Print Page Options Listen to Genesis 3

The Fall

Now the serpent(A) was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?(B)

The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden,(C) but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’”(D)

“You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman.(E) “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God,(F) knowing good and evil.”

When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable(G) for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband,(H) who was with her, and he ate it.(I) Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked;(J) so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.(K)

Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking(L) in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid(M) from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?”(N)

10 He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid(O) because I was naked;(P) so I hid.”

11 And he said, “Who told you that you were naked?(Q) Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?(R)

12 The man said, “The woman you put here with me(S)—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.”

13 Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?”

The woman said, “The serpent deceived me,(T) and I ate.”

14 So the Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this,

“Cursed(U) are you above all livestock
    and all wild animals!
You will crawl on your belly
    and you will eat dust(V)
    all the days of your life.
15 And I will put enmity
    between you and the woman,
    and between your offspring[a](W) and hers;(X)
he will crush[b] your head,(Y)
    and you will strike his heel.”

16 To the woman he said,

“I will make your pains in childbearing very severe;
    with painful labor you will give birth to children.(Z)
Your desire will be for your husband,
    and he will rule over you.(AA)

17 To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat from it,’(AB)

“Cursed(AC) is the ground(AD) because of you;
    through painful toil(AE) you will eat food from it
    all the days of your life.(AF)
18 It will produce thorns and thistles(AG) for you,
    and you will eat the plants of the field.(AH)
19 By the sweat of your brow(AI)
    you will eat your food(AJ)
until you return to the ground,
    since from it you were taken;
for dust you are
    and to dust you will return.”(AK)

20 Adam[c] named his wife Eve,[d](AL) because she would become the mother of all the living.

21 The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them.(AM) 22 And the Lord God said, “The man has now become like one of us,(AN) knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life(AO) and eat, and live forever.” 23 So the Lord God banished him from the Garden of Eden(AP) to work the ground(AQ) from which he had been taken. 24 After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side[e] of the Garden of Eden(AR) cherubim(AS) and a flaming sword(AT) flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.(AU)

Footnotes

  1. Genesis 3:15 Or seed
  2. Genesis 3:15 Or strike
  3. Genesis 3:20 Or The man
  4. Genesis 3:20 Eve probably means living.
  5. Genesis 3:24 Or placed in front

The First Sin and Its Punishment

Now the serpent was more crafty than any other wild animal that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God say, ‘You shall not eat from any tree in the garden’?”(A) The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the garden, nor shall you touch it, or you shall die.’ ”(B) But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not die,(C) for God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God,[a] knowing good and evil.” So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food and that it was a delight to the eyes and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate.(D) Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked, and they sewed fig leaves together and made loincloths for themselves.

They heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden at the time of the evening breeze, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.(E) But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” 10 He said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.”(F) 11 He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” 12 The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit from the tree, and I ate.”(G) 13 Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent tricked me, and I ate.”(H) 14 The Lord God said to the serpent,

“Because you have done this,
    cursed are you among all animals
    and among all wild creatures;
upon your belly you shall go,
    and dust you shall eat
    all the days of your life.(I)
15 I will put enmity between you and the woman
    and between your offspring and hers;
he will strike your head,
    and you will strike his heel.”(J)

16 To the woman he said,

“I will make your pangs in childbirth exceedingly great;
    in pain you shall bring forth children,
yet your desire shall be for your husband,
    and he shall rule over you.”(K)

17 And to the man[b] he said,

“Because you have listened to the voice of your wife
    and have eaten of the tree
about which I commanded you,
    ‘You shall not eat of it,’
cursed is the ground because of you;
    in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life;(L)
18 thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you;
    and you shall eat the plants of the field.(M)
19 By the sweat of your face
    you shall eat bread
until you return to the ground,
    for out of it you were taken;
you are dust,
    and to dust you shall return.”(N)

20 The man named his wife Eve[c] because she was the mother of all living. 21 And the Lord God made garments of skins for the man[d] and for his wife and clothed them.

22 Then the Lord God said, “See, the humans have become like one of us, knowing good and evil, and now they might reach out their hands and take also from the tree of life and eat and live forever”(O) 23 therefore the Lord God sent them forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from which they were taken.(P) 24 He drove out the humans, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a sword flaming and turning to guard the way to the tree of life.(Q)

Footnotes

  1. 3.5 Or gods
  2. 3.17 Or to Adam
  3. 3.20 In Heb Eve resembles the word for living
  4. 3.21 Or for Adam

The serpent was clever, more clever than any wild animal God had made. He spoke to the Woman: “Do I understand that God told you not to eat from any tree in the garden?”

2-3 The Woman said to the serpent, “Not at all. We can eat from the trees in the garden. It’s only about the tree in the middle of the garden that God said, ‘Don’t eat from it; don’t even touch it or you’ll die.’”

4-5 The serpent told the Woman, “You won’t die. God knows that the moment you eat from that tree, you’ll see what’s really going on. You’ll be just like God, knowing everything, ranging all the way from good to evil.”

