Genesis 3
Revised Geneva Translation
3 Now the serpent was more cunning than any wild animal which the LORD God had made; and he said to the woman, “Has God really said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?”
2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden.
3 “But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat of it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’”
4 Then the serpent said to the woman, “You shall not die at all.
5 “But, God knows that when you shall eat thereof, your eyes shall be opened; and you shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.”6 So the woman (seeing that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired, to get knowledge) took of the fruit thereof and ate; and also gave to her husband with her, and he ate.
7 Then, the eyes of them both were opened; and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig tree leaves together and made themselves coverings.
8 Afterward, they heard the voice of the LORD God, walking in the garden in the cool of the day. And the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God, among the trees of the garden.
9 But the LORD God called to the man, and said to him, “Where are you?”
10 Who said, “I heard Your voice in the garden and was afraid, because I was naked. Therefore, I hid myself.”
11 And He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree whereof I commanded you that you should not eat?”
12 Then the man said, “The woman, which You gave to be with me, she gave to me from the tree, and I ate.”
13 And the LORD God said to the woman, “Why have you done this?” And the woman said, “The serpent tricked me, and I ate.”
14 Then the LORD God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, you are cursed above all cattle, and above every wild animal. Upon your belly you shall go; and you shall eat dust all the days of your life.
15 “I will also put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed. He shall break your head and you shall bruise His heel.”
16 To the woman, He said, “I will greatly increase your sorrows and your conceptions. In sorrow you shall bring forth children. And your desire shall be subject to your husband. And he shall rule over you.”
17 Also, He said to Adam, “Because you have obeyed the voice of your wife and have eaten from the tree (whereof I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it’), the earth is cursed for your sake. In sorrow you shall eat from it, all the days of your life.
18 “Also, it shall bring forth thorns and thistles to you. And you shall eat the herb of the field.
19 “In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, until you return to the earth. For out of it you were taken because you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”
20 And the man called his wife’s name “Eve”, because she was the mother of all living.
21 Also, to Adam and to his wife, the LORD God made coats of skins, and clothed them.
22 And the LORD God said, “Behold, the man has become as one of us, knowing good and evil. And now, lest he also put forth his hand and take and eat of the Tree of Life, and live forever…”
23 Therefore, the LORD God sent him forth from the Garden of Eden, to till the earth from where he was taken.
24 Thus, He cast out the man; and at the east side of the Garden of Eden, He set the Cherubims, and the blade of a shaken sword, to keep the way of the Tree of Life.
Genesis 3
Easy-to-Read Version
The Beginning of Sin
3 The snake was the most clever of all the wild animals that the Lord God had made. The snake spoke to the woman and said, “Woman, did God really tell you that you must not eat from any tree in the garden?”
2 The woman answered the snake, “No, we can eat fruit from the trees in the garden. 3 But there is one tree we must not eat from. God told us, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden. You must not even touch that tree, or you will die.’”
4 But the snake said to the woman, “You will not die. 5 God knows that if you eat the fruit from that tree you will learn about good and evil, and then you will be like God!”
6 The woman could see that the tree was beautiful and the fruit looked so good to eat. She also liked the idea that it would make her wise. So she took some of the fruit from the tree and ate it. Her husband was there with her, so she gave him some of the fruit, and he ate it.
7 Then it was as if their eyes opened, and they saw things differently. They saw that they were naked. So they got some fig leaves, sewed them together, and wore them for clothes.
8 During the cool part of the day, the Lord God was walking in the garden. The man and the woman heard him, and they hid among the trees in the garden. 9 The Lord God called to the man and said, “Where are you?”
10 The man said, “I heard you walking in the garden, and I was afraid. I was naked, so I hid.”
11 God said to the man, “Who told you that you were naked? Did you eat fruit from that special tree? I told you not to eat from that tree!”
12 The man said, “The woman you put here with me gave me fruit from that tree. So I ate it.”
13 Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What have you done?”
She said, “The snake tricked me, so I ate the fruit.”
14 So the Lord God said to the snake,
“You did this very bad thing,
so bad things will happen to you.
It will be worse for you
than for any other animal.
You must crawl on your belly
and eat dust all the days of your life.
15 I will make you and the woman enemies to each other.
Your children and her children will be enemies.
You will bite her child’s foot,
but he will crush your head.”
16 Then God said to the woman,
“I will cause you to have much trouble
when you are pregnant.
And when you give birth to children,
you will have much pain.
You will want your husband very much,
but he will rule over you.”[a]
17 Then God said to the man,
“I commanded you not to eat from that tree.
But you listened to your wife and ate from it.
So I will curse the ground because of you.
You will have to work hard all your life for the food the ground produces.
18 The ground will grow thorns and weeds for you.
And you will have to eat the plants that grow wild in the fields.[b]
19 You will work hard for your food,
until your face is covered with sweat.
You will work hard until the day you die,
and then you will become dust again.
I used dust to make you,
and when you die, you will become dust again.”
20 Adam[c] named his wife Eve.[d] He gave her this name because Eve would be the mother of everyone who ever lived.
21 The Lord God used animal skins and made some clothes for the man and his wife. Then he put the clothes on them.
22 The Lord God said, “Look, the man has become like us—he knows about good and evil. And now the man might take the fruit from the tree of life. If the man eats that fruit, he will live forever.”
23 So the Lord God forced the man out of the Garden of Eden to work the ground he was made from. 24 God forced the man to leave the garden. Then he put Cherub angels and a sword of fire at the entrance to the garden to protect it. The sword flashed around and around, guarding the way to the tree of life.
Footnotes
- Genesis 3:16 You will … over you Or “You will want to rule your husband, but he will rule over you.” In Hebrew this is like the last part of Gen. 4:7.
- Genesis 3:18 See Gen. 1:28-29.
- Genesis 3:20 Adam This name means “man” or “people.” It is like the word meaning “earth” or “red clay.”
- Genesis 3:20 Eve This name is like the Hebrew word meaning “life.”
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