Bring out all the living creatures that are with you—birds, livestock, and everything that crawls upon the ground—so that they can spread out over the earth and be fruitful and multiply upon it.”
Parallel translations
- WEB Bring out with you every living thing that is with you of all flesh, including birds, livestock, and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, that they may breed abundantly in the earth, and be fruitful, and multiply on the earth.”
- KJV Bring forth with thee every living thing that is with thee, of all flesh, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth; that they may breed abundantly in the earth, and be fruitful, and multiply upon the earth.
- NKJV Bring out with you every living thing of all flesh that is with you: birds and cattle and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, so that they may abound on the earth, and be fruitful and multiply on the earth.”
- NASB Bring out with you every living thing of all flesh that is with you, birds and animals and every crawling thing that crawls on the earth, that they may breed abundantly on the earth, and be fruitful and multiply on the earth.”
- NLT Release all the animals—the birds, the livestock, and the small animals that scurry along the ground—so they can be fruitful and multiply throughout the earth.”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
God tells Noah to bring out all the creatures so they may multiply and be fruitful on the earth. Creation is renewed with God's original blessing.
Overview
The command to be fruitful and multiply echoes God's blessing at creation, marking a fresh start for the world. Life is to teem again upon the renewed earth. This restoration of the creation mandate shows God's faithfulness to his purposes and his commitment to fill the earth with life.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Gen 1:22Then God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters of the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.”
- Ps 107:38He blesses them, and they multiply greatly; He does not let their herds diminish.
- Gen 9:1And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.
- Jer 31:27–28“The days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man and of beast.
- Gen 1:28God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and every creature that crawls upon the earth.”
- Gen 7:14–15they and every kind of wild animal, livestock, crawling creature, bird, and winged creature.
- Gen 9:7But as for you, be fruitful and multiply; spread out across the earth and multiply upon it.”
- Ps 144:13–14Our storehouses will be full, supplying all manner of produce; our flocks will bring forth thousands, tens of thousands in our fields.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
From the first promise that the seed of the woman would crush the serpent (3:15), through Abraham's blessing to all nations and Judah's coming ruler, Genesis sows every seed that flowers in Christ — the true offspring, the better Adam, the ram caught for Isaac.
How Genesis 8:17 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.