Open English Translation GEN Chapter 9

9 Then God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.[ref] 2 Now every living creature on the earth will be afraid and terrified of you, including every bird that flies in the sky, along with every creature that moves on land, and all the fish in the ocean. I have put them all under your authority. 3 From now on every creature that is alive and moves can be eaten as food—just like I previously provided you green plants for food, now I provide you everything for food—4 the only exception is meat with its life blood still in it.[ref] 5 Also, I will certainly require blood as payment for people’s lives: if anyone murders another person, I require that the murderer must die, and even if an animal kills a human being, I require that it must die. 6 Yes, if anyone sheds human blood, the others must shed the murderer’s blood, because God made human beings in his image.[ref] 7 So then, be fruitful and multiply—have children on the earth and become numerous.[ref]

8 Then God said to Noah and his sons, 9 “Now listen, I am making an agreement with you and your future descendants, 10 and it’s also with every living creature that is with you: with the birds, the livestock, and every living thing on the earth with you, from all that came out of the wooden chest to every future living thing on the earth. 11 My agreement that I’m establishing with you is that all living things will never die from a flood again. That’s right, I will never use a flood again to destroy everything on the earth.” 12 Then God added, “This is how I’ll show everyone that I’ve made this agreement with you and with all the living creatures that are with you, along with all future generations: 13 I’ll place my rainbow among the clouds, and it’ll be a sign of the agreement between me and all life on the earth. 14 So whenever I cause clouds to form in the sky and a rainbow is visible in the clouds, 15 then I’ll remember my agreement that’s between me and you and every kind of living creature, and a flood will never again destroy everything living. 16 So whenever a rainbow appears among the clouds, I’ll see it and remember my permanent agreement with every living creature that lives and will live on the earth.” 17 Then God said to Noah, “The rainbow is the sign of the agreement that I have established between me and every living thing on the earth.”

18 Noah’s sons who came out of the wooden chest after the flood were Yefet (Japheth), Shem, and Ham. (Ham became Kena’an’s (Canaan’s) father). 19 They were Noah’s three sons and from them the whole earth became populated.

20 After a while, Noah, who was a farmer, planted some grape vines, 21 and in due course he drank some of his wine and got drunk, and he fell asleep naked in his tent. 22 Then Ham (Kena’an’s father) saw his father’s nakedness then went outside and told his brothers what he’d seen. 23 So Shem and Yefet took a robe, and holding it between their shoulders they walked backwards into the tent and covered their father’s nakedness. (Their faces were towards the tent entrance, so they didn’t see his nakedness.) 24 Eventually, Noah woke up from his drunken sleep and found out what his youngest son (Ham) had done to him 25 and said, “May Kena’an be cursed and become a slave of slaves to his brothers!” 26 Then he added, “Praise Yahweh who’s Shem’s god. May Kena’an become Shem’s slave. 27 May God expand Yefet’s territory and may he live in Shem’s tents. May Kena’an also become a slave of Yefet.”

28 After the flood, Noah lived another 350 years, 29 and so he was 950 years old when he died.