< Genesis 9 >

1 God blessed Noah and his sons, and told them, “Reproduce, increase, and spread throughout the earth!
And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said to them, Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth.
2 All animals will be very afraid of you—this includes all the birds, all the creatures that run along the ground, and all the fish in the sea. You are in charge of them.
And let the fear of you and the dread of you be upon every animal of the earth, and upon all fowl of the heavens: upon all that moveth [on] the ground; and upon all the fishes of the sea: into your hand are they delivered.
3 Every living creature that moves will be food for you, as well as all the green plants.
Every moving thing that liveth shall be food for you: as the green herb I give you everything.
4 But do not eat meat with the lifeblood still in it.
Only, the flesh with its life, its blood, ye shall not eat.
5 If your blood is shed by any animal, I will call it to account; and if your blood is shed by any person, I will call that person to account.
And indeed your blood, [the blood] of your lives, will I require: at the hand of every animal will I require it, and at the hand of Man, at the hand of each [the blood] of his brother, will I require the life of Man.
6 Whoever sheds the blood of a human being will have their blood shed by human beings. For God made human beings in his image.
Whoso sheddeth Man's blood, by Man shall his blood be shed; for in the image of God he hath made Man.
7 Reproduce, increase, and spread throughout the earth—have many descendants!”
And ye, be fruitful and multiply: swarm on the earth, and multiply on it.
8 Then God told Noah and his sons who were there with him,
And God spoke to Noah, and to his sons with him, saying,
9 “Listen, I'm making my agreement with you and your descendants,
And I, behold, I establish my covenant with you, and with your seed after you;
10 and with all the animals around you—the birds, the livestock, and all the wild animals of the earth—every animal that accompanied you on the ark.
and with every living soul which is with you, fowl as well as cattle, and all the animals of the earth with you, of all that has gone out of the ark — every animal of the earth.
11 In my agreement I'm promising you that I won't ever again destroy all life by means of a flood—there won't be a destructive flood like this again.”
And I establish my covenant with you, neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood, and henceforth there shall be no flood to destroy the earth.
12 Then God said, “I'm going to give you a sign to confirm the agreement I'm making between me and you and all living creatures, an agreement that will last for all generations.
And God said, This is the sign of the covenant that I set between me and you and every living soul that is with you, for everlasting generations:
13 I've placed my rainbow in the clouds, and this will be the sign of my agreement with you and with all life on earth.
I set my bow in the clouds, and it shall be for a sign of the covenant between me and the earth.
14 Whenever I make clouds form over the earth and the rainbow appears,
And it shall come to pass when I bring clouds over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud,
15 it will remind me of my agreement between me and you and every kind of living creature that floodwaters won't ever again destroy all life.
and I will remember my covenant which is between me and you and every living soul of all flesh; and the waters shall not henceforth become a flood to destroy all flesh.
16 I will see the rainbow in the clouds and it will remind me of the eternal agreement between God and every kind of living creature that lives on the earth.”
And the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living soul of all flesh that is upon the earth.
17 Then God told Noah, “This is the sign of the agreement I'm making between me and every creature on earth.”
And God said to Noah, This is the sign of the covenant which I have established between me and all flesh that is upon the earth.
18 Noah's sons who left the ark were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. (Ham was the father of the Canaanites.)
And the sons of Noah who went out of the ark were Shem, and Ham, and Japheth. And Ham is the father of Canaan.
19 All the people who are spread over the world are descended from these three sons of Noah.
These three are the sons of Noah; and from these was [the population of] the whole earth spread abroad.
20 Noah started to cultivate the ground as a farmer, and he planted a vineyard.
And Noah began [to be] a husbandman, and planted a vineyard.
21 He drank some of the wine he'd produced, got drunk, and fell asleep in his tent, naked.
And he drank of the wine, and was drunken, and he uncovered himself in his tent.
22 Ham, the father of Canaan, saw his father's private parts and went and told his two brothers who were outside.
And Ham the father of Canaan saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brethren outside.
23 Shem and Japheth picked up a cloak and, holding it over their shoulders, walked in backwards and covered up their father's privates. They made sure to look the other way so they wouldn't see their father's privates.
And Shem and Japheth took the upper garment and both laid [it] upon their shoulders, and went backwards, and covered the nakedness of their father. And their faces were turned away, that they saw not their father's nakedness.
24 When Noah woke up from his drunken sleep, he discovered what his youngest son had done,
And Noah awoke from his wine, and learned what his youngest son had done to him.
25 and said, “May Canaan be cursed! He will be the lowest kind of slave and will serve his brothers!”
And he said, Cursed be Canaan; Let him be a bondman of bondmen to his brethren.
26 Then Noah continued, “May the Lord be blessed, the God of Shem, and may Canaan be his slave.
And he said, Blessed be Jehovah, the God of Shem, And let Canaan be his bondman.
27 May God give Japtheth plenty of space to accommodate his many descendants, and may they live at peace among Shem's people, and may Canaan also be his slave.”
Let God enlarge Japheth, and let him dwell in the tents of Shem, And let Canaan be his bondman.
28 Noah lived for another 350 years after the flood.
And Noah lived after the flood three hundred and fifty years.
29 Noah lived a total of 950 years, and then he died.
And all the days of Noah were nine hundred and fifty years; and he died.

< Genesis 9 >