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Genesis 6-9
New American Bible (Revised Edition)

Chapter 6

Origin of the Nephilim.[a] 1 When human beings began to grow numerous on the earth and daughters were born to them, 2 the sons of God[b] saw how beautiful the daughters of human beings were, and so they took for their wives whomever they pleased.(A) 3 Then the Lord said: My spirit shall not remain in human beings forever, because they are only flesh. Their days shall comprise one hundred and twenty years.

4 The Nephilim appeared on earth in those days, as well as later,[c] after the sons of God had intercourse with the daughters of human beings, who bore them sons. They were the heroes of old, the men of renown.(B)

Warning of the Flood. 5 [d]When the Lord saw how great the wickedness of human beings was on earth, and how every desire that their heart conceived was always nothing but evil,(C) 6 the Lord regretted making human beings on the earth, and his heart was grieved.[e]

7 So the Lord said: I will wipe out from the earth the human beings I have created, and not only the human beings, but also the animals and the crawling things and the birds of the air, for I regret that I made them.[f] 8 But Noah found favor with the Lord.

9 These are the descendants of Noah. Noah was a righteous man and blameless in his generation;(D) Noah walked with God. 10 Noah begot three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

11 But the earth was corrupt[g] in the view of God and full of lawlessness.(E) 12 When God saw how corrupt the earth had become, since all mortals had corrupted their ways on earth,(F) 13 God said to Noah: I see that the end of all mortals has come, for the earth is full of lawlessness because of them. So I am going to destroy them with the earth.(G)

Preparation for the Flood. 14 Make yourself an ark of gopherwood,[h] equip the ark with various compartments, and cover it inside and out with pitch. 15 This is how you shall build it: the length of the ark will be three hundred cubits, its width fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits.[i] 16 Make an opening for daylight[j] and finish the ark a cubit above it. Put the ark’s entrance on its side; you will make it with bottom, second and third decks. 17 I, on my part, am about to bring the flood waters on the earth, to destroy all creatures under the sky in which there is the breath of life; everything on earth shall perish.(H) 18 I will establish my covenant with you. You shall go into the ark, you and your sons, your wife and your sons’ wives with you.(I) 19 Of all living creatures you shall bring two of every kind into the ark, one male and one female,[k] to keep them alive along with you. 20 Of every kind of bird, of every kind of animal, and of every kind of thing that crawls on the ground, two of each will come to you, that you may keep them alive. 21 Moreover, you are to provide yourself with all the food that is to be eaten, and store it away, that it may serve as provisions for you and for them. 22 Noah complied; he did just as God had commanded him.[l]

Chapter 7

1 Then the Lord said to Noah: Go into the ark, you and all your household, for you alone in this generation have I found to be righteous before me.(J) 2 Of every clean animal, take with you seven pairs, a male and its mate; and of the unclean animals, one pair, a male and its mate; 3 likewise, of every bird of the air, seven pairs, a male and a female, to keep their progeny alive over all the earth. 4 For seven days from now I will bring rain down on the earth for forty days and forty nights, and so I will wipe out from the face of the earth every being that I have made.(K) 5 Noah complied, just as the Lord had commanded.

The Great Flood. 6 Noah was six hundred years old when the flood came upon the earth. 7 Together with his sons, his wife, and his sons’ wives, Noah went into the ark because of the waters of the flood.(L) 8 Of the clean animals and the unclean, of the birds, and of everything that crawls on the ground, 9 two by two, male and female came to Noah into the ark, just as God had commanded him.(M) 10 When the seven days were over, the waters of the flood came upon the earth.

11 In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month: on that day

All the fountains of the great abyss[m] burst forth,
    and the floodgates of the sky were opened.

12 For forty days and forty nights heavy rain poured down on the earth.

13 On the very same day, Noah and his sons Shem, Ham, and Japheth, and Noah’s wife, and the three wives of Noah’s sons had entered the ark, 14 together with every kind of wild animal, every kind of tame animal, every kind of crawling thing that crawls on the earth, and every kind of bird. 15 Pairs of all creatures in which there was the breath of life came to Noah into the ark. 16 Those that entered were male and female; of all creatures they came, as God had commanded Noah. Then the Lord shut him in.

