Genesis 8:20–9:9

²⁰Then Noah built an altar to the Lord^e and, taking some of all the clean animals and clean^f birds, he sacrificed burnt offerings^g on it. ²¹The Lord smelled the pleasing aroma^h and said in his heart: “Never again will I curse the groundⁱ because of humans, even though^a every inclination of the human heart is evil from childhood.^j And never again will I destroy^k all living creatures,^l as I have done.

²²“As long as the earth endures,

seedtime and harvest,^m

cold and heat,

summer and winter,ⁿ

day and night

will never cease.”^o

God’s Covenant With Noah

9Then God blessed Noah and his sons, saying to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth.^{p 2}The fear and dread of you will fall on all the beasts of the earth, and on all the birds in the sky, on every creature that moves along the ground, and on all the fish in the sea; they are given into your hands.^{q 3}Everything that lives and moves about will be food for you.^r Just as I gave you the green plants, I now give you everything.^s

⁴“But you must not eat meat that has its lifeblood still in it.^{t 5}And for your lifeblood I will surely demand an accounting.^u I will demand an accounting from every animal.^v And from each human being, too, I will demand an accounting for the life of another human being.^w

⁶“Whoever sheds human blood,

by humans shall their blood be shed;^x

for in the image of God^y

has God made mankind.

⁷As for you, be fruitful and increase in number; multiply on the earth and increase upon it.”^z

⁸Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him: ⁹“I now establish my covenant with you^a and with your descendants after you