Gen 9 | EE | STEP | God blessed Noah and his sons. He said ‘Have many children and fill the earth with them.

Genesis 9

1 God blessed Noah and his sons. He said ‘Have many children and fill the earth with them. 2 Every animal will be afraid of you. All the birds will be afraid of you. And every animal that moves across the ground will be afraid of you. All the fish in the sea will be afraid of you. You will have authority over all of them. 3 All living animals will be food for you. Before, I gave you the green plants to eat. Now I give you everything.

4 But you must not eat meat that still has the blood of life in it.

5 Men must not kill other men. Animals must not kill men. If an animal kills a man, kill the animal. If a man kills another man, kill the man.

6 God made men like himself. So, if anyone kills a man or a woman, a man must kill him. 7 You must have many children, so that the number of people on the earth will grow.’

8 God said to Noah and his sons that were with him, 9 ‘I will make my promise with you, and with all your descendants, 10 and with all the animals on the earth. 11 This is my promise. I will never destroy all life on the earth again. I will never cover the earth with water again.’ 12 God said, ‘I will show you that I have made a promise with you, and every living animal. It is a promise for all that live on the earth, now and as long as the earth is here. 13 I have put my rainbow in the sky. It will show you the promise between me and everything on the earth. 14 When I bring clouds over the earth, a rainbow will appear. 15 Then I will remember my promise. Never again will the waters destroy all life. 16 When I see a rainbow in the clouds, I will remember my promise to you. It is for all time. It is a promise between God and every thing that lives on the earth.’ 17 God said to Noah, ‘This will show you the promise that I have made. My promise is between me and all life on earth.’

18 The names of Noah’s sons were Shem, Ham and Japheth. Ham had a son called Canaan. They all came out of the ark with Noah. 19 All the people who are on the earth are descendants of Noah’s three sons.

Noah and his son do something wrong

20 Noah worked on the ground. He planted a vineyard.

21 He drank some of the wine that he made. And he became drunk. He lay inside his tent and fell asleep. He was not wearing any clothes. 22 Ham, Canaan’s father, saw that Noah was not wearing any clothes. He went outside. He told his two brothers what he had seen. 23 Shem and Japheth took some clothes and put them across their shoulders. They walked into Noah’s tent. They kept their backs to Noah, so that they could not see him. Then they covered their father with the clothes. They did not look at their father’s body because there were no clothes on it. ^{▼▼9:23 A vineyard is a field planted with grapes. Grapes are small round fruits that people use to make wine. Wine is a drink containing alcohol.}

24 Noah woke up from his sleep. He found out what his youngest son (Ham) had done. 25 He said ‘Cursed be Canaan! He will be a slave to his brothers.’ 26 Noah also said, ‘Blessings to the LORD, the God of Shem! Let Canaan be the slave of Shem. 27 Let God make the land of Japheth grow. Let Japheth receive the good things of Shem. Let Canaan be his slave.’ ^{▼▼9:27 Noah knows that Shem’s blessings will come from God. He asks for good things for the descendants of Japheth and Shem, because they did the right thing. Noah asks for a curse on the descendants of Ham because he did the wrong thing.}

28 Noah was alive for 350 years after God covered the earth with water. 29 Noah’s whole life lasted for 950 years. Then he died.