17 The flood continued upon the earth for forty days. As the waters increased, they lifted the ark, so that it rose above the earth. 18 The waters swelled and increased greatly on the earth, but the ark floated on the surface of the waters. 19 Higher and higher on the earth the waters swelled, until all the highest mountains under the heavens were submerged. 20 The waters swelled fifteen cubits higher than the submerged mountains. 21 All creatures that moved on earth perished: birds, tame animals, wild animals, and all that teemed on the earth, as well as all humankind.(N) 22 Everything on dry land with the breath of life in its nostrils died. 23 The Lord wiped out every being on earth: human beings and animals, the crawling things and the birds of the air; all were wiped out from the earth. Only Noah and those with him in the ark were left.

24 And when the waters had swelled on the earth for one hundred and fifty days,

Chapter 8

1 God remembered Noah and all the animals, wild and tame, that were with him in the ark. So God made a wind sweep over the earth, and the waters began to subside. 2 The fountains of the abyss and the floodgates of the sky were closed, and the downpour from the sky was held back. 3 Gradually the waters receded from the earth. At the end of one hundred and fifty days, the waters had so diminished 4 that, in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat.[n] 5 The waters continued to diminish until the tenth month, and on the first day of the tenth month the tops of the mountains appeared.

6 At the end of forty days Noah opened the hatch of the ark that he had made, 7 [o]and he released a raven. It flew back and forth until the waters dried off from the earth. 8 Then he released a dove, to see if the waters had lessened on the earth. 9 But the dove could find no place to perch, and it returned to him in the ark, for there was water over all the earth. Putting out his hand, he caught the dove and drew it back to him inside the ark. 10 He waited yet seven days more and again released the dove from the ark. 11 In the evening the dove came back to him, and there in its bill was a plucked-off olive leaf! So Noah knew that the waters had diminished on the earth. 12 He waited yet another seven days and then released the dove; but this time it did not come back.

13 [p]In the six hundred and first year, in the first month, on the first day of the month, the water began to dry up on the earth. Noah then removed the covering of the ark and saw that the surface of the ground had dried. 14 In the second month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, the earth was dry.

15 Then God said to Noah: 16 Go out of the ark, together with your wife and your sons and your sons’ wives. 17 Bring out with you every living thing that is with you—all creatures, be they birds or animals or crawling things that crawl on the earth—and let them abound on the earth, and be fertile and multiply on it.(O) 18 So Noah came out, together with his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives; 19 and all the animals, all the birds, and all the crawling creatures that crawl on the earth went out of the ark by families.

20 Then Noah built an altar to the Lord, and choosing from every clean animal and every clean bird, he offered burnt offerings on the altar. 21 When the Lord smelled the sweet odor, the Lord said to himself: Never again will I curse the ground because of human beings, since the desires of the human heart are evil from youth; nor will I ever again strike down every living being, as I have done.(P)

22 All the days of the earth,
    seedtime and harvest,
    cold and heat,
Summer and winter,
    and day and night
    shall not cease.(Q)

Chapter 9

Covenant with Noah. 1 [q]God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them: Be fertile and multiply and fill the earth.(R) 2 [r]Fear and dread of you shall come upon all the animals of the earth and all the birds of the air, upon all the creatures that move about on the ground and all the fishes of the sea; into your power they are delivered. 3 (S)Any living creature that moves about shall be yours to eat; I give them all to you as I did the green plants. 4 (T)Only meat with its lifeblood still in it you shall not eat.[s] 5 Indeed for your own lifeblood I will demand an accounting: from every animal I will demand it, and from a human being, each one for the blood of another, I will demand an accounting for human life.(U)

6 [t]Anyone who sheds the blood of a human being,
    by a human being shall that one’s blood be shed;
For in the image of God
    have human beings been made.(V)

