Genesis 3
Holman Christian Standard Bible
The Temptation and the Fall
3 Now the serpent was the most cunning of all the wild animals that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You can’t eat from any tree in the garden’?”(A)
2 The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit from the trees in the garden. 3 But about the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden, God said, ‘You must not eat it or touch it, or you will die.’”(B)
4 “No! You will not die,” the serpent said to the woman.(C) 5 “In fact, God knows that when[a] you eat it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God,[b] knowing good and evil.” 6 Then the woman saw that the tree was good for food and delightful to look at, and that it was desirable for obtaining wisdom. So she took some of its fruit and ate it; she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.(D) 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made loincloths for themselves.
Sin’s Consequences
8 Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden at the time of the evening breeze,[c] and they hid themselves from the Lord God among the trees of the garden.(E) 9 So the Lord God called out to the man and said to him, “Where are you?”
10 And he said, “I heard You[d] in the garden and I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid.”
11 Then He asked, “Who told you that you were naked? Did you eat from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?”
12 Then the man replied,(F) “The woman You gave to be with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate.”
13 So the Lord God asked the woman, “What is this you have done?”
And the woman said, “It was the serpent. He deceived me, and I ate.”(G)
14 Then the Lord God said to the serpent:
Because you have done this,
you are cursed more than any livestock
and more than any wild animal.
You will move on your belly
and eat dust all the days of your life.(H)
15 I will put hostility between you and the woman,
and between your seed and her seed.
He will strike your head,
and you will strike his heel.(I)
16 He said to the woman:
I will intensify your labor pains;
you will bear children in anguish.(J)
Your desire(K) will be for your husband,
yet he will rule over you.
17 And He said to Adam, “Because you listened to your wife’s voice and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘Do not eat from it’:
The ground is cursed because of you.(L)
You will eat from it by means of painful labor[e]
all the days of your life.
18 It will produce thorns and thistles for you,
and you will eat the plants of the field.(M)
19 You will eat bread[f] by the sweat of your brow
until you return to the ground,(N)
since you were taken from it.
For you are dust,
and you will return to dust.”
20 Adam named his wife Eve[g] because she was the mother of all the living. 21 The Lord God made clothing out of skins for Adam and his wife, and He clothed them.
22 The Lord God said, “Since man has become like one of Us, knowing good and evil, he must not reach out, take from the tree of life, eat, and live forever.”(O) 23 So the Lord God sent him away from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken. 24 He drove man out and stationed the cherubim and the flaming, whirling sword east of the garden of Eden to guard the way to the tree of life.(P)
Footnotes
- Genesis 3:5 Lit on the day
- Genesis 3:5 Or gods, or divine beings
- Genesis 3:8 Lit at the wind of the day
- Genesis 3:10 Lit the sound of You
- Genesis 3:17 Lit it through pain
- Genesis 3:19 Or food
- Genesis 3:20 Lit Living, or Life
Genesis 3
New American Standard Bible
The Fall of Mankind
3 Now (A)the serpent was more cunning than any animal of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God really said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden’?” 2 The woman said to the serpent, “(B)From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; 3 but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die.’” 4 (C)The serpent said to the woman, “You certainly will not die! 5 For God knows that on the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and (D)you will [a]become like God, knowing good and evil.” 6 (E)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 desirable to make one wise, she took some of its fruit and ate; and she also gave some to her husband with her, and he ate. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they (F)knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves waist coverings.
8 Now they heard the sound of (G)the Lord God walking in the garden in the [b]cool of the day, (H)and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 9 Then the Lord God called to the man, and said to him, “(I)Where are you?” 10 He said, “(J)I heard the sound of You in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid myself.” 11 And He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree from which I commanded you not to eat?” 12 (K)The man said, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me some of the fruit of the tree, and I ate.” 13 Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” And the woman said, “(L)The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” 14 Then the Lord God said to the serpent,
“(M)Because you have done this,
Cursed are you more than all the livestock,
And more than any animal of the field;
On your belly you shall go,
And (N)dust you shall eat
All the days of your life;
15 And I will [c](O)make enemies
Of you and the woman,
And of your [d]offspring and her [e]Descendant;
(P)He shall [f]bruise you on the head,
And you shall bruise Him on the heel.”
16 To the woman He said,
“I will greatly multiply
Your pain [g]in childbirth,
In pain you shall (Q)deliver children;
Yet your desire will be for your husband,
And (R)he shall rule over you.”
17 Then to Adam He said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree about which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat from it’;
(S)Cursed is the ground because of you;
(T)With [h]hard labor you shall eat from it
All the days of your life.
18 Both thorns and thistles it shall grow for you;
Yet you shall eat the [i]plants of the field;
19 By the sweat of your face
You shall eat bread,
Until you (U)return to the ground,
Because (V)from it you were taken;
For you are dust,
And to dust you shall return.”
20 Now the man named his wife [j](W)Eve, because she was the mother of all the living. 21 And the Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife, and clothed them.
22 Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of (X)Us, knowing good and evil; and now, he might reach out with his hand, and take fruit also from (Y)the tree of life, and eat, and live forever”— 23 therefore the Lord God sent him out of the Garden of Eden, to cultivate the ground from which he was taken. 24 So (Z)He drove the man out; and at the (AA)east of the Garden of Eden He stationed the (AB)cherubim and the flaming sword which turned every direction to guard the way to (AC)the tree of life.
Footnotes
- Genesis 3:5 Or be
- Genesis 3:8 Lit breeze of
- Genesis 3:15 Lit put enmity between you
- Genesis 3:15 Lit seed
- Genesis 3:15 Lit Seed; i.e., a prophetic reference to Christ
- Genesis 3:15 Or crush
- Genesis 3:16 Lit and your pregnancy
- Genesis 3:17 Or hardship
- Genesis 3:18 Lit plant
- Genesis 3:20 I.e., living; or life
Genesis 3
The Message
3 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.”
6 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.
7 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.
8 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.
9 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.
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Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson