Genesis 3
3
The Fall
1Now the serpent 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’?”
2The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 3but 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.’ ”
4“You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. 5“For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
6When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. 7Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.
8Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 9But the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?”
10He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.”
11And he said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?”
12The man said, “The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.”
13Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?”
The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”
14So the Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this,
“Cursed are you above all livestock
and all wild animals!
You will crawl on your belly
and you will eat dust
all the days of your life.
15And I will put enmity
between you and the woman,
and between your offspring#3:15 Or seed and hers;
he will crush#3:15 Or strike your head,
and you will strike his heel.”
16To the woman he said,
“I will make your pains in childbearing very severe;
with painful labor you will give birth to children.
Your desire will be for your husband,
and he will rule over you.”
17To 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,’
“Cursed is the ground because of you;
through painful toil you will eat food from it
all the days of your life.
18It will produce thorns and thistles for you,
and you will eat the plants of the field.
19By the sweat of your brow
you will eat your food
until you return to the ground,
since from it you were taken;
for dust you are
and to dust you will return.”
20Adam#3:20 Or The man named his wife Eve,#3:20 Eve probably means living. because she would become the mother of all the living.
21The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them. 22And the Lord God said, “The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.” 23So the Lord God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken. 24After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side#3:24 Or placed in front of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.
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Genesis 3
3
1The serpent was more cunning than any of the other wild animals that the Lord God had made. He asked Eve, “Did God really say that you can't eat fruit from every#3:1. “Every”: the word could also be translated “any,” however this would then mean that the serpent was suggesting that God had told Adam and Eve not to eat fruit from any tree in the garden, which seems less likely. tree in the garden?”
2Eve replied to the serpent, “We can eat from the trees in the garden, but not the fruit from the tree in the middle of the garden. 3God told us, ‘You mustn't eat from that tree, or even touch it, otherwise you'll die.’”#3:3. “Otherwise you'll die.” The word used for “otherwise,” can indicate a possibility of something happening, rather than absolute certainty. So the phrase could be translated, “otherwise you might die,” a difference from God's clear prohibition, also claiming that God had said the fruit was not to be touched.
4“You certainly won't die,” the serpent told Eve. 5“It's because God knows that as soon as you eat it, you'll see things differently, and you'll be like God, knowing both what is good and what is evil.”
6Eve saw that the fruit of the tree appeared good to eat. It looked very attractive. She really wanted it so she could become wise. So she took some of its fruit and ate it, and she gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it too. 7Immediately they saw everything differently and realized they were naked. So they sewed fig leaves together to cover themselves up.
8Later they heard the Lord walking in the garden in the evening when the breeze was blowing. Adam and Eve went and hid out of sight of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.
9The Lord God called out to Adam, “Where are you?”
10“I heard you walking in the garden and I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid,” he replied.
11“Who told you that you were naked?” asked the Lord God. “Did you eat fruit from the tree I ordered you not to?”
12“It was the woman you gave me who gave me the fruit from the tree, and I ate it,” Adam replied.
13The Lord God asked Eve, “Why have you done this?”
“The serpent tricked me, and so I ate it,” she replied.
14Then the Lord God told the serpent, “Because of what you've done, you are cursed more than any of the other animals. You will slide along on your belly and eat dust as long as you live. 15I will make sure you and your children, and the woman and her children, are enemies. One of her children will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.”
16He told Eve, “I will make pregnancy much more difficult, and giving birth will be very painful. However, you will still desire your husband, but he will have control over you.”#3:16. “But he will have control over you” or “and he will also desire you.”
17He told Adam, “Because you did#3:17. “Did”: the word is “listened to,” but not in the sense of only hearing something. It means acting on what has been heard, obeying. what your wife told you, and ate fruit from the tree after I ordered you, ‘Don't eat fruit from this tree,’ the ground is now cursed because of you. You will have to work painfully hard to grow food from it throughout your whole life. 18It will grow thorns and thistles for you, and you will have to eat wild plants.#3:18. Plants were originally allocated to the animals. See 1:30. 19You will have to sweat to grow enough food to eat until you die and return to the ground. For you were made from dust and you will return to dust.”
20Adam named his wife Eve, because she was to be the mother of all human beings. 21The Lord God made Adam and Eve clothes from animal skins and dressed them.
22Then the Lord God observed, “Look, the human beings#3:22. “The human beings”: literally, “the man,” but this must be understood inclusively since Eve had also fallen. have become like one of us, knowing both what is good and what is evil. Now if they take the fruit from the tree of life and eat it, then they'll live forever!” 23So the Lord God expelled them from the Garden of Eden. He sent Adam to cultivate the ground from which he'd been made. 24After he drove them out, the Lord God placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden angels and a sword that flashed in every direction. They were to prevent access to the tree of life.
Dr. Jonathan Gallagher. Released under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 Unported License. Version 4.3. For corrections send email to jonathangallagherfbv@gmail.com