^8:20Noah built an altar to the Lord. He then took some of every kind of clean animal and clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar.³⁰^8:21And the Lord smelled the soothing aroma³¹ and said³² to himself,³³ “I will never again curse³⁴ the ground because of humankind, even though³⁵ the inclination of their minds³⁶ is evil from childhood on.³⁷ I will never again destroy everything that lives, as I have just done.

^8:22“While the earth continues to exist,³⁸

planting time³⁹ and harvest,

cold and heat,

summer and winter,

and day and night will not cease.”

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Genesis 8:22: While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease…

Footnotes

30 Offered burnt offerings on the altar. F. D. Maurice includes a chapter on the sacrifice of Noah in The Doctrine of Sacrifice. The whole burnt offering, according to Leviticus 1, represented the worshiper’s complete surrender and dedication to the Lord. After the flood Noah could see that God was not only a God of wrath, but a God of redemption and restoration. The one who escaped the catastrophe could best express his gratitude and submission through sacrificial worship, acknowledging God as the sovereign of the universe.
31 The Lord “smelled” (וַיָּרַח, vayyarakh) a “soothing smell” (רֵיחַ הַנִּיהֹחַ, reakh hannihoakh). The object forms a cognate accusative with the verb. The language is anthropomorphic. The offering had a sweet aroma that pleased or soothed. The expression in Lev 1 signifies that God accepts the offering with pleasure, and in accepting the offering he accepts the worshiper.
32 Heb “and the Lord said.”
33 Heb “in his heart.”
34 Here the Hebrew word translated “curse” is קָלָל (qalal), used in the Piel verbal stem.
35 The Hebrew particle כִּי (ki) can be used in a concessive sense (see 473 כִּי), which makes good sense in this context. Its normal causal sense (“for”) does not fit the context here very well.
36 Heb “the inclination of the heart of humankind.”
37 Heb “from his youth.”
38 Heb “yet all the days of the earth.” The idea is “[while there are] yet all the days of the earth,” meaning, “as long as the earth exists.”
39 Heb “seed,” which stands here by metonymy for the time when seed is planted.

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

Then Noah built an altar to the Lord and took some of every clean animal and some of every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar. And when the Lord smelled the pleasing aroma, the Lord said in his heart, “I will never again curse the ground because of man, for the intention of man’s heart is evil from his youth. Neither will I ever again strike down every living creature as I have done. While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease.”

NIVNew International Version (2011)

Then Noah built an altar to the Lord and, taking some of all the clean animals and clean birds, he sacrificed burnt offerings on it. The Lord smelled the pleasing aroma and said in his heart: “Never again will I curse the ground because of humans, even though every inclination of the human heart is evil from childhood. And never again will I destroy all living creatures, as I have done.

“As long as the earth endures,

seedtime and harvest,

cold and heat,

summer and winter,

day and night

will never cease.”

CSBChristian Standard Bible

Then Noah built an altar to the Lord. He took some of every kind of clean animal and every kind of clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar. When the Lord smelled the pleasing aroma, he said to himself, “I will never again curse the ground because of human beings, even though the inclination of the human heart is evil from youth onward. And I will never again strike down every living thing as I have done.

As long as the earth endures,

seedtime and harvest, cold and heat,

summer and winter, and day and night

will not cease.”

NLTNew Living Translation

Then Noah built an altar to the Lord, and there he sacrificed as burnt offerings the animals and birds that had been approved for that purpose. And the Lord was pleased with the aroma of the sacrifice and said to himself, “I will never again curse the ground because of the human race, even though everything they think or imagine is bent toward evil from childhood. I will never again destroy all living things. As long as the earth remains, there will be planting and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night.”

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

And Noah built an altar to Yahweh, and he took from all the clean animals and from all the clean birds, and offered burnt offerings on the altar. And Yahweh smelled the soothing fragrance, and Yahweh said to himself, “Never again will I curse the ground for the sake of humankind, because the inclination of the heart of humankind is evil from his youth. Nor will I ever again destroy all life as I have done. As long as the earth endures, seed and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will not cease.

KJV 1900King James Version

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 the Lord smelled a sweet savour; and the Lord said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man’s sake; for the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more every thing living, as I have done. While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.

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