Genesis 3
3
The First Sin and Its Punishment
1Now the serpent was more crafty than any other wild animal that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God say, ‘You shall not eat from any tree in the garden’?” 2The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden; 3but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the garden, nor shall you touch it, or you shall die.’ ” 4But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not die; 5for God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God,#3.5 Or gods knowing good and evil.” 6So 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 to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate; and she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate. 7Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made loincloths for themselves.
8They heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden at the time of the evening breeze, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 9But the Lord God called to the man, and said to him, “Where are you?” 10He said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.” 11He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” 12The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit from the tree, and I ate.” 13Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent tricked me, and I ate.” 14The Lord God said to the serpent,
“Because you have done this,
cursed are you among all animals
and among all wild creatures;
upon your belly you shall go,
and dust you shall eat
all the days of your life.
15I will put enmity between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and hers;
he will strike your head,
and you will strike his heel.”
16To the woman he said,
“I will greatly increase your pangs in childbearing;
in pain you shall bring forth children,
yet your desire shall be for your husband,
and he shall rule over you.”
17And to the man#3.17 Or to Adam he said,
“Because you have listened to the voice of your wife,
and have eaten of the tree
about which I commanded you,
‘You shall not eat of it,’
cursed is the ground because of you;
in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life;
18thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you;
and you shall eat the plants of the field.
19By the sweat of your face
you shall eat bread
until you return to the ground,
for out of it you were taken;
you are dust,
and to dust you shall return.”
20The man named his wife Eve,#3.20 In Heb Eve resembles the word for living because she was the mother of all living. 21And the Lord God made garments of skins for the man#3.21 Or for Adam and for his wife, and clothed them.
22Then the Lord God said, “See, the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil; and now, he might reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever”— 23therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from which he was taken. 24He drove out the man; and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim, and a sword flaming and turning to guard the way to the tree of life.
New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright © 1989 Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Genesis 3
3
The Temptation and the Fall
1Now 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’?” #Mt 10:16; 2Co 11:3; Rv 12:9; 20:2
2The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit from the trees in the garden. 3But 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.’”#Gn 2:17
4“No! You will certainly not die,” the serpent said to the woman.#Jn 8:44 5“In fact, God knows that when#3:5 Lit on the day you eat it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 6The 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.#1Tm 2:14; Jms 1:14–15; 1Jn 2:16 7Then 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
8Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden at the time of the evening breeze,#3:8 Lit at the wind of the day and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden.#Jb 34:22–23 9So the Lord God called out to the man and said to him, “Where are you?”
10And he said, “I heard you#3:10 Lit the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid.”
11Then he asked, “Who told you that you were naked? Did you eat from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?”
12The man replied,#Jb 31:33; Pr 28:13 “The woman you gave to be with me — she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate.”
13So the Lord God asked the woman, “What have you done?”
And the woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”#Rm 7:11; 2Co 11:3; 1Tm 2:14
14So 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.#Is 65:25; Mc 7:17
15I will put hostility between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and her offspring.#3:15 Lit your seed and her seed
He will strike your head,
and you will strike his heel.#Heb 2:14; 1Jn 3:8
16He said to the woman:
I will intensify your labor pains;
you will bear children with painful effort.#Jn 16:21; 1Tm 2:15
Your desire#Gn 4:7 will be for your husband,
yet he will rule over you.
17And 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.#Gn 5:29; Rm 8:20–22; Heb 6:8
You will eat from it by means of painful labor#3:17 Lit it through pain
all the days of your life.
18It will produce thorns and thistles for you,
and you will eat the plants of the field.#Gn 2:5
19You will eat bread#3:19 Or food by the sweat of your brow
until you return to the ground,#Ps 90:3; 104:29; Ec 12:7
since you were taken from it.
For you are dust,
and you will return to dust.”
20The man named his wife Eve#3:20 Lit Living, or Life because she was the mother of all the living. 21The Lord God made clothing from skins for the man and his wife, and he clothed them.
22The 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.”#Gn 2:9; Rv 2:7 23So the Lord God sent him away from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken. 24He 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.#Ex 25:18–22; Ps 104:4; Ezk 10:1–20; Heb 1:7
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