the waters of a flood, nor will the earth be laid waste by a flood again.”
12 God said, “This will be a sign of the covenant that I establish between me and you and every living creature for all generations. 13 I will place my rainbow in the clouds and it will be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. 14 When I gather the clouds over the earth, the rainbow will appear in the clouds. 15 I will remember my covenant between me and you and with every living creature of every kind, that water and flood shall never again destroy all flesh. 16 The rainbow will be in the clouds and I will look upon it and remember the eternal covenant between God and every living creature of every kind that is found upon the earth.”
17 God said to Noah, “This is a sign of the covenant that I am establishing between myself and every creature upon the earth.”
A World of Diverse Peoples[d]
18 The Return of Sin.[e] The sons of Noah who left the ark were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Ham was the father of the people of Canaan. 19 These were the three sons of Noah, and from these came all the people on the earth.
20 Now Noah tilled the soil, and he was the first to plant grape vines. 21 He drank some of the wine and he became drunk and lay uncovered inside his tent. 22 Ham, the father of the Canaanites, saw his father lying naked, and he mentioned it to his two brothers who were standing outside.[f] 23 Shem and Japheth took a robe and, holding it in back of them, walked backward toward him and covered their father with it. Having faced backward, they did not see their father naked.
24 When Noah woke up from his drunken slumber, he learned what his youngest son had done to him. 25 Because of this, he said,
“Cursed be Canaan!
A slave of slaves
shall he be to his brothers!”[g]
26 [h]And he continued,
“Blessed be the Lord, the God of Shem,
and let Canaan be his slave!
27 May God enlarge Japheth
so that he dwells in the land of Shem;
and let Canaan be his slave!”
28 After the flood, Noah lived for three hundred and fifty years. 29 In all, Noah lived for nine hundred and fifty years, and then he died.
Footnotes
- Genesis 9:2 All this is simply a popular image for describing the complete happiness God had intended for humankind in the state of innocence. Verse 3 makes clear that the eating of meat is part of God’s general plan for the created world.
- Genesis 9:4 In the popular Semitic view blood is the seat of the vital principle; it is not, however, a product of matter but is infused into it by God. Therefore, the blood belongs in its entirety to God, and in a special way the blood of human beings, made as they are in the image of God, who is their protector and avenger.
- Genesis 9:8 God’s intention as enunciated in the Yahwist tradition (8:21-22) is rethought in this Priestly passage as a covenant between God and Noah, analogous to that which will later be established between God and Abraham (Gen 15; 17) and then between God and the Israelite people (Ex 19–24). The imagery brings out the unqualified steadfastness of the divine intention. The Covenant is freely made on God’s part, that is, it does not depend on the future behavior of human beings, for the Lord does not ask Noah to fulfill any particular requirement.
- Genesis 9:18 God has blessed the new creation, and the earth is repopulated. At the heart of this humankind, which is divided and marked by sin, is the towering figure of Abraham. It is upon him that the Lord has affixed his choice as the forerunner through whom the salvation of human beings will take place.
- Genesis 9:18 The story is from the Yahwist tradition. After the second creation, as after the first, we read the story of a sin, a condemnation, and a prophecy of hope. This last is connected with chapter 12 and the call of Abraham.
- Genesis 9:22 This is not a sexual sin but an abuse of power; the sons make themselves the superiors and judges of their father, who is humiliated and dishonored. To the Hebrews drunkenness is wanton, dishonorable, and humiliating; it provokes ridicule, leads to idolatry, incites violence, causes injustice and poverty, and makes persons subject to their enemies. It is unseemly especially for the leaders of nations. Clothing, then, in addition to being a means of decency, expresses the dignity of the person and his or her social position. When naked (Gen 3:7), Adam and Eve are deprived of glory and grace; the garments of skin with which God clothes them (Gen 3:21) are symbolic of their hope of being clothed again in their lost dignity.
