Genesis 3
Good News Translation
Human Disobedience
3 (A)Now the snake was the most cunning animal that the Lord God had made. The snake asked the woman, “Did God really tell you not to eat fruit from any tree in the garden?”
2 “We may eat the fruit of any tree in the garden,” the woman answered, 3 “except the tree in the middle of it. God told us not to eat the fruit of that tree or even touch it; if we do, we will die.”
4 The snake replied, “That's not true; you will not die. 5 God said that because he knows that when you eat it, you will be like God[a] and know what is good and what is bad.”[b]
6 The woman saw how beautiful the tree was and how good its fruit would be to eat, and she thought how wonderful it would be to become wise. So she took some of the fruit and ate it. Then she gave some to her husband, and he also ate it. 7 As soon as they had eaten it, they were given understanding and realized that they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and covered themselves.
8 That evening they heard the Lord God walking in the garden, and they hid from him among the trees. 9 But the Lord God called out to the man, “Where are you?”
10 He answered, “I heard you in the garden; I was afraid and hid from you, because I was naked.”
11 “Who told you that you were naked?” God asked. “Did you eat the fruit that I told you not to eat?”
12 The man answered, “The woman you put here with me gave me the fruit, and I ate it.”
13 (B)The Lord God asked the woman, “Why did you do this?”
She replied, “The snake tricked me into eating it.”
God Pronounces Judgment
14 Then the Lord God said to the snake, “You will be punished for this; you alone of all the animals must bear this curse: From now on you will crawl on your belly, and you will have to eat dust as long as you live. 15 (C)I will make you and the woman hate each other; her offspring and yours will always be enemies. Her offspring will crush your head, and you will bite her offspring's[c] heel.”
16 And he said to the woman, “I will increase your trouble in pregnancy and your pain in giving birth. In spite of this, you will still have desire for your husband, yet you will be subject to him.”
17 (D)And he said to the man, “You listened to your wife and ate the fruit which I told you not to eat. Because of what you have done, the ground will be under a curse. You will have to work hard all your life to make it produce enough food for you. 18 It will produce weeds and thorns, and you will have to eat wild plants. 19 You will have to work hard and sweat to make the soil produce anything, until you go back to the soil from which you were formed. You were made from soil, and you will become soil again.”
20 Adam[d] named his wife Eve,[e] because she was the mother of all human beings. 21 And the Lord God made clothes out of animal skins for Adam and his wife, and he clothed them.
Adam and Eve Are Sent Out of the Garden
22 (E)Then the Lord God said, “Now these human beings have become like one of us and have knowledge of what is good and what is bad.[f] They must not be allowed to take fruit from the tree that gives life, eat it, and live forever.” 23 So the Lord God sent them out of the Garden of Eden and made them cultivate the soil from which they had been formed. 24 Then at the east side of the garden he put living creatures[g] and a flaming sword which turned in all directions. This was to keep anyone from coming near the tree that gives life.
Footnotes
- Genesis 3:5 God; or the gods.
- Genesis 3:5 know what is good and what is bad; or know everything.
- Genesis 3:15 her offspring's; or their.
- Genesis 3:20 This name in Hebrew means “all human beings.”
- Genesis 3:20 This name sounds similar to the Hebrew word for “living,” which is rendered in this context as “human beings.”
- Genesis 3:22 knowledge of what is good and what is bad; or knowledge of everything.
- Genesis 3:24 See Word List.
Genesis 3
Christian Standard Bible
The Temptation and the Fall
3 Now the serpent was the most cunning of all the wild animals that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You can’t eat from any tree in the garden’?” (A)
2 The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit from the trees in the garden. 3 But about the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden, God said, ‘You must not eat it or touch it, or you will die.’”(B)
4 “No! You will certainly not die,” the serpent said to the woman.(C) 5 “In fact, God knows that when[a] you eat it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 6 The woman saw that the tree was good for food and delightful to look at, and that it was desirable for obtaining wisdom. So she took some of its fruit and ate it; she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.(D) 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.
Sin’s Consequences
8 Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden at the time of the evening breeze,[b] and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden.(E) 9 So the Lord God called out to the man and said to him, “Where are you?”
10 And he said, “I heard you[c] in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid.”
11 Then he asked, “Who told you that you were naked? Did you eat from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?”
12 The man replied,(F) “The woman you gave to be with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate.”
13 So the Lord God asked the woman, “What have you done?”
And the woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”(G)
14 So the Lord God said to the serpent:
Because you have done this,
you are cursed more than any livestock
and more than any wild animal.
You will move on your belly
and eat dust all the days of your life.(H)
15 I will put hostility between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and her offspring.[d]
He will strike your head,
and you will strike his heel.(I)
16 He said to the woman:
I will intensify your labor pains;
you will bear children with painful effort.(J)
Your desire(K) will be for your husband,
yet he will rule over you.
17 And he said to the man, “Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘Do not eat from it’:
The ground is cursed because of you.(L)
You will eat from it by means of painful labor[e]
all the days of your life.
18 It will produce thorns and thistles for you,
and you will eat the plants of the field.(M)
19 You will eat bread[f] by the sweat of your brow
until you return to the ground,(N)
since you were taken from it.
For you are dust,
and you will return to dust.”
20 The man named his wife Eve[g] because she was the mother of all the living. 21 The Lord God made clothing from skins for the man and his wife, and he clothed them.
22 The Lord God said, “Since the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil, he must not reach out, take from the tree of life, eat, and live forever.”(O) 23 So the Lord God sent him away from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken. 24 He drove the man out and stationed the cherubim and the flaming, whirling sword east of the garden of Eden to guard the way to the tree of life.(P)
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