God’s Covenant With Noah
1Then God blessed Noah and his sons, saying to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth. 2The 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. 3Everything that lives and moves about will be food for you. Just as I gave you the green plants, I now give you everything.
4“But you must not eat meat that has its lifeblood still in it. 5And for your lifeblood I will surely demand an accounting. I will demand an accounting from every animal. And from each human being, too, I will demand an accounting for the life of another human being.
6“Whoever sheds human blood,
by humans shall their blood be shed;
for in the image of God
has God made mankind.
7As for you, be fruitful and increase in number; multiply on the earth and increase upon it.”
8Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him: 9“I now establish my covenant with you and with your descendants after you 10and with every living creature that was with you—the birds, the livestock and all the wild animals, all those that came out of the ark with you—every living creature on earth. 11I establish my covenant with you: Never again will all life be destroyed by the waters of a flood; never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth.”
12And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come: 13I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. 14Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, 15I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. 16Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth.”
17So God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant I have established between me and all life on the earth.”
The Sons of Noah
18The sons of Noah who came out of the ark were Shem, Ham and Japheth. (Ham was the father of Canaan.) 19These were the three sons of Noah, and from them came the people who were scattered over the whole earth.
20Noah, a man of the soil, proceeded9:20 Or soil, was the first to plant a vineyard. 21When he drank some of its wine, he became drunk and lay uncovered inside his tent. 22Ham, the father of Canaan, saw his father naked and told his two brothers outside. 23But Shem and Japheth took a garment and laid it across their shoulders; then they walked in backward and covered their father’s naked body. Their faces were turned the other way so that they would not see their father naked.
24When Noah awoke from his wine and found out what his youngest son had done to him, 25he said,
“Cursed be Canaan!
The lowest of slaves
will he be to his brothers.”
26He also said,
“Praise be to the Lord, the God of Shem!
May Canaan be the slave of Shem.
27May God extend Japheth’s9:27 Japheth sounds like the Hebrew for extend. territory;
may Japheth live in the tents of Shem,
and may Canaan be the slave of Japheth.”
28After the flood Noah lived 350 years. 29Noah lived a total of 950 years, and then he died.
上帝與挪亞立約
1上帝賜福給挪亞和他的兒子們，對他們說：「你們要生養眾多，遍佈地面。 2所有地上的走獸和爬蟲、空中的飛鳥及海裡的魚，都必懼怕你們，牠們都歸你們管理。 3凡是活的動物都可作你們的食物，就像綠色菜蔬一樣，我把一切都賜給你們了。 4只是你們不可吃帶血的肉，因為血就是生命。 5凡是殺害你們的，無論人或獸，我必向他們追討血債。凡殺人的，我必追討他的血債。 6凡殺害人的，也必被人殺害，因為人是上帝照著自己的形像造的。 7你們要生養眾多，使地上人口興旺。」
8上帝又對挪亞和他身邊的兒子們說： 9「我要跟你們和你們的後代立約， 10包括所有和你們在一起的生物，就是那些和你們一起從方舟出來的飛禽走獸和牲畜。 11我與你們立約，不再讓洪水滅絕一切生命，也不再讓洪水毀滅大地。」 12上帝說：「我與你們及所有和你們在一起的生物立世代永存的約，這是我立約的記號。 13我把彩虹放在雲中，作為我跟大地立約的記號。 14我使雲彩覆蓋大地的時候，會有彩虹在雲中出現。 15這樣我會顧念我與你們及一切有血氣的生物所立的約，水就不會再氾濫、毀滅所有生命。 16當我看見彩虹在雲中出現的時候，就會顧念我與地上一切活物立的永遠之約。」 17上帝對挪亞說：「這是我與地上一切生命立約的記號。」
挪亞和他的兒子
18與挪亞一起出方舟的有他的兒子閃、含、雅弗。含是迦南的父親。 19這是挪亞的三個兒子，他們的後代遍佈天下。
20挪亞做了農夫，他是第一個栽種葡萄園的人。 21一天，他喝葡萄酒喝醉了，赤裸著身體躺在帳篷裡。 22迦南的父親含看見父親赤身露體，便去告訴外面的兩個弟兄。 23於是，閃和雅弗拿了一件衣服搭在肩上，倒退著走進帳篷，把衣服蓋在父親身上，他們背著臉不看父親赤裸的身體。
24挪亞酒醒後，知道了小兒子做的事， 25就說：
「迦南該受咒詛，
必做他弟兄的僕人的僕人。」
26又說：
「閃的上帝耶和華當受稱頌！
願迦南做閃的僕人。
27願上帝擴張雅弗的疆界，
願他住在閃的帳篷裡，
願迦南做他的僕人。」
28洪水以後，挪亞又活了三百五十年， 29共活了九百五十歲才去世。