When the Woman saw that the tree looked like good eating and realized what she would get out of it—she’d know everything!—she took and ate the fruit and then gave some to her husband, and he ate.

Immediately the two of them did “see what’s really going on”—saw themselves naked! They sewed fig leaves together as makeshift clothes for themselves.

When they heard the sound of God strolling in the garden in the evening breeze, the Man and his Wife hid in the trees of the garden, hid from God.

God called to the Man: “Where are you?”

10 He said, “I heard you in the garden and I was afraid because I was naked. And I hid.”

11 God said, “Who told you that you were naked? Did you eat from that tree I told you not to eat from?”

12 The Man said, “The Woman you gave me as a companion, she gave me fruit from the tree, and, yes, I ate it.”

God said to the Woman, “What is this that you’ve done?”

13 “The serpent seduced me,” she said, “and I ate.”

14-15     God told the serpent:
“Because you’ve done this, you’re cursed,
    cursed beyond all cattle and wild animals,
Cursed to slink on your belly
    and eat dirt all your life.
I’m declaring war between you and the Woman,
    between your offspring and hers.
He’ll wound your head,
    you’ll wound his heel.”

16     He told the Woman:
“I’ll multiply your pains in childbirth;
    you’ll give birth to your babies in pain.
You’ll want to please your husband,
    but he’ll lord it over you.”

17-19     He told the Man:
“Because you listened to your wife
    and ate from the tree
That I commanded you not to eat from,
    ‘Don’t eat from this tree,’
The very ground is cursed because of you;
    getting food from the ground
Will be as painful as having babies is for your wife;
    you’ll be working in pain all your life long.
The ground will sprout thorns and weeds,
    you’ll get your food the hard way,
Planting and tilling and harvesting,
    sweating in the fields from dawn to dusk,
Until you return to that ground yourself, dead and buried;
    you started out as dirt, you’ll end up dirt.”

20 The Man, known as Adam, named his wife Eve because she was the mother of all the living.

21 God made leather clothing for Adam and his wife and dressed them.

22 God said, “The Man has become like one of us, capable of knowing everything, ranging from good to evil. What if he now should reach out and take fruit from the Tree-of-Life and eat, and live forever? Never—this cannot happen!”

23-24 So God expelled them from the Garden of Eden and sent them to work the ground, the same dirt out of which they’d been made. He threw them out of the garden and stationed angel-cherubim and a revolving sword of fire east of it, guarding the path to the Tree-of-Life.

The Man and Woman Sin

The serpent was the shrewdest of all the wild animals the Lord God had made. One day he asked the woman, “Did God really say you must not eat the fruit from any of the trees in the garden?”

“Of course we may eat fruit from the trees in the garden,” the woman replied. “It’s only the fruit from the tree in the middle of the garden that we are not allowed to eat. God said, ‘You must not eat it or even touch it; if you do, you will die.’”

“You won’t die!” the serpent replied to the woman. “God knows that your eyes will be opened as soon as you eat it, and you will be like God, knowing both good and evil.”

The woman was convinced. She saw that the tree was beautiful and its fruit looked delicious, and she wanted the wisdom it would give her. So she took some of the fruit and ate it. Then she gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it, too. At that moment their eyes were opened, and they suddenly felt shame at their nakedness. So they sewed fig leaves together to cover themselves.

When the cool evening breezes were blowing, the man[a] and his wife heard the Lord God walking about in the garden. So they hid from the Lord God among the trees. Then the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?”

10 He replied, “I heard you walking in the garden, so I hid. I was afraid because I was naked.”

11 “Who told you that you were naked?” the Lord God asked. “Have you eaten from the tree whose fruit I commanded you not to eat?”

12 The man replied, “It was the woman you gave me who gave me the fruit, and I ate it.”

13 Then the Lord God asked the woman, “What have you done?”

“The serpent deceived me,” she replied. “That’s why I ate it.”

14 Then the Lord God said to the serpent,

“Because you have done this, you are cursed
    more than all animals, domestic and wild.
You will crawl on your belly,
    groveling in the dust as long as you live.
15 And I will cause hostility between you and the woman,
    and between your offspring and her offspring.
He will strike[b] your head,
    and you will strike his heel.”

16 Then he said to the woman,

“I will sharpen the pain of your pregnancy,
    and in pain you will give birth.
And you will desire to control your husband,
    but he will rule over you.[c]

17 And to the man he said,

“Since you listened to your wife and ate from the tree
    whose fruit I commanded you not to eat,
the ground is cursed because of you.
    All your life you will struggle to scratch a living from it.
18 It will grow thorns and thistles for you,
    though you will eat of its grains.
19 By the sweat of your brow
    will you have food to eat
until you return to the ground
    from which you were made.
For you were made from dust,
    and to dust you will return.”

Paradise Lost: God’s Judgment

20 Then the man—Adam—named his wife Eve, because she would be the mother of all who live.[d] 21 And the Lord God made clothing from animal skins for Adam and his wife.