7 Be fertile, then, and multiply; abound on earth and subdue it.(W)

8 [u]God said to Noah and to his sons with him: 9 See, I am now establishing my covenant with you and your descendants after you(X) 10 and with every living creature that was with you: the birds, the tame animals, and all the wild animals that were with you—all that came out of the ark. 11 I will establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all creatures be destroyed by the waters of a flood; there shall not be another flood to devastate the earth.(Y) 12 God said: This is the sign of the covenant that I am making between me and you and every living creature with you for all ages to come: 13 (Z)I set my bow in the clouds to serve as a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. 14 When I bring clouds over the earth, and the bow appears in the clouds, 15 I will remember my covenant between me and you and every living creature—every mortal being—so that the waters will never again become a flood to destroy every mortal being.(AA) 16 When the bow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature—every mortal being that is on earth. 17 God told Noah: This is the sign of the covenant I have established between me and every mortal being that is on earth.

Noah and His Sons. 18 [v]The sons of Noah who came out of the ark were Shem, Ham and Japheth. Ham was the father of Canaan.(AB) 19 These three were the sons of Noah, and from them the whole earth was populated.

20 Noah, a man of the soil, was the first to plant a vineyard. 21 He drank some of the wine, became drunk, and lay naked inside his tent.(AC) 22 Ham, the father of Canaan, saw his father’s nakedness, and he told his two brothers outside. 23 Shem and Japheth, however, took a robe, and holding it on their shoulders, they walked backward and covered their father’s nakedness; since their faces were turned the other way, they did not see their father’s nakedness. 24 When Noah woke up from his wine and learned what his youngest son had done to him, 25 he said:

“Cursed be Caanan!
    The lowest of slaves
    shall he be to his brothers.”(AD)

26 He also said:

“Blessed be the Lord, the God of Shem!
    Let Canaan be his slave.
27 May God expand Japheth,[w]
    and may he dwell among the tents of Shem;
    and let Canaan be his slave.”

28 Noah lived three hundred and fifty years after the flood. 29 The whole lifetime of Noah was nine hundred and fifty years; then he died.

