1 The confirmation of marriage. 2 Man’s authoritiy over all creatures. 3 Permission of meats. 6 The power of the sword. 14 The rainbow is the sign of God’s promise. 21 Noah is drunk, and mocked of his son, whom he curseth. 29 The age and death of Noah. 

And God [a]blessed Noah and his sons, and said to them, (A)Bring forth fruit, and multiply, and replenish the earth.

Also the [b]fear of you, and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth, and upon every fowl of the heaven, upon all that moveth on the earth, and upon all the fishes of the sea: into your hand are they delivered.

Everything [c]that moveth and liveth, shall be meat for you: as the (B)green herb, have I given you all things.

(C)[d]But flesh with the life thereof, I mean, with the blood thereof, shall ye not eat.

[e]For surely I will require your blood, wherein your lives are: at the hands of every beast will I require it: and at the hand of man, even at the hand of a man’s [f]brother will I require the life of man.

Who so (D)sheddeth man’s blood, [g]by man shall his blood be shed: (E)for in the [h]image of God hath he made man.

But bring ye forth fruit and multiply: grow plentifully in the earth, and increase therein.

¶ God spake also to Noah and to his sons with him, saying,

Behold, I, even I establish my [i]covenant with you, and with your [j]seed after you,

10 And with every living creature that is with you, with the fowl, with the cattle, and with every beast of the earth with you, from all that go out of the Ark, unto every beast of the earth.

11 (F)And my covenant will I establish with you, that from henceforth all flesh shall not be rooted out by the waters of the flood, neither shall there be a flood to destroy the earth anymore.

12 Then God said, This is the token of the covenant which I make between me and you, and between every living thing that is with you unto perpetual generations.

13 I have set my [k]bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a sign of the covenant between me and the earth.

14 And when I shall cover the earth with a cloud, and the bow shall be seen in the cloud,

15 Then will I remember my [l]covenant which is between me and you, and between every living thing in all flesh, and there shall be no more waters of a flood to destroy all flesh.

16 Therefore the bow shall be in the cloud, that I may see it, and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living thing, in all flesh that is upon the earth.

17 God said yet to Noah, [m]This is the sign of the covenant, which I have established between me and all flesh that is upon the earth.

18 ¶ Now the sons of Noah going forth of the Ark, were Shem and Ham and Japheth. And Ham is the father of Canaan.

19 These are the three sons of Noah, and of them was the whole earth [n]overspread.

20 [o]Noah also began to be an husbandman, and planted a vineyard.

21 And he drunk of the wine, and was [p]drunken, and was uncovered in the midst of his tent.

22 And when Ham the father of [q]Canaan saw the nakedness of his father, [r]he told his two brethren without.

23 Then took Shem and Japheth a garment, and put it upon both their shoulders, and went backward and covered the nakedness of their father with their faces backward: so they saw not their father’s nakedness.

24 Then Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done unto him,

25 And said, [s]Cursed be Canaan: a [t]servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren.

26 He said moreover, Blessed be the Lord God of Shem, and let Canaan be his [u]servant.

27 God [v][w]persuade Japheth, that he may dwell in the tents of Shem, and let 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

  1. Genesis 9:1 God increased them with fruit, and declared unto them his counsel as touching the replenishing of the earth.
  2. Genesis 9:2 By the virtue of this commandment beasts rage not so much against man as they would, yea, and many serve to his use thereby.
  3. Genesis 9:3 By this permission man may with a good conscience use the creatures of God for his necessity.
  4. Genesis 9:4 That is, living creatures, and the flesh of beasts that are strangled: and hereby all cruelty is forbidden.
  5. Genesis 9:5 That is, I will take vengeance for your blood.
  6. Genesis 9:5 Or, neighbor.
  7. Genesis 9:6 Not only by the magistrate, but oft times God raiseth up one murderer to kill another.
  8. Genesis 9:6 Therefore to kill man is to deface God’s image, and so injury is not only done to man, but also to God.
  9. Genesis 9:9 To assure you that the world shall be no more destroyed by a flood.
  10. Genesis 9:9 The children which are not yet born, are comprehended in God’s covenant made with their fathers.
  11. Genesis 9:13 Hereby we see that signs or sacraments ought not to be separate from the word.
  12. Genesis 9:15 When men shall see my bow in the heaven, they shall know that I have not forgotten my covenant with them.
  13. Genesis 9:17 God doth repeat this the oftener, to confirm Noah’s faith so much the more.
  14. Genesis 9:19 This declareth what was the virtue of God’s blessing, when he said, increase and bring forth, Gen. 1:28.
  15. Genesis 9:20 Or, Noah began again.
  16. Genesis 9:21 This is set before our eyes to show what an horrible thing drunkenness is.
  17. Genesis 9:22 Of whom came the Canaanites that wicked nation, who were also cursed of God.
  18. Genesis 9:22 In derision and contempt of his father.
  19. Genesis 9:25 He pronounceth as a Prophet the curse of God against all them that honor not their parents: for Ham and his posterity were accursed.
  20. Genesis 9:25 That is, a most vile slave.
  21. Genesis 9:26 Or, their.
  22. Genesis 9:27 Or, enlarge, or cause to return.
  23. Genesis 9:27 He declareth that the Gentiles, which came of Japheth, and were separated from the Church, should be joined to the same by the persuasion of God’s Spirit, and preaching of the Gospel.

God’s Covenant With Noah

Then God blessed Noah and his sons, saying to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth.(A) 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.(B) Everything that lives and moves about will be food for you.(C) Just as I gave you the green plants, I now give you everything.(D)

“But you must not eat meat that has its lifeblood still in it.(E) And for your lifeblood I will surely demand an accounting.(F) I will demand an accounting from every animal.(G) And from each human being, too, I will demand an accounting for the life of another human being.(H)

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

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

Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him: “I now establish my covenant with you(L) 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(M) with you:(N) Never again will all life be destroyed by the waters of a flood; never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth.(O)

12 And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant(P) I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come:(Q) 13 I have set my rainbow(R) 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(S) appears in the clouds, 15 I will remember my covenant(T) between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life.(U) 16 Whenever the rainbow(V) appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant(W) 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(X) 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.(Y) (Ham was the father of Canaan.)(Z) 19 These were the three sons of Noah,(AA) and from them came the people who were scattered over the whole earth.(AB)

20 Noah, a man of the soil, proceeded[a] to plant a vineyard. 21 When he drank some of its wine,(AC) he became drunk and lay uncovered inside his tent. 22 Ham, the father of Canaan, saw his father naked(AD) 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(AE) be Canaan!(AF)
    The lowest of slaves
    will he be to his brothers.(AG)

26 He also said,

“Praise be to the Lord, the God of Shem!(AH)
    May Canaan be the slave(AI) of Shem.
27 May God extend Japheth’s[b] territory;(AJ)
    may Japheth live in the tents of Shem,(AK)
    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.(AL)

Footnotes

  1. Genesis 9:20 Or soil, was the first
  2. Genesis 9:27 Japheth sounds like the Hebrew for extend.