始祖犯罪

在耶和华上帝所造的田野的各种动物中,蛇最狡猾。蛇对女人说:“上帝真的说过不许你们吃园中所有树上的果子吗?” 女人回答说:“我们可以吃园中树上的果子, 只是不可以吃园子中间那棵树的果子。上帝曾经吩咐说,‘你们不可吃那果子,也不可摸,否则你们就会死。’” 蛇对女人说:“你们一定不会死! 上帝那样说是因为祂知道你们吃了那树的果子以后,眼睛就会明亮,像上帝一样懂得分辨善恶。” 女人见那棵树上的果子可口,赏心悦目,可以使人有智慧,就摘下来吃了。她也把果子给跟她在一起的丈夫,他也吃了。 二人的眼睛果然明亮起来,这才发觉自己原来赤身露体,便把无花果树的叶子编起来遮体。

傍晚天凉时,夫妇二人听见耶和华上帝在园中行走的声音,就藏在园子的树丛中,想躲开耶和华上帝。 耶和华上帝呼唤那人说:“你在哪里?” 10 那人说:“我听见你在园中行走的声音,就害怕得躲了起来,因为我赤身露体!” 11 耶和华上帝问:“谁说你赤身露体?难道你吃了我吩咐你不可吃的果子吗?” 12 那人说:“你赐给我作伴的女人摘了那树上的果子给我,我就吃了。” 13 耶和华上帝对女人说:“你这做的是什么事?”女人说:“是蛇诱骗我,我才吃的。”

上帝的审判

14 耶和华上帝对蛇说:

“你既然做了这事,
你要比一切的牲畜和野兽受更重的咒诅,
你要用肚子爬行,
一生都要吃尘土。
15 我要使你和女人结仇,
你的后代和女人的后代也要彼此为仇,
女人的后代必伤你的头,
你必伤他的脚跟。”

16 耶和华上帝对女人说:

“我必大大加重你怀孕的痛苦,
你分娩时必受痛苦。
你必恋慕[a]自己的丈夫,
你的丈夫必管辖你。”

17 耶和华上帝又对亚当说:

“因为你听从妻子的话,
吃了我吩咐你不可吃的果子,
地必因你而受咒诅。
你必终生艰辛劳苦,
才能吃到地里出产的食物。
18 地必给你长出荆棘和蒺藜,
你要吃田间长出来的菜蔬。
19 你必汗流满面,才有饭吃,
一直到你归回尘土。
因为你是尘土造的,
也必归回尘土。”

20 亚当给他的妻子取名叫夏娃,因为她是众生之母。 21 耶和华上帝做了皮衣给他们夫妇穿。 22 耶和华上帝说:“看啊,那人已经与我们相似,能分辨善恶。现在,恐怕他会伸手去摘生命树的果子吃,那样他就会永远活着。” 23 因此,耶和华上帝就把亚当赶出伊甸园,让他去开垦土地——他的本源。 24 上帝赶走了亚当以后,就派遣基路伯天使驻守在伊甸园东边,又用一把旋转的火剑守护在通往生命树的路上。

Footnotes

  1. 3:16 恋慕”或译“想控制”。

The Beginning of Sin

Now the snake was the most clever of all the wild animals the Lord God had made. One day the snake spoke to the woman. He said, “Did God really say that you must not eat fruit from any tree in the garden?”

The woman answered the snake, “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. You must not even touch it, or you will die.’”

But the snake said to the woman, “You will not die. God knows that if you eat the fruit from that tree, you will learn about good and evil. Then you will be like God!”

The woman saw that the tree was beautiful. She saw that its fruit was good to eat 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, and he ate it.

Then, it was as if the man’s and the woman’s eyes were opened. They realized they were naked. So they sewed fig leaves together and made something to cover themselves.

Then they heard the Lord God walking in the garden. This was 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. The Lord said, “Where are you?”

10 The man answered, “I heard you walking in the garden. I was afraid because I was naked. So I hid.”

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

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

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

She answered, “The snake tricked me. So I ate the fruit.”

14 The Lord God said to the snake,

“Because you did this,
    a curse will be put on you.
    You will be cursed more than any tame animal or wild animal.
You will crawl on your stomach,
    and you will eat dust all the days of your life.
15 I will make you and the woman
    enemies to each other.
Your descendants and her descendants
    will be enemies.
Her child will crush your head.
    And you will bite his heel.”

16 Then God said to the woman,

“I will cause you to have much trouble
    when you are pregnant.
And when you give birth to children,
    you will have great pain.
You will greatly desire your husband,
    but he will rule over you.”

17 Then God said to the man, “You listened to what your wife said. And you ate fruit from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from.

“So I will put a curse on the ground.
    You will have to work very hard for food.
In pain you will eat its food
    all the days of your life.
18 The ground will produce thorns and weeds for you.
    And you will eat the plants of the field.
19 You will sweat and work hard
    for your food.
Later you will return to the ground.
    This is because you were taken from the ground.
You are dust.
    And when you die, you will return to the dust.”

20 The man named his wife Eve.[a] This is because she is the mother of everyone who ever lived.

21 The Lord God made clothes from animal skins for the man and his wife. And so the Lord dressed them. 22 Then the Lord God said, “Look, the man has become like one of us. He knows good and evil. And now we must keep him from eating some of the fruit from the tree of life. If he does, he will live forever.” 23 So the Lord God forced the man out of the garden of Eden. He had to work the ground he was taken from. 24 God forced the man out of the garden. Then God put angels on the east side of the garden. He also put a sword of fire there. It flashed around in every direction. This kept people from getting to the tree of life.

Footnotes

  1. 3:20 Eve This name sounds like the Hebrew word meaning “alive.”

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.

Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?

And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:

But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.

And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:

For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.

And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.

And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.

And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden.

And the Lord God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?

10 And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.

11 And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?

12 And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.

13 And the Lord God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.

14 And the Lord God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:

15 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

16 Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.

17 And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;

18 Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field;

19 In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.

20 And Adam called his wife's name Eve; because she was the mother of all living.

21 Unto Adam also and to his wife did the Lord God make coats of skins, and clothed them.

22 And the Lord God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever:

23 Therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken.

24 So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.