Footnotes

  1. 6:1–4 These enigmatic verses are a transition between the expansion of the human race illustrated in the genealogy of chap. 5 and the flood depicted in chaps. 6–9. The text, apparently alluding to an old legend, shares a common ancient view that the heavenly world was populated by a multitude of beings, some of whom were wicked and rebellious. It is incorporated here, not only in order to account for the prehistoric giants, whom the Israelites called the Nephilim, but also to introduce the story of the flood with a moral orientation—the constantly increasing wickedness of humanity. This increasing wickedness leads God to reduce the human life span imposed on the first couple. As the ages in the preceding genealogy show, life spans had been exceptionally long in the early period, but God further reduces them to something near the ordinary life span.
  2. 6:2 The sons of God: other heavenly beings. See note on 1:26.
  3. 6:4 As well as later: the belief was common that human beings of gigantic stature once lived on earth. In some cultures, such heroes could make positive contributions, but the Bible generally regards them in a negative light (cf. Nm 13:33; Ez 32:27). The point here is that even these heroes, filled with vitality from their semi-divine origin, come under God’s decree in v. 3.
  4. 6:5–8:22 The story of the great flood is commonly regarded as a composite narrative based on separate sources woven together. To the Yahwist source, with some later editorial additions, are usually assigned 6:5–8; 7:1–5, 7–10, 12, 16b, 17b, 22–23; 8:2b–3a, 6–12, 13b, 20–22. The other sections are usually attributed to the Priestly writer. There are differences between the two sources: the Priestly source has two pairs of every animal, whereas the Yahwist source has seven pairs of clean animals and two pairs of unclean; the floodwater in the Priestly source is the waters under and over the earth that burst forth, whereas in the Yahwist source the floodwater is the rain lasting forty days and nights. In spite of many obvious discrepancies in these two sources, one should read the story as a coherent narrative. The biblical story ultimately draws upon an ancient Mesopotamian tradition of a great flood, preserved in the Sumerian flood story, the eleventh tablet of the Gilgamesh Epic, and (embedded in a longer creation story) the Atrahasis Epic.
  5. 6:6 His heart was grieved: the expression can be misleading in English, for “heart” in Hebrew is the seat of memory and judgment rather than emotion. The phrase is actually parallel to the first half of the sentence (“the Lord regretted…”).
  6. 6:7 Human beings are an essential part of their environment, which includes all living things. In the new beginning after the flood, God makes a covenant with human beings and every living creature (9:9–10). The same close link between human beings and nature is found elsewhere in the Bible; e.g., in Is 35, God’s healing transforms human beings along with their physical environment, and in Rom 8:19–23, all creation, not merely human beings, groans in labor pains awaiting the salvation of God.
  7. 6:11 Corrupt: God does not punish arbitrarily but simply brings to its completion the corruption initiated by human beings.
  8. 6:14 Gopherwood: an unidentified wood mentioned only in connection with the ark. It may be the wood of the cypress, which in Hebrew sounds like “gopher” and was widely used in antiquity for shipbuilding.
  9. 6:15 Hebrew “cubit,” lit., “forearm,” is the distance from the elbow to the tip of the middle finger, about eighteen inches (a foot and a half). The dimensions of Noah’s ark were approximately 440 × 73 × 44 feet. The ark of the Babylonian flood story was an exact cube, 120 cubits (180 feet) in length, width, and height.
  10. 6:16 Opening for daylight: a conjectural rendering of the Hebrew word sohar, occurring only here. The reference is probably to an open space on all sides near the top of the ark to admit light and air. The ark also had a window or hatch, which could be opened and closed (8:6).
  11. 6:19–21 You shall bring two of every kind…, one male and one female: For the Priestly source (P), there is no distinction between clean and unclean animals until Sinai (Lv 11), no altars or sacrifice until Sinai, and all diet is vegetarian (Gn 1:29–30); even after the flood P has no distinction between clean and unclean, since “any living creature that moves about” may be eaten (9:3). Thus P has Noah take the minimum to preserve all species, one pair of each, without distinction between clean and unclean, but he must also take on provisions for food (6:21). The Yahwist source (J), which assumes the clean-unclean distinction always existed but knows no other restriction on eating meat (Abel was a shepherd and offered meat as a sacrifice), requires additional clean animals (“seven pairs”) for food and sacrifice (7:2–3; 8:20).
  12. 6:22 Just as God had commanded him: as in the creation of the world in chap. 1 and in the building of the tabernacle in Ex 25–31, 35–40 (all from the Priestly source), everything takes place by the command of God. In this passage and in Exodus, the commands of God are carried out to the letter by human agents, Noah and Moses. Divine speech is important. God speaks to Noah seven times in the flood story.
  13. 7:11 Abyss: the subterranean ocean; see note on 1:2.
  14. 8:4 The mountains of Ararat: the mountain country of ancient Arartu in northwest Iraq, which was the highest part of the world to the biblical writer. There is no Mount Ararat in the Bible.
  15. 8:7–12 In the eleventh tablet of the Gilgamesh Epic, Utnapishtim (the equivalent of Noah) released in succession a dove, a swallow, and a raven. When the raven did not return, Utnapishtim knew it was safe to leave the ark. The first century A.D. Roman author Pliny tells of Indian sailors who release birds in order to follow them toward land.
  16. 8:13–14 On the first day of the first month, the world was in the state it had been on the day of creation in chap. 1. Noah had to wait another month until the earth was properly dry as in 1:9.
  17. 9:1 God reaffirms without change the original blessing and mandate of 1:28. In the Mesopotamian epic Atrahasis, on which the Genesis story is partly modeled, the gods changed their original plan by restricting human population through such means as childhood diseases, birth demons, and mandating celibacy among certain groups of women.
  18. 9:2–3 Pre-flood creatures, including human beings, are depicted as vegetarians (1:29–30). In view of the human propensity to violence, God changes the original prohibition against eating meat.
  19. 9:4 Because a living being dies when it loses most of its blood, the ancients regarded blood as the seat of life, and therefore as sacred. Jewish tradition considered the prohibition against eating meat with blood to be binding on all, because it was given by God to Noah, the new ancestor of all humankind; therefore the early Christian Church retained it for a time (Acts 15:20, 29).
  20. 9:6 The image of God, given to the first man and woman and transmitted to every human being, is the reason that no violent attacks can be made upon human beings. That image is the basis of the dignity of every individual who, in some sense, “represents” God in the world.
  21. 9:8–17 God makes a covenant with Noah and his descendants and, remarkably, with all the animals who come out of the ark: never again shall the world be destroyed by flood. The sign of this solemn promise is the appearance of a rainbow.
  22. 9:18–27 The character of the three sons is sketched here. The fault is not Noah’s (for he could not be expected to know about the intoxicating effect of wine) but Ham’s, who shames his father by looking on his nakedness, and then tells the other sons. Ham’s conduct is meant to prefigure the later shameful sexual practices of the Canaanites, which are alleged in numerous biblical passages. The point of the story is revealed in Noah’s curse of Ham’s son Canaan and his blessing of Shem and Japheth.
  23. 9:27 In the Hebrew text there is a play on the words yapt (“expand”) and yepet (“Japheth”).
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Genesis 6-9
New International Version

