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,

¹⁶ To the woman He said,

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’;

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.

The River and the Tree of Life

22 And ^(A)he showed me a ^(B)river of the ^(C)water of life, ^[a]clear ^(D)as crystal, coming from the throne of God and of ^[b]the Lamb, ² in the middle of ^(E)its street. ^(F)On either side of the river was ^(G)the tree of life, bearing twelve ^[c]kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. ^3 (H)There will no longer be any curse; and ^(I)the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and His bond-servants will ^(J)serve Him; ⁴ they will ^(K)see His face, and His ^(L)name will be on their ^(M)foreheads. ⁵ And ^(N)there will no longer be any night; and they ^[d]will not have need ^(O)of the light of a lamp nor the light of the sun, because the Lord God will illuminate them; and they will ^(P)reign forever and ever.

⁶ And ^(Q)he said to me, “^(R)These words are faithful and true”; and the Lord, the ^(S)God of the spirits of the prophets, ^(T)sent His angel to show His bond-servants the things which must soon take place.

⁷ “And behold, ^(U)I am coming quickly. ^(V)Blessed is the one who ^[e]keeps ^(W)the words of the prophecy of this book.”

^8 (X)I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. And when I heard and saw them, ^(Y)I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who showed me these things. ⁹ And ^(Z)he *said to me, “^[f]Do not do that; I am a ^(AA)fellow servant of yours and of your brothers the prophets, and of those who ^[g]keep the words of ^(AB)this book. Worship God!”

The Final Message

¹⁰ And he *said to me, “^(AC)Do not seal up ^(AD)the words of the prophecy of this book, ^(AE)for the time is near. ^11 (AF)Let the one who does wrong still do wrong, and the one who is filthy still be filthy; and let the one who is righteous still practice righteousness, and the one who is holy still keep himself holy.”

¹² “Behold, ^(AG)I am coming quickly, and My ^(AH)reward is with Me, ^(AI)to reward each one as his work ^[h]deserves. ¹³ I am the ^(AJ)Alpha and the Omega, ^(AK)the first and the last, ^(AL)the beginning and the end.”

¹⁴ Blessed are those who ^(AM)wash their robes, so that they will have the right to ^(AN)the tree of life, and may ^(AO)enter the city by the ^(AP)gates. ^15 (AQ)Outside are the ^(AR)dogs, the sorcerers, the sexually immoral persons, the murderers, the idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices lying.

¹⁶ “^(AS)I, Jesus, have sent ^(AT)My angel to testify to you of these things ^[i](AU)for the churches. I am ^(AV)the root and the ^(AW)descendant of David, the bright ^(AX)morning star.”

¹⁷ The ^(AY)Spirit and the ^(AZ)bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And ^(BA)let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires, take the ^(BB)water of life without cost.

¹⁸ I testify to everyone who hears ^(BC)the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone ^(BD)adds to them, God will add to him ^(BE)the plagues that are written in ^(BF)this book; ¹⁹ and if anyone ^(BG)takes away from the ^(BH)words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his part from ^(BI)the tree of life and ^[j]from the holy city, ^(BJ)which are written in this book.

²⁰ He who ^(BK)testifies to these things says, “Yes, ^(BL)I am coming quickly.” Amen. ^(BM)Come, Lord Jesus.

^21 (BN)The grace of the Lord Jesus be with ^[k]all. Amen.