Covenant of the Rainbow

Then God blessed Noah and his sons, and said to them, “(A)Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth. The fear of you and the terror of you will be on every animal of the earth and on every bird of the sky; on everything that crawls on the ground, and on all the fish of the sea. They are handed over to you. Every moving thing that is alive shall be food for you; I have given everything to you, (B)as I gave the green plant. But you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, (C)its blood. I certainly will require [a](D)your lifeblood; [b](E)from every animal I will require it. And [c]from every person, [d]from every man as his brother I will require the life of a person.

(F)Whoever sheds human blood,
By man his blood shall be shed,
For (G)in the image of God
He made mankind.
As for you, (H)be fruitful and multiply;
[e]Populate the earth abundantly and multiply in it.”

Then God spoke to Noah and to his sons with him, saying, “Now behold, (I)I Myself am establishing My covenant with you, and with your [f]descendants after you; 10 and with every living creature that is with you: the birds, the livestock, and every animal of the earth with you; of all that comes out of the ark, every animal of the earth. 11 I establish My covenant with you; and all flesh shall (J)never again be eliminated by the waters of a flood, (K)nor shall there again be a flood to destroy the earth.” 12 God said, “This is (L)the sign of the covenant which I am making between Me and you and every living creature that is with you, for [g]all future generations; 13 I have set My (M)rainbow in the cloud, and it shall [h]serve as a sign of a covenant between Me and the earth. 14 It shall come about, when I make a cloud appear over the earth, that the rainbow will be seen in the cloud, 15 and (N)I will remember My covenant, which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and (O)never again shall the water become a flood to destroy all flesh. 16 When the rainbow is in the cloud, then I will look at it, to remember the (P)everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.” 17 And God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant which I have established between Me and all flesh that is on the earth.”

18 Now the sons of Noah who came out of the ark were Shem, Ham, and Japheth; and (Q)Ham was the father of Canaan. 19 These three were the sons of Noah, and (R)from these the whole earth was [i]populated.

20 Then Noah began [j]farming and planted a vineyard. 21 He drank some of the wine and (S)became drunk, and uncovered himself inside his tent. 22 Ham, the father of Canaan, (T)saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brothers outside. 23 But Shem and Japheth took a garment and laid it on both their shoulders and walked backward and covered the nakedness of their father; and their faces were [k]turned away, so that they did not see their father’s nakedness. 24 When Noah awoke from his wine, he knew what his youngest son had done to him. 25 So he said,

(U)Cursed be Canaan;
[l](V)A servant of servants
He shall be to his brothers.”

26 He also said,

(W)Blessed be the Lord,
The God of Shem;
And may Canaan be [m]his servant.
27 (X)May God enlarge Japheth,
And may he live in the tents of Shem;
And may Canaan be [n]his servant.”

28 Noah lived 350 years after the flood. 29 So all the days of Noah were 950 years, and he died.

Footnotes

  1. Genesis 9:5 Lit your blood of your lives
  2. Genesis 9:5 Lit from the hand of
  3. Genesis 9:5 Lit from the hand of
  4. Genesis 9:5 Lit from the hand of
  5. Genesis 9:7 Lit Swarm in the earth
  6. Genesis 9:9 Lit seed
  7. Genesis 9:12 Or everlasting generations
  8. Genesis 9:13 Lit be for
  9. Genesis 9:19 Lit scattered
  10. Genesis 9:20 Lit to be a farmer
  11. Genesis 9:23 Lit backward
  12. Genesis 9:25 I.e., The lowest of servants
  13. Genesis 9:26 Or their
  14. Genesis 9:27 Or their

Covenant of the Rainbow

And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth. The fear and the terror of you shall be [instinctive] in every animal of the land and in every bird of the air; and together with everything that moves on the ground, and with all the fish of the sea; they are given into your hand. Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you; I give you everything, as I gave you the green plants and vegetables. But you shall not eat meat along with its life, that is, its blood.(A) For your lifeblood I will most certainly require an accounting; from every animal [that kills a person] I will require it. And from man, from every man’s brother [that is, anyone who murders] I will require the life of man.(B)


“Whoever sheds man’s blood [unlawfully],
By man (judicial government) shall his blood be shed,
For in the image of God
He made man.(C)

“As for you, be fruitful and multiply;
Populate the earth abundantly and multiply in it.”