Wickedness in the World

6 When human beings began to increase in number on the earth(A) and daughters were born to them, 2 the sons of God(B) saw that the daughters(C) of humans were beautiful,(D) and they married(E) any of them they chose. 3 Then the Lord said, “My Spirit(F) will not contend with[a] humans forever,(G) for they are mortal[b];(H) their days will be a hundred and twenty years.”

4 The Nephilim(I) were on the earth in those days—and also afterward—when the sons of God went to the daughters of humans(J) and had children by them. They were the heroes of old, men of renown.(K)

5 The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth,(L) and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time.(M) 6 The Lord regretted(N) that he had made human beings on the earth, and his heart was deeply troubled. 7 So the Lord said, “I will wipe from the face of the earth(O) the human race I have created—and with them the animals, the birds and the creatures that move along the ground—for I regret that I have made them.(P)” 8 But Noah(Q) found favor in the eyes of the Lord.(R)

Noah and the Flood

9 This is the account(S) of Noah and his family.

Noah was a righteous man, blameless(T) among the people of his time,(U) and he walked faithfully with God.(V) 10 Noah had three sons: Shem,(W) Ham and Japheth.(X)

11 Now the earth was corrupt(Y) in God’s sight and was full of violence.(Z) 12 God saw how corrupt(AA) the earth had become, for all the people on earth had corrupted their ways.(AB) 13 So God said to Noah, “I am going to put an end to all people, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. I am surely going to destroy(AC) both them and the earth.(AD) 14 So make yourself an ark of cypress[c] wood;(AE) make rooms in it and coat it with pitch(AF) inside and out. 15 This is how you are to build it: The ark is to be three hundred cubits long, fifty cubits wide and thirty cubits high.[d] 16 Make a roof for it, leaving below the roof an opening one cubit[e] high all around.[f] Put a door in the side of the ark and make lower, middle and upper decks. 17 I am going to bring floodwaters(AG) on the earth to destroy all life under the heavens, every creature that has the breath of life in it. Everything on earth will perish.(AH) 18 But I will establish my covenant with you,(AI) and you will enter the ark(AJ)—you and your sons and your wife and your sons’ wives with you. 19 You are to bring into the ark two of all living creatures, male and female, to keep them alive with you.(AK) 20 Two(AL) of every kind of bird, of every kind of animal and of every kind(AM) of creature that moves along the ground will come to you to be kept alive.(AN) 21 You are to take every kind of food that is to be eaten and store it away as food for you and for them.”

22 Noah did everything just as God commanded him.(AO)

7 The Lord then said to Noah, “Go into the ark, you and your whole family,(AP) because I have found you righteous(AQ) in this generation. 2 Take with you seven pairs of every kind of clean(AR) animal, a male and its mate, and one pair of every kind of unclean animal, a male and its mate, 3 and also seven pairs of every kind of bird, male and female, to keep their various kinds alive(AS) throughout the earth. 4 Seven days from now I will send rain(AT) on the earth(AU) for forty days(AV) and forty nights,(AW) and I will wipe from the face of the earth every living creature I have made.(AX)”

5 And Noah did all that the Lord commanded him.(AY)

6 Noah was six hundred years old(AZ) when the floodwaters came on the earth. 7 And Noah and his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives entered the ark(BA) to escape the waters of the flood. 8 Pairs of clean and unclean(BB) animals, of birds and of all creatures that move along the ground, 9 male and female, came to Noah and entered the ark, as God had commanded Noah.(BC) 10 And after the seven days(BD) the floodwaters came on the earth.

