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But the Lord God called out to the man and said to him, “Where were you?”

10 He answered, “I heard you walking in the garden and I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid myself.”

11 He said, “Who let you know that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree from which I commanded you not to eat?”

12 The man answered, “The woman whom you put here with me, she gave me some fruit from the tree and I ate it.”

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

The woman answered, “The serpent tricked me and I ate it.”

14 The Lord God said to the serpent,[a]

“Because you have done this, you will be the most cursed
    of all the animals
    and of all the wild beasts.
On your belly you shall crawl
    and you shall eat dust
    for all the days of your life.
15 I will establish hostility
    between you and the woman,
    between your line and her line.
Her offspring will crush your head
    and you will bruise his heel.”[b]

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Footnotes

  1. Genesis 3:14 The biblical tradition uses the serpent to represent Satan; the divine punishment is aimed at the demon. On your belly you shall crawl and you shall eat dust is a customary Semitic way of describing enemies defeated in battle and compelled to acknowledge the power of their conqueror (see Ps 72:9; Isa 49:23; Mic 7:17).
  2. Genesis 3:15 This verse has traditionally been regarded as the protoevangelium, the first announcement of the salvation of the human race. The offspring of the woman refers to the human race but at a higher level to Jesus Christ who is source and cause of the common victory. Consequently, the woman, while certainly signifying Eve, the mother of the human race, refers at a higher level to Mary, the mother of Jesus and the new Eve.

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

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

11 And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?

12 And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.

13 And the Lord God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.

14 And the Lord God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:

15 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

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