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The Fall

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

And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit from the trees of the garden; but from the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You will not eat of it, nor will you touch it, or else you will die.’ ”

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

When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasing to the eyes and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate; and she gave to her husband with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. So they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.

Then they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. The Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?”

10 He said, “I heard Your voice in the garden and 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 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 of the tree, and I ate.”

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

And the woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

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

You are cursed above all livestock,
    and above every beast of the field;
you will go on your belly,
    and you will eat dust
    all the days of your life.
15 I will put enmity
    between you and the woman,
    and between your offspring and her offspring;
he will bruise your head,
    and you will bruise his heel.”

16 To the woman He said,

“I will greatly multiply your pain in childbirth,
    and in pain you will bring forth children;
your desire will be for your husband,
    and he will rule over you.”

17 And 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 of it,’

Cursed is the ground on account of you;
    in hard labor you will eat of it
    all the days of your life.
18 Thorns and thistles it will bring forth for you,
    and you will eat the plants of the field.
19 By the sweat of your face
    you will eat bread
until you return to the ground,
    because out of it you were taken;
for you are dust,
    and to dust you will return.”

20 The man called his wife’s name Eve because she was the mother of all the living.

21 The Lord God made garments of skins for both Adam and his wife and clothed them. 22 The Lord God said, “The man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil. And now, he might reach out his hand, and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever”— 23 therefore the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from which he was taken. 24 He drove the man out, and at the east of the garden of Eden He placed the cherubim and a flaming sword which turned in every direction, to guard the way to the tree of life.

The Fall

Now the serpent was more crafty than any other wild animal[a] which Yahweh God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God indeed say, ‘You shall not eat from any tree in the garden’?” The woman said to the serpent, “From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat, but from the tree that is in the midst of the garden, God said, ‘You shall not eat from it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die’.” But the serpent said to the woman, “You shall not surely die. For God knows that on the day you both eat from it, then your eyes will be opened and you both shall be like gods,[b] knowing good and evil.” When[c] the woman saw that the tree was good for food and that it was a delight to the eyes, and the tree was desirable to make one wise, then[d] she took from its fruit and she ate. And she gave it also to her husband with her, and he ate. Then[e] the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed together fig leaves and they made for themselves coverings.

Then[f] they heard the sound of Yahweh God walking in the garden at the windy time of day.[g] And the man[h] and his wife hid themselves from the presence of Yahweh God among the trees of the garden. And Yahweh God called to the man[i] and said to him, “Where are you?” 10 And he replied,[j] “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid because I am naked, so I hid myself.” 11 Then he[k] asked,[l] “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree from which I forbade you to eat?”[m] 12 And the man[n] replied,[o] “The woman whom you gave to be with me—she gave to me from the tree and I ate.” 13 Then[p] Yahweh God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” And the woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” 14 Then[q] Yahweh God said to the serpent,

“Because you have done this,
    you will be cursed
    more than any domesticated animal
    and more than any wild animal.[r]
On your belly you shall go
    and dust you shall eat
    all the days of your life.
15 And I will put hostility
    between you and between the woman,
    and between your offspring[s] and between her offspring;[t]
he will strike you on the head,
    and you will strike him on the heel.”

16 To the woman he said,

“I will greatly increase
    your pain in childbearing;[u]
    in pain you shall bear children.
And to your husband shall be your desire.
    And he shall rule over you.”

17 And to Adam[v] he said, “Because you listened to the voice of your wife and you ate from the tree from which I forbade you to eat,[w]

the ground shall be cursed on your account.
    In pain you shall eat from it
    all the days of your life.
18 And thorns and thistles shall sprout for you,
    and you shall eat the plants of the field.
19 By the sweat of your brow[x]
    you shall eat bread,
until your return to the ground.
    For from it you were taken;
for you are dust,
    and to dust you shall return.”

20 And the man[y] named[z] his wife Eve, because she was the mother of all life. 21 And Yahweh God made for Adam[aa] and for his wife garments of skin, and he clothed them.

22 And Yahweh God said, “Look—the man has become as one of us, to know good and evil. What if[ab] he stretches out his hand and takes also from the tree of life and eats, and lives forever?” 23 And Yahweh God sent him out from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from which he was taken. 24 So[ac] he drove the man out, and placed cherubim east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming, turning sword[ad] to guard the way to the tree of life.

Footnotes

  1. Genesis 3:1 Literally “animal of the field”
  2. Genesis 3:5 The plural is in the context of v. 22 “one of us” and the plural suffix pronouns [[“you all”]] throughout the verse
  3. Genesis 3:6 Or “And”
  4. Genesis 3:6 Or “and”
  5. Genesis 3:7 Or “And”
  6. Genesis 3:8 Or “And”
  7. Genesis 3:8 Literally “at the wind of the day”
  8. Genesis 3:8 “The man” indicates the noun is singular and occurs with the definite article
  9. Genesis 3:9 “The man” indicates the noun is singular and occurs with the definite article
  10. Genesis 3:10 Literally “And he said”; “replied” distinguishes Adam as the speaker
  11. Genesis 3:11 That is, Yahweh God
  12. Genesis 3:11 Or “said”
  13. Genesis 3:11 Literally “the tree which I commanded to not eat from it”
  14. Genesis 3:12 “The man” indicates the noun is singular and occurs with the definite article
  15. Genesis 3:12 Or “said”
  16. Genesis 3:13 Or “And”
  17. Genesis 3:14 Or “And”
  18. Genesis 3:14 Literally “animal of the earth/land”
  19. Genesis 3:15 Literally “seed”
  20. Genesis 3:15 Literally “seed”
  21. Genesis 3:16 Literally “your pain and your childbearing”
  22. Genesis 3:17 The noun lacks the definite article and is taken as a proper noun in this context
  23. Genesis 3:17 Literally “from the tree which I commanded saying not to eat from it”
  24. Genesis 3:19 Literally “your face”
  25. Genesis 3:20 “The man” indicates the noun is singular and occurs with the definite article
  26. Genesis 3:20 Literally “called the name”
  27. Genesis 3:21 The noun lacks the definite article and is taken as a proper noun in this context
  28. Genesis 3:22 Literally “And now lest”
  29. Genesis 3:24 Or “And”
  30. Genesis 3:24 Literally “a flame of the sword which was turning”