Then God spoke to Noah and to his sons with him, saying, “Now behold, I am establishing My covenant (binding agreement, solemn promise) with you and with your descendants after you 10 and with every living creature that is with you—the birds, the livestock, and the wild animals of the earth along with you, of everything that comes out of the ark—every living creature of the earth. 11 I will establish My covenant with you: Never again shall all flesh be cut off by the water of a flood, nor shall there ever again be a flood to destroy and ruin the earth.” 12 And God said, “This is the token (visible symbol, memorial) of the [solemn] covenant which I am making between Me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations; 13 I set My rainbow in the clouds, and it shall be a sign of a covenant between Me and the earth. 14 It shall come about, when I bring clouds over the earth, that the rainbow shall be seen in the clouds, 15 and I will [compassionately] remember My covenant, which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and never again will the water become a flood to destroy all flesh. 16 When the rainbow is in the clouds and I look at it, I will [solemnly] remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.” 17 And God said to Noah, “This [rainbow] is the sign of the covenant (solemn pledge, binding agreement) which I have established between Me and all living things on the earth.”

18 The sons of Noah who came out of the ark were Shem and Ham and Japheth. Ham would become the father of Canaan. 19 These are the three sons of Noah, and from these [men] the whole earth was populated and scattered with inhabitants.

20 And Noah began to farm and cultivate the ground and he planted a vineyard. 21 He drank some of the wine and became drunk, and he was uncovered and lay exposed inside his tent. 22 Ham, the father of Canaan, saw [by accident] the nakedness of his father, and [to his father’s shame] told his two brothers outside. 23 So Shem and Japheth took a robe and put it on both their shoulders, and walked backwards and covered the nakedness of their father; their faces were turned away so that they did not see their father’s nakedness. 24 When Noah awoke from his wine [induced stupor], he knew what his younger son [Ham] had done to him. 25 So he said,

“Cursed be Canaan [the son of Ham];
[a]A servant of servants
He shall be to his brothers.”(D)

26 He also said,

“Blessed be the Lord,
The God of [b]Shem;
And let Canaan be his servant.
27 
“May God enlarge [the land of] Japheth,
And [c]let [d]him dwell in the tents of Shem;
And let Canaan be his servant.”

28 Noah lived three hundred and fifty years after the flood. 29 So all the days of Noah were nine hundred and fifty years, and he died.

Footnotes

  1. Genesis 9:25 The words of Noah are prophetic. God later found the disobedience of the Canaanites to be repulsive and replaced them with the descendants of Shem.
  2. Genesis 9:26 The Jewish people are the descendants of Shem. Through Shem’s lineage came the Messiah and salvation.
  3. Genesis 9:27 Note that “let” in this verse represents a command, as in “Let there be light” (1:3).
  4. Genesis 9:27 The antecedent of the word “him” could be Japheth, but it could also be “God,” thus making Him (the Messiah) dwell in the tents of Shem indicating the incarnation in the Semitic line.

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.

And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth.

And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth, and upon every fowl of the air, upon all that moveth upon the earth, and upon all the fishes of the sea; into your hand are they delivered.

Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things.

But flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat.

And surely your blood of your lives will I require; at the hand of every beast will I require it, and at the hand of man; at the hand of every man's brother will I require the life of man.

Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man.

And you, be ye fruitful, and multiply; bring forth abundantly in the earth, and multiply therein.

And God spake unto Noah, and to his sons with him, saying,

And I, behold, I establish my covenant with you, and with your seed after you;

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

11 And I will establish my covenant with you, neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood; neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth.

12 And God said, This is the token of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations:

13 I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth.

14 And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud:

15 And I will remember my covenant, which is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh.

16 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 creature of all flesh that is upon the earth.

17 And God said unto Noah, This is the token of the covenant, which I have established between me and all flesh that is upon the earth.

18 And the sons of Noah, that went 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 overspread.

20 And Noah began to be an husbandman, and he planted a vineyard:

21 And he drank of the wine, and was drunken; and he was uncovered within his tent.

22 And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brethren without.

23 And Shem and Japheth took a garment, and laid it upon both their shoulders, and went backward, and covered the nakedness of their father; and their faces were backward, and they saw not their father's nakedness.

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

25 And he said, Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren.

26 And he said, Blessed be the Lord God of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant.

27 God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant.

28 And Noah lived after the flood three hundred and fifty years.

29 And all the days of Noah were nine hundred and fifty years: and he died.