Genesis 3
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
The First Sin and Its Punishment
3 Now the serpent was more crafty than any other wild animal that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God say, ‘You shall not eat from any tree in the garden’?”(A) 2 The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, 3 but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the garden, nor shall you touch it, or you shall die.’ ”(B) 4 But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not die,(C) 5 for God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God,[a] knowing good and evil.” 6 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, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate.(D) 7 Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked, and they sewed fig leaves together and made loincloths for themselves.
8 They heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden at the time of the evening breeze, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.(E) 9 But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” 10 He said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.”(F) 11 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 from the tree, and I ate.”(G) 13 Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent tricked me, and I ate.”(H) 14 The Lord God said to the serpent,
“Because you have done this,
cursed are you among all animals
and among all wild creatures;
upon your belly you shall go,
and dust you shall eat
all the days of your life.(I)
15 I will put enmity between you and the woman
and between your offspring and hers;
he will strike your head,
and you will strike his heel.”(J)
16 To the woman he said,
“I will make your pangs in childbirth exceedingly great;
in pain you shall bring forth children,
yet your desire shall be for your husband,
and he shall rule over you.”(K)
17 And to the man[b] he said,
“Because you have listened to the voice of your wife
and have eaten of the tree
about which I commanded you,
‘You shall not eat of it,’
cursed is the ground because of you;
in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life;(L)
18 thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you;
and you shall eat the plants of the field.(M)
19 By the sweat of your face
you shall eat bread
until you return to the ground,
for out of it you were taken;
you are dust,
and to dust you shall return.”(N)
20 The man named his wife Eve[c] because she was the mother of all living. 21 And the Lord God made garments of skins for the man[d] and for his wife and clothed them.
22 Then the Lord God said, “See, the humans have become like one of us, knowing good and evil, and now they might reach out their hands and take also from the tree of life and eat and live forever”(O)— 23 therefore the Lord God sent them forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from which they were taken.(P) 24 He drove out the humans, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a sword flaming and turning to guard the way to the tree of life.(Q)
Genesis 3
International Standard Version
The Temptation and Fall
3 Now the Shining One[a] was more clever than any animal of the field that the Lord God had made. He[b] asked the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You are not to eat from any tree of the garden’?”
2 “We may eat from the trees of the garden,” the woman answered the Shining One,[c] 3 “but as for the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the garden, God has said, ‘You are not to eat from it, nor are you to touch it, or you will die.’”
4 “You certainly will not die!” the Shining One[d] told the woman. 5 “Even God knows that on the day you eat from it, your eyes will be opened and you’ll become like God,[e] knowing good and evil.”
6 When the woman saw that the tree produced good food, was attractive in appearance,[f] and was desirable for making one wise, she took some of its fruit and ate it.[g] Then she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate some, too.[h] 7 As a result, they both understood what they had done,[i] and they became aware that they were naked. So they sewed fig leaves together and made loincloths for themselves.
8 When they heard the voice of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden during the breeze of the day, the man and his wife concealed themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 9 So the Lord God called out to the man, asking him, “Where are you?”
10 “I heard your voice in the garden,” the man[j] answered, “and I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid from you.”[k]
11 “Who told you that you are naked?” God[l] asked. “Did you eat fruit[m] from the tree that I commanded you not to eat?”
12 The man answered, “The woman whom you provided for[n] me gave me fruit[o] from the tree, and I ate some of it.”[p]
13 Then the Lord God asked the woman, “What did you do?”[q]
“The Shining One[r] misled me,” the woman answered, “so I ate.”
The Penalty of Sin
14 The Lord God told the Shining One,[s]
“Because you have done this,
you are more cursed than all the livestock,
and more than all the earth’s animals,[t]
You’ll crawl on your belly
and eat dust
as long as you live.
15 “I’ll place hostility between you and the woman,
between your offspring and her offspring.
He’ll strike you on the head,
and you’ll strike him on the heel.”
16 He told the woman,
“I’ll greatly increase the pain of your labor during childbirth.
It will be painful for you to bear children,
“since your trust is turning[u] toward your husband,
and he will dominate you.”
17 He told the man,
“Because you have listened to what your wife said,[v]
and have eaten from the tree about which I commanded you,[w]
‘You are not to not eat from it,’
cursed is the ground because of you.
You’ll eat from it through pain-filled labor
for the rest of your life.
18 It will produce thorns and thistles for you,
and you’ll eat the plants from the meadows.
19 You will eat food by the sweat of your brow
until you’re buried in[x] the ground,
because you were taken from it.
You’re made from dust
and you’ll return to dust.”
20 Now Adam[y] had named his wife “Eve,”[z] because she was to become the mother of everyone who was living. 21 The Lord God fashioned garments from animal skins for Adam and his wife, and clothed them.
22 Later, the Lord God said, “Look! The man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, so he won’t reach out, also take from the tree of life, eat, and then live forever—” 23 therefore the Lord God expelled the man[aa] from the garden of Eden so he would work the ground from which he had been taken. 24 After he had expelled the man, the Lord God[ab] placed winged angels[ac] at the eastern end of the garden of Eden, along with a fiery, turning sword, to prevent access to[ad] the tree of life.
Footnotes
- Genesis 3:1 Or the Diviner; the Heb. word ha-Nachash connotes one who falsely claims to reveal God’s word; or the Serpent; cf. Isa 14:12; Eze 28:13-14
- Genesis 3:1 Lit. And he
- Genesis 3:2 Or the Diviner; the Heb. word ha-Nachash connotes one who falsely claims to reveal God’s word; or the Serpent; cf. Isa 14:12; Eze 28:13-14
- Genesis 3:4 Or the Diviner; the Heb. word ha-Nachash connotes one who falsely claims to reveal God’s word; or the Serpent; cf. Isa 14:12; Eze 28:13-14
- Genesis 3:5 Or gods
- Genesis 3:6 Lit. was pleasing to the eyes
- Genesis 3:6 The Heb. lacks it
- Genesis 3:6 The Heb. lacks some, too
- Genesis 3:7 Lit. the eyes of both of them were opened
- Genesis 3:10 Lit. he
- Genesis 3:10 The Heb. lacks from you
- Genesis 3:11 Lit. he
- Genesis 3:11 The Heb. lacks fruit
- Genesis 3:12 Or you gave
- Genesis 3:12 The Heb. lacks fruit
- Genesis 3:12 The Heb. lacks some of it
- Genesis 3:13 Lit. What is this you did?
- Genesis 3:13 Or the Diviner; the Heb. word ha-Nachash connotes one who falsely claims to reveal God’s word; or the Serpent; cf. Isa 14:12; Eze 28:13-14
- Genesis 3:14 Or the Diviner; the Heb. word ha-Nachash connotes one who falsely claims to reveal God’s word; or the Serpent; cf. Isa 14:12; Eze 28:13-14
- Genesis 3:14 I.e., non-domesticated animals, as opposed to domesticated livestock
- Genesis 3:16 Or Your desire is
- Genesis 3:17 Lit. to the voice of your wife
- Genesis 3:17 Lit. you when I said
- Genesis 3:19 Lit. you return to
- Genesis 3:20 Or the man
- Genesis 3:20 The Heb. name Hawwa (Eve) means life.
- Genesis 3:23 Lit. expelled him
- Genesis 3:24 Lit. man, he
- Genesis 3:24 MT reads placed cherubim
- Genesis 3:24 Or to watch over
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