11 In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life,(BE) on the seventeenth day of the second month(BF)—on that day all the springs of the great deep(BG) burst forth, and the floodgates of the heavens(BH) were opened. 12 And rain fell on the earth forty days and forty nights.(BI)

13 On that very day Noah and his sons,(BJ) Shem, Ham and Japheth, together with his wife and the wives of his three sons, entered the ark.(BK) 14 They had with them every wild animal according to its kind, all livestock according to their kinds, every creature that moves along the ground according to its kind and every bird according to its kind,(BL) everything with wings. 15 Pairs of all creatures that have the breath of life in them came to Noah and entered the ark.(BM) 16 The animals going in were male and female of every living thing, as God had commanded Noah.(BN) Then the Lord shut him in.

17 For forty days(BO) the flood kept coming on the earth, and as the waters increased they lifted the ark high above the earth. 18 The waters rose and increased greatly on the earth, and the ark floated on the surface of the water. 19 They rose greatly on the earth, and all the high mountains under the entire heavens were covered.(BP) 20 The waters rose and covered the mountains to a depth of more than fifteen cubits.[g][h] (BQ) 21 Every living thing that moved on land perished—birds, livestock, wild animals, all the creatures that swarm over the earth, and all mankind.(BR) 22 Everything on dry land that had the breath of life(BS) in its nostrils died. 23 Every living thing on the face of the earth was wiped out; people and animals and the creatures that move along the ground and the birds were wiped from the earth.(BT) Only Noah was left, and those with him in the ark.(BU)

24 The waters flooded the earth for a hundred and fifty days.(BV)

8 But God remembered(BW) Noah and all the wild animals and the livestock that were with him in the ark, and he sent a wind over the earth,(BX) and the waters receded. 2 Now the springs of the deep and the floodgates of the heavens(BY) had been closed, and the rain(BZ) had stopped falling from the sky. 3 The water receded steadily from the earth. At the end of the hundred and fifty days(CA) the water had gone down, 4 and on the seventeenth day of the seventh month(CB) the ark came to rest on the mountains(CC) of Ararat.(CD) 5 The waters continued to recede until the tenth month, and on the first day of the tenth month the tops of the mountains became visible.

6 After forty days(CE) Noah opened a window he had made in the ark 7 and sent out a raven,(CF) and it kept flying back and forth until the water had dried up from the earth.(CG) 8 Then he sent out a dove(CH) to see if the water had receded from the surface of the ground. 9 But the dove could find nowhere to perch because there was water over all the surface of the earth; so it returned to Noah in the ark. He reached out his hand and took the dove and brought it back to himself in the ark. 10 He waited seven more days and again sent out the dove from the ark. 11 When the dove returned to him in the evening, there in its beak was a freshly plucked olive leaf! Then Noah knew that the water had receded from the earth.(CI) 12 He waited seven more days and sent the dove out again, but this time it did not return to him.

13 By the first day of the first month of Noah’s six hundred and first year,(CJ) the water had dried up from the earth. Noah then removed the covering from the ark and saw that the surface of the ground was dry. 14 By the twenty-seventh day of the second month(CK) the earth was completely dry.

15 Then God said to Noah, 16 “Come out of the ark, you and your wife and your sons and their wives.(CL) 17 Bring out every kind of living creature that is with you—the birds, the animals, and all the creatures that move along the ground—so they can multiply on the earth and be fruitful and increase in number on it.”(CM)

18 So Noah came out, together with his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives.(CN) 19 All the animals and all the creatures that move along the ground and all the birds—everything that moves on land—came out of the ark, one kind after another.

