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

Now the serpent was more subtle than any of the beasts of the earth which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman: Why hath God commanded you, that you should not eat of every tree of paradise?

And the woman answered him, saying: Of the fruit of the trees that are in paradise we do eat:

But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of paradise, God hath commanded us that we should not eat; and that we should not touch it, lest perhaps we die.

And the serpent said to the woman: No, you shall not die the death.

For God doth know that in what day soever you shall eat thereof, your eyes shall be opened: and you shall be as Gods, knowing good and evil.

And the woman saw that the tree was good to eat, and fair to the eyes, and delightful to behold: and she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave to her husband who did eat.

And the eyes of them both were opened: and when they perceived themselves to be naked, they sewed together fig leaves, and made themselves aprons.

And when they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in paradise at the afternoon air, Adam and his wife hid themselves from the face of the Lord God, amidst the trees of paradise.

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

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

11 And he said to him: And who hath told thee that thou wast naked, but that thou hast eaten of the tree whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldst not eat?

12 And Adam said: The woman, whom thou gavest me to be my companion, gave me of the tree, and I did eat.

13 And the Lord God said to the woman: Why hast thou done this? And she answered: The serpent deceived me, and I did eat.

14 And the Lord God said to the serpent: Because thou hast done this thing, thou art cursed among all cattle, and beasts of the earth: upon thy breast shalt thou go, and earth shalt thou eat all the days of thy life.

15 I will put enmities between thee and the woman, and thy seed and her seed: she shall crush thy head, and thou shalt lie in wait for her heel.

16 To the woman also he said: I will multiply thy sorrows, and thy conceptions: in sorrow shalt thou bring forth children, and thou shalt be under thy husband's power, and he shall have dominion over thee.

17 And to Adam he said: Because thou hast hearkened to the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldst not eat, cursed is the earth in thy work; with labour and toil shalt thou eat thereof all the days of thy life.

18 Thorns and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herbs of the earth.

19 In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread till thou return to the earth, out of which thou wast taken: for dust thou art, and into dust thou shalt return.

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

21 And the Lord God made for Adam and his wife, garments of skins, and clothed them.

22 And he said: Behold Adam is become as one of us, knowing good and evil: now, therefore, lest perhaps he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever.

23 And the Lord God sent him out of the paradise of pleasure, to till the earth from which he was taken.

24 And he cast out Adam; and placed before the paradise of pleasure Cherubims, and a flaming sword, turning every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.

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.