And God said, This is the token of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations:
Parallel translations
- WEB God said, “This is the token of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations:
- BSB And 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:
- NKJV And God said: “This is the sign of the covenant which I make between Me and you, and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations:
- NASB God said, “This is the sign of the covenant which I am making between Me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations;
- NLT Then God said, “I am giving you a sign of my covenant with you and with all living creatures, for all generations to come.
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 gives a sign to mark His covenant for all generations to come. He attaches a visible token to His enduring promise.
Overview
God announces that He will give a perpetual sign of the covenant He has made with Noah and every living creature. Covenant signs are gracious helps, fixing God's promises before our eyes. As the rainbow seals the Noahic covenant, so signs like baptism and the Lord's Supper seal the new covenant secured in Christ's blood.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- Gen 17:11And ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be a token of the covenant betwixt me and you.
- Matt 26:26–28And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body.
- Exod 12:13And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt.
- Gen 9:17And God said unto Noah, This is the token of the covenant, which I have established between me and all flesh that is upon the earth.
- 1 Cor 11:23–25For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread:
- Exod 13:16And it shall be for a token upon thine hand, and for frontlets between thine eyes: for by strength of hand the LORD brought us forth out of Egypt.
- Josh 2:12Now therefore, I pray you, swear unto me by the LORD, since I have shewed you kindness, that ye will also shew kindness unto my father’s house, and give me a true token:
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 9:12 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
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