Genesis 9

God's Covenant with Noah

1 And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, q "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. 2 r 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 s Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. And t as I gave you the green plants, I give you everything. 4 But you shall not eat flesh with its u life, that is, its blood. 5 And for your lifeblood I will require a reckoning: v from every beast I will require it and w from man. From his fellow man I will require a reckoning for the life of man.

6 x "Whoever sheds the blood of man,
by man shall his blood be shed,
y for God made man in his own image.

7 And you, 1 be fruitful and multiply, teem on the earth and multiply in it."

8 Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him, 9 "Behold, z 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 a 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, b "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 c 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 d 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 e 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 f Shem, Ham, and Japheth. (Ham was the father of Canaan.) 19 These three were the sons of Noah, and g from these the people of the whole earth were dispersed. 2

20 Noah began to be a man of the soil, and he planted a vineyard. 3 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 h and knew what his youngest son had done to him,

25 he said,
i "Cursed be Canaan;
j a servant of servants shall he be to his brothers."

26 He also said,
"Blessed be the Lord, the God of Shem;
and let Canaan be his servant.
27 May God enlarge Japheth, 4
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.

  1. Cross References
    Genesis 1:22
    And God blessed them, saying, "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.
    Genesis 1:28
    And God blessed them. And God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.
    Genesis 8:17
    Bring out with you every living thing that is with you of all flesh - birds and animals and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth - that they may swarm on the earth, and be fruitful and multiply on the earth.
  2. Cross References
    Psalms 8:6 - 8
    You have given him dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under his feet.
    James 3:7
    For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind.
  3. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 12:15
    However, you may slaughter and eat meat within any of your towns, as much as you desire, according to the blessing of the Lord your God that he has given you. The unclean and the clean may eat of it, as of the gazelle and as of the deer.
    1 Timothy 4:3 - 4
    Who forbid marriage and require abstinence from foods that God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth.
  4. Cross References
    Genesis 1:29
    And God said, "Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food.
  5. Cross References
    Leviticus 17:10 - 11
    If any one of the house of Israel or of the str...
    Leviticus 17:14
    For the life of every creature is its blood: it...
    Deuteronomy 12:16
    Only you shall not eat the blood; you shall pou...
    Deuteronomy 12:23
    Only be sure that you do not eat the blood, for...
    1 Samuel 14:33
    Then they told Saul, "Behold, the people are si...
    Acts 15:20
    But should write to them to abstain from the th...
    Acts 15:29
    That you abstain from what has been sacrificed ...
  6. Cross References
    Exodus 21:28
    When an ox gores a man or a woman to death, the ox shall be stoned, and its flesh shall not be eaten, but the owner of the ox shall not be liable.
  7. Cross References
    Genesis 4:10 - 11
    And the Lord said, "What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood is crying to me from the ground.
  8. Cross References
    Exodus 21:12
    Whoever strikes a man so that he dies shall be ...
    Exodus 21:14
    But if a man willfully attacks another to kill ...
    Leviticus 24:17
    Whoever takes a human life shall surely be put ...
    Numbers 35:31
    Moreover, you shall accept no ransom for the li...
    Numbers 35:33
    You shall not pollute the land in which you liv...
    Matthew 26:52
    Then Jesus said to him, "Put your sword back in...
    Revelation 13:10
    If anyone is to be taken captive, to captivity ...
  9. Cross References
    Genesis 1:27
    So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
    Genesis 5:1
    This is the book of the generations of Adam. When God created man, he made him in the likeness of God.
    James 3:9
    With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God.
  10. Cross References
    Genesis 6:18
    But I will establish my covenant with you, and you shall come into the ark, you, your sons, your wife, and your sons' wives with you.
    Genesis 8:20 - 22
    Then Noah built an altar to the Lord and took some of every clean animal and some of every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar.
  11. Cross References
    Isaiah 54:9 - 10
    This is like the days of Noah to me: as I swore that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth, so I have sworn that I will not be angry with you, and will not rebuke you.
  12. Cross References
    Genesis 17:11
    You shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and you.
  13. Cross References
    Ezekiel 1:28
    Like the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud on the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness all around. Such was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. And when I saw it, I fell on my face, and I heard the voice of one speaking.
    Revelation 4:3
    And he who sat there had the appearance of jasper and carnelian, and around the throne was a rainbow that had the appearance of an emerald.
    Revelation 10:1
    Then I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven, wrapped in a cloud, with a rainbow over his head, and his face was like the sun, and his legs like pillars of fire.
  14. Cross References
    Leviticus 26:42
    Then I will remember my covenant with Jacob, and I will remember my covenant with Isaac and my covenant with Abraham, and I will remember the land.
    Leviticus 26:45
    But I will for their sake remember the covenant with their forefathers, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt in the sight of the nations, that I might be their God: I am the Lord.
    1 Kings 8:23
    And said, "O Lord, God of Israel, there is no God like you, in heaven above or on earth beneath, keeping covenant and showing steadfast love to your servants who walk before you with all their heart.
    Ezekiel 16:60
    Yet I will remember my covenant with you in the days of your youth, and I will establish for you an everlasting covenant.
  15. Cross References
    Genesis 17:7
    And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you.
    Genesis 17:13
    Both he who is born in your house and he who is bought with your money, shall surely be circumcised. So shall my covenant be in your flesh an everlasting covenant.
    Genesis 17:19
    God said, "No, but Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his offspring after him.
  16. Cross References
    Genesis 5:32
    After Noah was 500 years old, Noah fathered Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
    Genesis 10:1
    These are the generations of the sons of Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Sons were born to them after the flood.
  17. Cross References
    Genesis 10:32
    These are the clans of the sons of Noah, according to their genealogies, in their nations, and from these the nations spread abroad on the earth after the flood.
  18. Cross References
    Habakkuk 2:15
    Woe to him who makes his neighbors drink - you pour out your wrath and make them drunk, in order to gaze at their nakedness!
  19. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 27:16
    "'Cursed be anyone who dishonors his father or his mother.' And all the people shall say, 'Amen.'
  20. Cross References
    Joshua 9:23
    Now therefore you are cursed, and some of you shall never be anything but servants, cutters of wood and drawers of water for the house of my God.
    Judges 1:28
    When Israel grew strong, they put the Canaanites to forced labor, but did not drive them out completely.
    1 Kings 9:20 - 21
    All the people who were left of the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, who were not of the people of Israel -
English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.
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