1God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fertile, increase in number, and fill the earth. 2All the wild animals and all the birds will fear you and be terrified of you. Every creature that crawls on the ground and all the fish in the sea have been put under your control. 3Everything that lives and moves will be your food. I gave you green plants as food; I now give you everything else.

4“But you are not to eat meat with blood in it. (Blood is life.) 5In addition, I will demand your blood for your life. I will demand it from any animal or from any person. I will demand the life of any person ⌞who kills⌟ another person.

6Whoever sheds human blood,

by humans his blood will be shed,

because in the image of God, God made humans.

7Be fertile, and increase in number. Spread over the earth, and increase.”

God’s Promise—the Sign of the Rainbow

8God also said to Noah and his sons, 9“I am going to make my promise #9:9 Or “covenant.” to you, your descendants, 10and every living being that is with you—birds, domestic animals, and all the wild animals, all those that came out of the ship—every living thing on earth. 11I am making my promise to you. Never again will all life be killed by floodwaters. Never again will there be a flood that destroys the earth.”

12God said, “This is the sign of the promise I am giving to you and every living being that is with you for generations to come. 13I will put my rainbow in the clouds to be a sign of my promise to the earth. 14Whenever I form clouds over the earth, a rainbow will appear in the clouds. 15Then I will remember my promise to you and every living animal. Never again will water become a flood to destroy all life. 16Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember my everlasting promise to every living animal on earth.”

17So God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the promise I am making to all life on earth.”

Noah Curses Canaan but Blesses Shem and Japheth

18Noah’s sons, who came out of the ship, were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. 19These were Noah’s three sons. From them the whole earth was populated. Ham was the father of Canaan.#9:19 The second part of verse 18 (in Hebrew) has been placed just after verse 19 to express the complex Hebrew sentence structure more clearly in English.

20Noah, a farmer, was the first person to plant a vineyard. 21He drank some wine, got drunk, and lay naked inside his tent. 22Ham, father of Canaan, saw his father naked. So he went outside and told his two brothers.

23Shem and Japheth took a blanket and laid it over their shoulders. Then they walked in backwards and covered their father’s naked body. They turned their faces away so that they didn’t see their father naked.

24When Noah sobered up, he found out what his youngest son had done to him. 25So he said,

“Canaan is cursed!

He will be the lowest slave to his brothers.

26Praise the Lord, the God of Shem!

Canaan will be his slave.

27May God expand the territory of Japheth.#9:27 There is a play on words here between the Hebrew yapht (May God expand) and yepheth (Japheth).

May he live in the tents of Shem.

Canaan will be his slave.”

28Noah lived 350 years after the flood. 29Noah lived a total of 950 years; then he died.

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B'resheet (Gen) 9

1God blessed Noach and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful, multiply and fill the earth. 2The fear and dread of you will be upon every wild animal, every bird in the air, every creature populating the ground, and all the fish in the sea; they have been handed over to you. 3Every moving thing that lives will be food for you; just as I gave you green plants before, so now I give you everything — 4only flesh with its life, which is its blood, you are not to eat. 5I will certainly demand an accounting for the blood of your lives: I will demand it from every animal and from every human being. I will demand from every human being an accounting for the life of his fellow human being. 6Whoever sheds human blood, by a human being will his own blood be shed; for God made human beings in his image. 7And you people, be fruitful, multiply, swarm on the earth and multiply on it.”

(v) 8God spoke to Noach and his sons with him; he said, 9“As for me — I am herewith establishing my covenant with you, with your descendants after you, 10and with every living creature that is with you — the birds, the livestock and every wild animal with you, all going out of the ark, every animal on earth. 11I will establish my covenant with you that never again will all living beings be destroyed by the waters of a flood, and there will never again be a flood to destroy the earth.” 12God added, “Here is the sign of the covenant I am making between myself and you and every living creature with you, for all generations to come: 13I am putting my rainbow in the cloud — it will be there as a sign of the covenant between myself and the earth. 14Whenever I bring clouds over the earth, and the rainbow is seen in the cloud; 15I will remember my covenant which is between myself and you and every living creature of any kind; and the water will never again become a flood to destroy all living beings. 16The rainbow will be in the cloud; so that when I look at it, I will remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of any kind on the earth.”

17God said to Noach, “This is the sign of the covenant which I have established between myself and every living creature on the earth.”

(vi) 18The sons of Noach who went out from the ark were Shem, Ham and Yefet. Ham is the father of Kena‘an. 19These three were the sons of Noach, and the whole earth was populated by them.

20Noach, a farmer, was the first to plant a vineyard. 21He drank so much of the wine that he got drunk and lay uncovered in his tent. 22Ham, the father of Kena‘an, saw his father shamefully exposed, went out and told his two brothers. 23Shem and Yefet took a cloak, put it over both their shoulders, and, walking backward, went in and covered their naked father. Their faces were turned away, so that they did not see their father lying there shamefully exposed.

24When Noach awoke from his wine, he knew what his youngest son had done to him. 25He said, “Cursed be Kena‘an; he will be a servant of servants to his brothers.” 26Then he said, “Blessed be Adonai, the God of Shem; Kena‘an will be their servant. 27May God enlarge Yefet; he will live in the tents of Shem, but Kena‘an will be their servant.”

28After the flood Noach lived 350 years. 29In all, Noach lived 950 years; then he died.

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Genesis 9

B'resheet (Gen) 9