Immerse: Beginnings Full Volume - Flipbook - Page 25
8:20–9:21
G enesis
13
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.”
Then God blessed Noah and his sons and told them, “Be fruitful and
multiply. Fill the earth. All the animals of the earth, all the birds of the
sky, all the small animals that scurry along the ground, and all the fish in
the sea will look on you with fear and terror. I have placed them in your
power. I have given them to you for food, just as I have given you grain and
vegetables. But you must never eat any meat that still has the lifeblood in it.
“And I will require the blood of anyone who takes another person’s life.
If a wild animal kills a person, it must die. And anyone who murders a
fellow human must die. If anyone takes a human life, that person’s life will
also be taken by human hands. For God made human beings in his own
image. Now be fruitful and multiply, and repopulate the earth.”
Then God told Noah and his sons, “I hereby confirm my covenant with
you and your descendants, and with all the animals that were on the boat
with you—the birds, the livestock, and all the wild animals—every living
creature on earth. Yes, I am confirming my covenant with you. Never again
will floodwaters kill all living creatures; never again will a flood destroy
the earth.”
Then God said, “I am giving you a sign of my covenant with you and
with all living creatures, for all generations to come. I have placed my
rainbow in the clouds. It is the sign of my covenant with you and with
all the earth. When I send clouds over the earth, the rainbow will appear
in the clouds, and I will remember my covenant with you and with all
living creatures. Never again will the floodwaters destroy all life. When I
see the rainbow in the clouds, I will remember the eternal covenant between God and every living creature on earth.” Then God said to Noah,
“Yes, this rainbow is the sign of the covenant I am confirming with all the
creatures on earth.”
The sons of Noah who came out of the boat with their father were Shem,
Ham, and Japheth. (Ham is the father of Canaan.) From these three sons
of Noah came all the people who now populate the earth.
After the flood, Noah began to cultivate the ground, and he planted
a vineyard. One day he drank some wine he had made, and he became
