Genesis, Chapter 9 – Noah builds an altar; Commandment to not shed blood; God’s covenant, the token of it set in the clouds; Noah’s folly, the results of it.

1 And God spake unto Noah, saying, Go forth out of the ark, thou and thy wife, and thy sons, and thy sons’ wives with thee.

 

2 Bring forth with thee every living thing that is with thee, of all flesh, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth; that they may breed abundantly in the earth, and be fruitful and multiply upon the earth.

 

3 And Noah went forth, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons’ wives with him. And every beast, every creeping thing, and every fowl upon the earth, after their kinds, went forth out of the ark.

 

4 And Noah builded an altar unto the Lord, and took of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and offered burnt offerings on the altar; and gave thanks unto the Lord, and rejoiced in his heart.

 

5 And the Lord spake unto Noah, and he blessed him. And Noah smelled a sweet savor, and he said in his heart;

 

6 I will call on the name of the Lord, that he will not again curse the ground any more for man’s sake, for the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth; and that he will not again smite any more every thing living, as he hath done, while the earth remaineth;

 

7 And, that seed-time and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night, may not cease with man.

 

8 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.

 

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

 

10 But, the blood of all flesh which I have given you for meat, shall be shed upon the ground, which taketh life thereof, and the blood ye shall not eat.

 

11 And surely, blood shall not be shed, only for meat, to save your lives; and the blood of every beast will I require at your hands.

 

12 And whoso sheddeth man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed; for man shall not shed the blood of man.

 

13 For a commandment I give, that every man’s brother shall preserve the life of man, for in mine own image have I made man.

 

14 And a commandment I give unto you, Be ye fruitful and multiply; bring forth abundantly on the earth, and multiply therein.

 

15 And God spake unto Noah, and to his sons with him, saying, And I, behold, I will establish my covenant with you, which I made unto your father Enoch, concerning your seed after you.

 

16 And it shall come to pass, that every living creature that is with you, of the fowl, and of the cattle, and of the beast of the earth that is with you, which shall go out of the ark, shall not altogether perish; 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.

 

17 And I will establish my covenant with you, which I made unto Enoch, concerning the remnants of your posterity.

 

18 And God made a covenant with Noah, and said, This shall be the token of the covenant I make between me and you, and for every living creature with you, for perpetual generations;

 

19 I will set my bow in the cloud; and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth.

 

20 And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud; and I will remember my covenant, which I have made between me and you, for every living creature of all flesh. And the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh.

 

21 And the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant, which I made unto thy father Enoch; that, when men should keep all my commandments, Zion should again come on the earth, the city of Enoch which I have caught up unto myself.

 

22 And this is mine everlasting covenant, that when thy posterity shall embrace the truth, and look upward, then shall Zion look downward, and all the heavens shall shake with gladness, and the earth shall tremble with joy;

 

23 And the general assembly of the church of the firstborn shall come down out of heaven, and possess the earth, and shall have place until the end come. And this is mine everlasting covenant, which I made with thy father Enoch.

 

24 And the bow shall be in the cloud, and I will establish my covenant unto thee, which I have made between me and thee, for every living creature of all flesh that shall be upon the earth.

 

25 And God said unto Noah, This is the token of the covenant which I have established between me and thee; for all flesh that shall be upon the earth.

 

26 And the sons of Noah that went forth of the ark, were Shem, and Ham, and Japheth; and Ham was the father of Canaan. These were the three sons of Noah, and of them was the whole earth overspread.

 

27 And Noah began to till the earth, and he was an husbandman; and he planted a vineyard, and he drank of the wine, and was drunken; and he was uncovered within his tent;

 

28 And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his brethren without; and Shem and Japheth took a garment and laid upon both their shoulders, and went backward and covered the nakedness of their father, and they saw not their father’s nakedness.

 

29 And Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his youngest son had done unto him, and he said, Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren.

 

30 And he said, Blessed be the Lord God of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant, and a veil of darkness shall cover him, that he shall be known among all men.

 

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

 

32 And Noah lived after the flood, three hundred and fifty years. And all the days of Noah were nine hundred and fifty years; and he died.