- Genesis 9:25 According to the Semitic mentality, the blessings and curses of the Patriarchs (generally) are regarded as efficacious and able to determine the lot of the tribe represented by each Patriarch. For this reason, popular stories connected events or characteristics of a human group with blessings or curses uttered by an ancestor. In the present story Noah curses Canaan and therefore the Canaanites. The Canaanites were to be supplanted by the Hebrews in the conquest of the Promised Land. The Phoenicians, too, were Canaanites (see Gen 10:15-19; Jdg 1:31).
- Genesis 9:26 A great numerical and territorial expansion is announced for the descendants of Japheth; there is a play on the resemblance in sound between this ancestor’s name and the verb meaning “to open,” “to enlarge.”
创世记 9
Chinese New Version (Traditional)
神賜福挪亞，與他立約
9 神賜福給挪亞和他的兒子，對他們說：“你們要繁衍增多，充滿大地。 2 地上各樣的走獸，空中各樣的飛鳥，甚至地上各樣爬行的動物，和海裡各樣的魚類，都要對你們驚恐懼怕；這一切都已經交在你們手裡了。 3 所有活著的動物都可以作你們的食物，我把這一切都賜給你們，好像我把青菜賜給了你們一樣。 4 唯獨帶著生命的肉，就是帶著血的肉，你們卻不可吃。 5 流你們的血、害你們生命的，我必向他們追償；無論是走獸或人類，甚至各人自己的兄弟，我必要他償命。
6 流人血的，
人也必流他的血；
因為 神造人，
是按著他自己的形象。
7 你們要繁衍增多；
要在地上滋生、增多。”
8 神告訴挪亞和與他在一起的兒子說： 9 “看哪，我現在與你們和你們的後裔立約， 10 並且與所有跟你們在一起有生命的活物立約，包括飛鳥、牲畜和所有地上的走獸，就是與從方舟裡出來的立約。 11 我要與你們立約：凡有生命的必不再被洪水除滅，再沒有洪水來毀滅大地了。” 12 神說：“這就是我與你們，與一切跟你們同在有生命的活物所立之約的記號，直到萬代； 13 我把彩虹放在雲彩中，作我與大地立約的記號。 14 我使雲彩遮蓋大地時，彩虹出現雲彩中， 15 我就記念我與你們和一切有生命的活物所立的約：
水不再成為洪水，
來毀滅凡有生命的。
16 彩虹在雲彩中出現，
我看見了就記念
我與地上一切有生命的活物，所立的永約。”
17 神對挪亞說：“這就是我與地上凡有生命的立約的記號。”
挪亞的兒子
18 挪亞的兒子，從方舟裡出來的，就是閃、含、雅弗；含是迦南的父親。 19 這三個人是挪亞的兒子，全地的人都是從這些人播散開來的。
挪亞的過失
20 挪亞作起農夫來，栽種葡萄園。 21 他喝酒，喝醉了，就在帳棚裡光著身子。 22 迦南的父親含看見了自己父親的下體，就去告訴在外面的兩個兄弟。 23 於是，閃和雅弗二人拿了件外衣，搭在自己的肩膀上，倒退著進去，蓋上他們父親的下體；因為他們背著臉，所以沒有看見他們父親的下體。
挪亞對兒子的咒詛與祝福
24 挪亞酒醒以後，知道小兒子對他所作的事， 25 就說：
“迦南應當受咒詛，
他必給自己的兄弟，
作奴僕的奴僕。”
26 又說：
“耶和華，閃的 神，
是應當稱頌的；願迦南作他的奴僕。
27 願 神使雅弗擴展，
使雅弗住在閃的帳棚裡；
願迦南作他的奴僕。”
挪亞逝世
28 洪水以後，挪亞又活了三百
五十年。 29 挪亞共活了九百五十歲，就死了。
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
Chinese New Version (CNV). Copyright © 1976, 1992, 1999, 2001, 2005 by Worldwide Bible Society.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
