The Fall

Now (A)the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made.

He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You[a] shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said, (B)‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’” (C)But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, 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,[b] she took of its fruit (D)and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, (E)and he ate. (F)Then the eyes of both were opened, (G)and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.

And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool[c] of the day, and the man and his wife (H)hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?”[d] 10 And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, (I)because I was naked, and I hid myself.” 11 He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” 12 The man said, (J)“The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.” 13 Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, (K)“The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

14 The Lord God said to the serpent,

“Because you have done this,
    cursed are you above all livestock
    and above all beasts of the field;
on your belly you shall go,
    and (L)dust you shall eat
    all the days of your life.
15 I will put enmity between you and the woman,
    and between your offspring[e] and (M)her offspring;
(N)he shall bruise your head,
    and you shall bruise his heel.”

16 To the woman he said,

“I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing;
    (O)in pain you shall bring forth children.
(P)Your desire shall be contrary to[f] your husband,
    but he shall (Q)rule over you.”

17 And to Adam he said,

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

20 The man called his wife's name Eve, because she was the mother of all living.[g] 21 And the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them.

22 Then the Lord God said, (W)“Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand (X)and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever—” 23 therefore the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden (Y)to work the ground from which he was taken. 24 He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the (Z)cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life.

Footnotes

  1. Genesis 3:1 In Hebrew you is plural in verses 1–5
  2. Genesis 3:6 Or to give insight
  3. Genesis 3:8 Hebrew wind
  4. Genesis 3:9 In Hebrew you is singular in verses 9 and 11
  5. Genesis 3:15 Hebrew seed; so throughout Genesis
  6. Genesis 3:16 Or shall be toward (see 4:7)
  7. Genesis 3:20 Eve sounds like the Hebrew for life-giver and resembles the word for living

The Temptation and Fall of Man(A)

Now (B)the serpent was (C)more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?”

And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the (D)fruit of the trees of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you (E)touch it, lest you die.’ ”

(F)Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

So when the woman (G)saw that the tree was good for food, that it was [a]pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit (H)and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, (I)and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves [b]coverings.

And they heard (J)the [c]sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the [d]cool of the day, and Adam and his wife (K)hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.

Then the Lord God called to Adam and said to him, “Where are you?”

10 So he said, “I heard Your voice in the garden, (L)and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself.”

11 And He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat?”

12 Then the man said, (M)“The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate.”

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

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

14 So the Lord God said to the serpent:

“Because you have done this,
You are cursed more than all cattle,
And more than every beast of the field;
On your belly you shall go,
And (O)you shall eat dust
All the days of your life.
15 And I will put enmity
Between you and the woman,
And between (P)your seed and (Q)her Seed;
(R)He shall bruise your head,
And you shall bruise His heel.”

16 To the woman He said:

“I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception;
(S)In pain you shall bring forth children;
(T)Your desire shall be [e]for your husband,
And he shall (U)rule over you.”

17 Then to Adam He said, (V)“Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree (W)of which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it’:

(X)“Cursed is the ground for your sake;
(Y)In toil you shall eat of it
All the days of your life.
18 Both thorns and thistles it shall [f]bring forth for you,
And (Z)you shall eat the herb of the field.
19 (AA)In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread
Till you return to the ground,
For out of it you were taken;
(AB)For dust you are,
And (AC)to dust you shall return.”

20 And Adam called his wife’s name (AD)Eve,[g] because she was the mother of all living.

21 Also for Adam and his wife the Lord God made tunics of skin, and clothed them.

22 Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil. And now, lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever”— 23 therefore the Lord God sent him out of the garden of Eden (AE)to till the ground from which he was taken. 24 So (AF)He drove out the man; and He placed (AG)cherubim (AH)at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of (AI)life.

Footnotes

  1. Genesis 3:6 Lit. a desirable thing
  2. Genesis 3:7 girding coverings
  3. Genesis 3:8 Or voice
  4. Genesis 3:8 Or wind, breeze
  5. Genesis 3:16 Lit. toward
  6. Genesis 3:18 cause to grow
  7. Genesis 3:20 Lit. Life or Living