22 Then the Lord God said, “Look, the human beings[e] have become like us, knowing both good and evil. What if they reach out, take fruit from the tree of life, and eat it? Then they will live forever!” 23 So the Lord God banished them from the Garden of Eden, and he sent Adam out to cultivate the ground from which he had been made. 24 After sending them out, the Lord God stationed mighty cherubim to the east of the Garden of Eden. And he placed a flaming sword that flashed back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.

Footnotes

  1. 3:8 Or Adam, and so throughout the chapter.
  2. 3:15 Or bruise; also in 3:15b.
  3. 3:16 Or And though you will have desire for your husband, / he will rule over you.
  4. 3:20 Eve sounds like a Hebrew term that means “to give life.”
  5. 3:22 Or the man; Hebrew reads ha-adam.

The Beginning of Sin

Now the ·snake [serpent] was the most ·clever [shrewd; cunning; crafty] of all the wild animals the Lord God had made. One day the snake said to the woman, “Did God really say that you must not eat fruit from any tree in the garden?”

The woman answered the snake [3:1], “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden. But God told us, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden [C the tree of the knowledge of good and evil]. You must not even touch it [C Eve was adding to the divine command], or you will die.’ ”

But the snake [3:1] said to the woman, “You will [L most certainly] not die. [L For] God knows that if you eat ·the fruit from that tree [L from it], [L your eyes will be opened and] you will ·learn about [experience; L know about] good and evil and you will be like God!”

The woman saw that the tree was ·beautiful [L pleasing to the eyes], that its fruit was good ·to eat [L for food], and that it would make her wise. So she took some of its fruit and ate it. She also gave some of the fruit to her husband who was with her [C apparently he was present but silent while the woman spoke to the snake], and he ate it.

Then, ·it was as if their eyes [L the eyes of both of them] were opened. They ·realized [knew] they were naked, so they sewed fig leaves together and made ·something to cover [L loincloths for] themselves [Rom. 5:12–21].

Then they heard the [L sound of the] Lord God walking in the garden during the cool part of the day, and the man and his wife hid from the Lord God among the trees in the garden. But the Lord God called to the man and said, “Where are you?”

10 The man answered, “I heard ·you walking in the garden [L your voice/sound], and I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid.”

11 ·God [L He] asked, “Who told you that you were naked? Did you eat fruit from the tree from which I commanded you not to eat?”

12 The man said, “You gave this woman to me and she gave me fruit from the tree, so I ate it.”

13 Then the Lord God said to the woman, “·How could you have done such a thing [What is this you have done]?”

She answered, “The snake ·tricked [deceived; 1 Tim. 2:14] me, so I ate the fruit.”

14 The Lord God said to the ·snake [serpent],

“Because you did this,
    a curse will be put on you.
    You will be cursed as no other animal, ·tame [beasts; livestock] or ·wild [L of the field], will ever be.
You will ·crawl [go] on your ·stomach [belly],
    and you will eat dust all the days of your life.
15 I will ·make you and the woman
    enemies to each other [T place hostility/enmity between you and the woman].
Your ·descendants [L seed] and her ·descendants [L seed]
    will be enemies.
·One of her descendants [L He] will crush your head,
    and you will ·bite [strike; T bruise; L crush] his heel [Rom. 16:20; Rev. 12:9].”

16 Then God said to the woman,

“I will ·cause you to have much trouble [or increase your pain]
    ·when you are pregnant [in childbearing],
and when you give birth to children,
    you will have great pain.
You will greatly desire [C the word implies a desire to control; 4:7] your husband,
    but he will rule over you.”

17 Then God said to ·the man [or Adam; 1:27], “You listened to what your wife said, and you ate fruit from the tree from which I commanded you not to eat.

“·So I will put a curse on [Cursed is] the ground,
    and you will have to ·work very hard [toil; labor] for your food.
In pain you will eat its food
    all the days of your life.
18 The ground will produce thorns and ·weeds [thistles] for you,
    and you will eat the plants of the field.
19 ·You will sweat and work hard for [L By the sweat of your brow you will eat] your food.
Later you will return to the ground,
    because you were taken from it.
You are dust,
    and ·when you die, you will return to the dust [T to dust you will return; 1 Cor. 15:21-22, 40–45].”

20 The man named his wife Eve [C the name derives from an early form of the verb “to live”], because she was the mother of all the living.

21 The Lord God made clothes from animal skins for ·the man [or Adam; 1:27] and his wife and dressed them. 22 Then the Lord God said, “Humans have become like one of us [C referring to the supernatural heavenly beings, God and the angels]; they know good and evil. We must keep them from [L putting forth their hand and taking and] eating some of the fruit from the tree of life, or they will live forever.” 23 So the Lord God ·forced [expelled] Adam out of the garden of Eden to ·work [till; or care for; 2:5] the ground from which he was taken. 24 After God ·forced [drove] humans out of the garden, he placed ·angels [L cherubim; C particularly powerful spiritual beings] and a sword of fire that flashed around in every direction on its eastern border. ·This kept people from getting […to guard the way] to the tree of life.