20 Then Noah built an altar to the Lord(CO) and, taking some of all the clean animals and clean(CP) birds, he sacrificed burnt offerings(CQ) on it. 21 The Lord smelled the pleasing aroma(CR) and said in his heart: “Never again will I curse the ground(CS) because of humans, even though[i] every inclination of the human heart is evil from childhood.(CT) And never again will I destroy(CU) all living creatures,(CV) as I have done.

22 “As long as the earth endures,
seedtime and harvest,(CW)
cold and heat,
summer and winter,(CX)
day and night
will never cease.”(CY)

God’s Covenant With Noah

9 Then God blessed Noah and his sons, saying to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth.(CZ) 2 The fear and dread of you will fall on all the beasts of the earth, and on all the birds in the sky, on every creature that moves along the ground, and on all the fish in the sea; they are given into your hands.(DA) 3 Everything that lives and moves about will be food for you.(DB) Just as I gave you the green plants, I now give you everything.(DC)

4 “But you must not eat meat that has its lifeblood still in it.(DD) 5 And for your lifeblood I will surely demand an accounting.(DE) I will demand an accounting from every animal.(DF) And from each human being, too, I will demand an accounting for the life of another human being.(DG)

6 “Whoever sheds human blood,
    by humans shall their blood be shed;(DH)
for in the image of God(DI)
    has God made mankind.

7 As for you, be fruitful and increase in number; multiply on the earth and increase upon it.”(DJ)

8 Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him: 9 “I now establish my covenant with you(DK) and with your descendants after you 10 and with every living creature that was with you—the birds, the livestock and all the wild animals, all those that came out of the ark with you—every living creature on earth. 11 I establish my covenant(DL) with you:(DM) Never again will all life be destroyed by the waters of a flood; never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth.(DN)”

12 And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant(DO) I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come:(DP) 13 I have set my rainbow(DQ) in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. 14 Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow(DR) appears in the clouds, 15 I will remember my covenant(DS) between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life.(DT) 16 Whenever the rainbow(DU) appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant(DV) between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth.”

17 So God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant(DW) I have established between me and all life on the earth.”

The Sons of Noah

18 The sons of Noah who came out of the ark were Shem, Ham and Japheth.(DX) (Ham was the father of Canaan.)(DY) 19 These were the three sons of Noah,(DZ) and from them came the people who were scattered over the whole earth.(EA)

20 Noah, a man of the soil, proceeded[j] to plant a vineyard. 21 When he drank some of its wine,(EB) he became drunk and lay uncovered inside his tent. 22 Ham, the father of Canaan, saw his father naked(EC) and told his two brothers outside. 23 But Shem and Japheth took a garment and laid it across their shoulders; then they walked in backward and covered their father’s naked body. Their faces were turned the other way so that they would not see their father naked.

24 When Noah awoke from his wine and found out what his youngest son had done to him, 25 he said,

“Cursed(ED) be Canaan!(EE)
    The lowest of slaves
    will he be to his brothers.(EF)”

26 He also said,

“Praise be to the Lord, the God of Shem!(EG)
    May Canaan be the slave(EH) of Shem.
27 May God extend Japheth’s[k] territory;(EI)
    may Japheth live in the tents of Shem,(EJ)
    and may Canaan be the slave of Japheth.”

28 After the flood Noah lived 350 years. 29 Noah lived a total of 950 years, and then he died.(EK)

Footnotes

  1. Genesis 6:3 Or My spirit will not remain in
  2. Genesis 6:3 Or corrupt
  3. Genesis 6:14 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.
  4. Genesis 6:15 That is, about 450 feet long, 75 feet wide and 45 feet high or about 135 meters long, 23 meters wide and 14 meters high
  5. Genesis 6:16 That is, about 18 inches or about 45 centimeters
  6. Genesis 6:16 The meaning of the Hebrew for this clause is uncertain.
  7. Genesis 7:20 That is, about 23 feet or about 6.8 meters
  8. Genesis 7:20 Or rose more than fifteen cubits, and the mountains were covered
  9. Genesis 8:21 Or humans, for
  10. Genesis 9:20 Or soil, was the first
  11. Genesis 9:27 Japheth sounds like the Hebrew for extend.
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