Genesis 9

God’s Promise to Noah

1 t God said to Noah and his sons: I am giving you my blessing. Have a lot of children and grandchildren, so people will live everywhere on this earth.2 All animals, birds, reptiles, and fish will be afraid of you. I have placed them under your control,3 and I have given them to you for food. From now on, you may eat them, as well as the green plants that you have always eaten.4 t4 But life is in the blood, and you must not eat any meat that still has blood in it.

5-6 t5-6 I created humans to be like me, and I will punish any animal or person that takes a human life. If an animal kills someone, that animal must die. And if a person takes the life of another, that person must be put to death.

7 t I want you and your descendants to have many children, so people will live everywhere on earth.

8 Again, God said to Noah and his sons:
9 I am going to make a solemn promise to you and to everyone who will live after you.10 This includes the birds and the animals that came out of the boat.

11 I promise every living creature that the earth and those living on it will never again be destroyed by a flood.
12-13 The rainbow that I have put in the sky will be my sign to you and to every living creature on earth. It will remind you that I will keep this promise forever.14 When I send clouds over the earth, and a rainbow appears in the sky,15 I will remember my promise to you and to all other living creatures. Never again will I let floodwaters destroy all life.16 When I see the rainbow in the sky, I will always remember the promise that I have made to every living creature.17 The rainbow will be the sign of that solemn promise.

Noah and His Family

18 Noah and his sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth, came out of the boat. Ham later had a son named Canaan.

19 All people on earth are descendants of Noah’s three sons.
20 Noah farmed the land and was the first to plant a vineyard.21 One day he got drunk and was lying naked in his tent.22 Ham entered the tent and saw him naked, then went back outside and told his brothers.

23 Shem and Japheth put a robe over their shoulders and walked backwards into the tent. Without looking at their father, they placed it over his body.
24 When Noah woke up and learned what his youngest son Ham had done,

25 he said, “I now put a curse on Canaan!
He will be the lowest slave
of his brothers.

26 I ask the Lord my God to bless Shem
and make Canaan his slave.

27 I pray that the Lord will give Japheth
more and moret land and let him take over
the territory of Shem.
May Canaan be his slave.”

28 Noah lived three hundred fifty years after the flood

29 and died at the age of nine hundred fifty.

Genesis 10

The Descendants of Noah

1 After the flood Shem, Ham, and Japheth had many descendants.

The Descendants of Japheth

2-5 2-5 Japheth’s descendants had their own languages, tribes, and land. They were Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, and Tiras. Gomer was the ancestor of Ashkenaz, Riphath, and Togarmah.
Javan was the ancestor of Elishah, Tarshish, Kittim, and Dodanim,t who settled along the coast.

The Descendants of Ham

6-20 6-20 Ham’s descendants had their own languages, tribes, and land. They were Ethiopia,t Egypt, Put, and Canaan. Cusht was the ancestor of Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah, and Sabteca. Raamah was the ancestor of Sheba and Dedan.
Cush was also the ancestor of Nimrod, a mighty warrior whose strength came from the Lord. Nimrod is the reason for the saying, “You hunt like Nimrod with the strength of the Lord!” Nimrod first ruled in Babylon, Erech, and Accad, all oft which were in Babylonia.t From there Nimrod went to Assyria and built the great city of Nineveh. He also built Rehoboth-Ir and Calah, as well as Resen, which is between Nineveh and Calah. Egypt was the ancestor of Ludim, Anamim, Lehabim, Naphtuhim, Pathrusim, Casluhim, and Caphtorim, the ancestor of the Philistines. t Canaan’s sons were Sidon and Heth. He was also the ancestor of the Jebusites, the Amorites, the Girgashites, the Hivites, the Arkites, the Sinites, the Arvadites, the Zemarites, and the Hamathites.
Later the Canaanites spread from the territory of Sidon and went as far as Gaza in the direction of Gerar. They also went as far as Lasha in the direction of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim.

The Descendants of Shem

21-31 21-31 Shem’s descendants had their own languages, tribes, and land. He was the older brother of Japheth and the ancestor of the tribes of Eber. Shem was the ancestor of Elam, Asshur, Arpachshad, Lud, and Aram.
Aram was the ancestor of Uz, Hul, Gether, and Mash.
Arpachshad was the father of Shelah and the grandfather of Eber, whose first son was named Peleg,t because it was during his time that tribes divided up the earth. Eber’s second son was Joktan. Joktan was the ancestor of Almodad, Sheleph, Hazarmaveth, Jerah, Hadoram, Uzal, Diklah, Obal, Abimael, Sheba, Ophir, Havilah, and Jobab. Their land reached from Mesha in the direction of Sephar, the hill country in the east.

32 This completes the list of Noah’s descendants. After the flood their descendants became nations and spread all over the world.

Genesis 11

The Tower of Babel

1 At first everyone spoke the same language,2 but after some of them moved from the eastt and settled in Babylonia,t

3-4 they said: Let’s build a city with a tower that reaches to the sky! We’ll use hard bricks and tar instead of stone and mortar. We’ll become famous, and we won’t be scattered all over the world.

5 But when the Lord came down to look at the city and the tower,6 he said: These people are working together because they all speak the same language. This is just the beginning. Soon they will be able to do anything they want.

7 Come on! Let’s go down and confuse them by making them speak different languages—then they won’t be able to understand each other.
8-9 So the people had to stop building the city, because the Lord confused their language and scattered them all over the earth. That’s how the city of Babelt got its name.

The Descendants of Shem

10-11 10-11 Two years after the flood, when Shem was one hundred, he had a son named Arpachshad. He had more children and died at the age of six hundred. This is a list of his descendants:
12 When Arpachshad was thirty-five, he had a son named Shelah.

13 Arpachshad had more children and died at the age of four hundred thirty-eight.
14 When Shelah was thirty, he had a son named Eber.

15 Shelah had more children and died at the age of four hundred thirty-three.
16 When Eber was thirty-four, he had a son named Peleg.

17 Eber had more children and died at the age of four hundred sixty-four.
18 When Peleg was thirty, he had a son named Reu.

19 Peleg had more children and died at the age of two hundred thirty-nine.
20 When Reu was thirty-two he had a son named Serug.

21 Reu had more children and died at the age of two hundred thirty-nine.
22 When Serug was thirty, he had a son named Nahor.

23 Serug had more children and died at the age of two hundred thirty.
24 When Nahor was twenty-nine, he had a son named Terah.25 Nahor had more children and died at the age of one hundred forty-eight.

The Descendants of Terah

26-28 26-28 After Terah was seventy years old, he had three sons: Abram, Nahor, and Haran, who became the father of Lot. Terah’s sons were born in the city of Ur in Chaldea,t and Haran died there before the death of his father. The following is the story of Terah’s descendants.

29-30 Abram married Sarai, but she was not able to have any children. And Nahor married Milcah, who was the daughter of Haran and the sister of Iscah.
31 Terah decided to move from Ur to the land of Canaan. He took along Abram and Sarai and his grandson Lot, the son of Haran. But when they came to the city of Haran,t they decided to settle there instead.

32 Terah lived to be two hundred five years old and died in Haran.