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The Fall Into Sin

Now the serpent was more clever than any wild animal which the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Has God really said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree in the garden’?”

The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees of the garden, but not from the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the garden. God has said, ‘You shall not eat from it. You shall not touch it, or else you will die.’”

The serpent said to the woman, “You certainly will not die. In fact, God knows that the day you eat from it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was appealing to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took some of its fruit and ate. She gave some also to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. The eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized that they were naked. They sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for their waists.[a] They heard the voice of the Lord God, who was walking around in the garden during the cooler part[b] of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.

The Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?”

10 The man said, “I heard your voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, so I hid myself.”

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

12 The man said, “The woman you gave to be with me—she gave me fruit from the tree, and I ate it.”

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

The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

14 The Lord God said to the serpent:

Because you have done this,
you are cursed more than all the livestock,
and more than every wild animal.
You shall crawl on your belly,
and you shall eat dust all the days of your life.
15 I will put hostility between you and the woman,
and between your seed and her seed.[c]
He will crush your head,
and you will crush his heel.

16 To the woman he said:

I will greatly increase your pain in childbearing.
With painful labor you will give birth to children.
Your desire will be for your husband,
but[d] he will rule over you.

17 To Adam he said:

Because you listened to your wife’s voice
and ate from the tree about which I commanded you,
“You shall not eat from it,”
the soil is cursed on account of you.
You will eat from it with painful labor all the days of your life.
18 Thorns and thistles will spring up from the ground for you,
but you will eat the crops of the field.
19 By the sweat of your face you will eat bread
until you return to the soil,
for out of it you were taken.
For you are dust,
and to dust you shall return.

20 The man named his wife Eve[e] because she would be the mother of all the living. 21 The Lord God made clothing of animal skins for Adam and for his wife and clothed them.

22 The Lord God said, “Look, the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil. Now, so that he does not reach out his hand and also take from the Tree of Life and eat and live forever—” 23 the Lord God sent him out from the Garden of Eden to work the soil from which he had been taken. 24 So he drove the man out, and in front of[f] the Garden of Eden he stationed cherubim[g] and a flaming sword, which turned in every direction to guard the way to the Tree of Life.

Footnotes

  1. Genesis 3:7 The Hebrew word often means belt, but here it apparently is an apron or a loincloth.
  2. Genesis 3:8 Literally the wind or breeze of the day, that is, late afternoon or evening
  3. Genesis 3:15 In the promises of Genesis and their fulfillment, the translation retains the literal expression seed rather than offspring or descendants to keep the imagery of the Messiah as the Seed of the Woman.
  4. Genesis 3:16 Or and
  5. Genesis 3:20 Eve means life.
  6. Genesis 3:24 Or east of
  7. Genesis 3:24 Cherubim are angels who are part of God’s honor guard. The translation retains the Hebrew form of the plural because cherubs has a different connotation in English.

The Fall

Now the serpent(A) was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?(B)

The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden,(C) but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’”(D)

“You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman.(E) “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God,(F) knowing good and evil.”

When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable(G) for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband,(H) who was with her, and he ate it.(I) Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked;(J) so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.(K)

Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking(L) in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid(M) from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?”(N)

10 He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid(O) because I was naked;(P) so I hid.”

11 And he said, “Who told you that you were naked?(Q) Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?(R)

12 The man said, “The woman you put here with me(S)—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.”

13 Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?”

The woman said, “The serpent deceived me,(T) and I ate.”

14 So the Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this,

“Cursed(U) are you above all livestock
    and all wild animals!
You will crawl on your belly
    and you will eat dust(V)
    all the days of your life.
15 And I will put enmity
    between you and the woman,
    and between your offspring[a](W) and hers;(X)
he will crush[b] your head,(Y)
    and you will strike his heel.”

16 To the woman he said,

“I will make your pains in childbearing very severe;
    with painful labor you will give birth to children.(Z)
Your desire will be for your husband,
    and he will rule over you.(AA)

17 To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat from it,’(AB)

“Cursed(AC) is the ground(AD) because of you;
    through painful toil(AE) you will eat food from it
    all the days of your life.(AF)
18 It will produce thorns and thistles(AG) for you,
    and you will eat the plants of the field.(AH)
19 By the sweat of your brow(AI)
    you will eat your food(AJ)
until you return to the ground,
    since from it you were taken;
for dust you are
    and to dust you will return.”(AK)

20 Adam[c] named his wife Eve,[d](AL) because she would become the mother of all the living.

21 The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them.(AM) 22 And the Lord God said, “The man has now become like one of us,(AN) knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life(AO) and eat, and live forever.” 23 So the Lord God banished him from the Garden of Eden(AP) to work the ground(AQ) from which he had been taken. 24 After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side[e] of the Garden of Eden(AR) cherubim(AS) and a flaming sword(AT) flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.(AU)

Footnotes

  1. Genesis 3:15 Or seed
  2. Genesis 3:15 Or strike
  3. Genesis 3:20 Or The man
  4. Genesis 3:20 Eve probably means living.
  5. Genesis 3:24 Or placed in front