Genesis 8:20–9:17

²⁰Then Noah built ^aan altar to the Lord, and took of every ^bclean animal and of every clean bird and offered ^cburnt offerings on the altar.

²¹The Lord ^asmelled the soothing aroma; and the Lord said ¹to Himself, “I will never again ^bcurse the ground on account of man, for ^cthe ²intent of man’s heart is evil from his youth; ^dand I will never again ³destroy every living thing, as I have done.

²²“While the earth remains,

Seedtime and harvest,

And cold and heat,

And ^asummer and winter,

And ^bday and night

Shall not cease.”

Chapter 9

Covenant of the Rainbow

¹And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “^aBe fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth.

²“The fear of you and the terror of you will be on every beast of the earth and on every bird of the ¹sky; with everything that creeps on the ground, and all the fish of the sea, into your hand they are given.

³“Every moving thing that is alive shall be food for you; I give all to you, ^aas I gave the green plant.

⁴“Only you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, ^aits blood.

⁵“Surely I will require ^1ayour lifeblood; ^2bfrom every beast I will require it. And from every man, from every man’s brother I will require the life of man.

⁶“^aWhoever sheds man’s blood,

By man his blood shall be shed,

For ^bin the image of God

He made man.

⁷“As for you, ^abe fruitful and multiply;

¹Populate the earth abundantly and multiply in it.”

⁸Then God spoke to Noah and to his sons with him, saying,

⁹“Now behold, ^aI Myself do establish My covenant with you, and with your ¹descendants after you;

¹⁰and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the cattle, and every beast of the earth with you; of all that comes out of the ark, even every beast of the earth.

¹¹“I establish My covenant with you; and all flesh shall ^anever again be cut off by the water of the flood, ^bneither shall there again be a flood to destroy the earth.”

¹²God said, “This is ^athe sign of the covenant which I am making between Me and you and every living creature that is with you, for ¹all successive generations;

¹³I set My ^abow in the cloud, and it shall be for a sign of a covenant between Me and the earth.

¹⁴“It shall come about, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow will be seen in the cloud,

¹⁵and ^aI will remember My covenant, which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and ^bnever again shall the water become a flood to destroy all flesh.

¹⁶“When the bow is in the cloud, then I will look upon it, to remember the ^aeverlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.”

¹⁷And 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.”