Genesis 9
Names of God Bible
God Blesses Noah and His Sons
9 Elohim blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fertile, increase in number, and fill the earth. 2 All the wild animals and all the birds will fear you and be terrified of you. Every creature that crawls on the ground and all the fish in the sea have been put under your control. 3 Everything that lives and moves will be your food. I gave you green plants as food; I now give you everything else.
4 “But you are not to eat meat with blood in it. (Blood is life.) 5 In addition, I will demand your blood for your life. I will demand it from any animal or from any person. I will demand the life of any person who kills another person.
6 Whoever sheds human blood,
by humans his blood will be shed,
because in his image, Elohim made humans.
7 Be fertile, and increase in number. Spread over the earth, and increase.”
God’s Promise—The Sign of the Rainbow
8 Elohim also said to Noah and his sons, 9 “I am going to make my promise[a] to you, your descendants, 10 and every living being that is with you—birds, domestic animals, and all the wild animals, all those that came out of the ship—every living thing on earth. 11 I am making my promise to you. Never again will all life be killed by floodwaters. Never again will there be a flood that destroys the earth.”
12 Elohim said, “This is the sign of the promise I am giving to you and every living being that is with you for generations to come. 13 I will put my rainbow in the clouds to be a sign of my promise to the earth. 14 Whenever I form clouds over the earth, a rainbow will appear in the clouds. 15 Then I will remember my promise to you and every living animal. Never again will water become a flood to destroy all life. 16 Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember my everlasting promise to every living animal on earth.”
17 So Elohim said to Noah, “This is the sign of the promise I am making to all life on earth.”
Noah Curses Canaan but Blesses Shem and Japheth
18 Noah’s sons, who came out of the ship, were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. 19 These were Noah’s three sons. From them the whole earth was populated. Ham was the father of Canaan.[b]
20 Noah, a farmer, was the first person to plant a vineyard. 21 He drank some wine, got drunk, and lay naked inside his tent. 22 Ham, father of Canaan, saw his father naked. So he went outside and told his two brothers.
23 Shem and Japheth took a blanket and laid it over their shoulders. Then they walked in backwards and covered their father’s naked body. They turned their faces away so that they didn’t see their father naked.
24 When Noah sobered up, he found out what his youngest son had done to him. 25 So he said,
“Canaan is cursed!
He will be the lowest slave to his brothers.
26 Praise Yahweh, the Elohim of Shem!
Canaan will be his slave.
27 May Elohim expand the territory of Japheth.[c]
May he live in the tents of Shem.
Canaan will be his slave.”
28 Noah lived 350 years after the flood. 29 Noah lived a total of 950 years; then he died.
Footnotes
- Genesis 9:9 Or “covenant.”
- Genesis 9:19 The second part of verse 18 (in Hebrew) has been placed just after verse 19 to express the complex Hebrew sentence structure more clearly in English.
- Genesis 9:27 There is a play on words here between the Hebrew yapht (May God expand) and yepheth (Japheth).
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
The Names of God Bible (without notes) © 2011 by Baker Publishing Group.
The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025.
