Genesis 8:20–9:9

God’s Covenant with Creation

²⁰Then Noah built an ^jaltar to the Lord, and took of ^kevery clean animal and of every clean bird, and offered ^lburnt offerings on the altar. ²¹And the Lord smelled ^ma soothing aroma. Then the Lord said in His heart, “I will never again ⁿcurse the ground for man’s sake, although the ^oimagination ¹of man’s heart is evil from his youth; ^pnor will I again destroy every living thing as I have done.

²²“While the earth ^qremains,

Seedtime and harvest,

Cold and heat,

Winter and summer,

And ^rday and night

Shall not cease.”

9So God blessed Noah and his sons, and said to them: ^a“Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth. ^2bAnd the fear of you and the dread of you shall be on every beast of the earth, on every bird of the air, on all that move on the earth, and on all the fish of the sea. They are given into your hand. ^3cEvery moving thing that lives shall be food for you. I have given you ^dall things, even as the ^egreen herbs. ^4fBut you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood. ⁵Surely for your lifeblood I will demand a reckoning; ^gfrom the hand of every beast I will require it, and ^hfrom the hand of man. From the hand of every ⁱman’s brother I will require the life of man.

⁶“Whoever ^jsheds man’s blood,

By man his blood shall be shed;

^kFor in the image of God

He made man.

⁷And as for you, ^lbe fruitful and multiply;

Bring forth abundantly in the earth

And multiply in it.”

⁸Then God spoke to Noah and to his sons with him, saying: ⁹“And as for Me, ^mbehold, I establish ⁿMy covenant with you and with your ¹descendants after you,