Genesis 3
3
The first sin and the first murder
The first sin
1The snake was more cunning than any of the other wild animals that the LORD God had made. One day it came to the woman and asked, “Did God tell you not to eat fruit from any tree in the garden?”#Rev 12.9; 20.2.
2The woman answered, “God said we could eat fruit from any tree in the garden, 3except the one in the middle. He told us not to eat fruit from that tree or even to touch it. If we do, we will die.”
4“No, you won't!” the snake replied. 5“God understands what will happen on the day you eat fruit from that tree. You will see what you have done, and you will know the difference between right and wrong, just as God does.”
6The woman stared at the fruit. It looked beautiful and tasty. She wanted the wisdom that it would give her, and she ate some of the fruit. Her husband was there with her, so she gave some to him, and he ate it too. 7Straight away they saw what they had done, and they realized they were naked. Then they sewed fig leaves together to make something to cover themselves.
8Late in the afternoon a breeze began to blow, and the man and woman heard the LORD God walking in the garden. They were frightened and hid behind some trees.
The trouble with sin
9The LORD called out to the man and asked, “Where are you?”
10The man answered, “I was naked, and when I heard you walking through the garden, I was frightened and hid!”
11“How did you know you were naked?” God asked. “Did you eat any fruit from that tree in the middle of the garden?”
12“It was the woman you put here with me,” the man said. “She gave me some of the fruit, and I ate it.”
13The LORD God then asked the woman, “What have you done?”#2 Co 11.3; 1 Ti 2.14.
“The snake tricked me,” she answered. “And I ate some of that fruit.”
14So the LORD God said to the snake:
“Because of what you have done,
you will be the only animal
to suffer this curse—
for as long as you live,
you will crawl on your stomach
and eat dust.
15You and this woman#Rev 12.17.
will hate each other;
your descendants and hers
will always be enemies.
One of hers will strike you
on the head,
and you will strike him
on the heel.”
16Then the LORD said to the woman,
“You will suffer terribly
when you give birth.
But you will still desire
your husband,
and he will rule over you.”
17The LORD said to the man,#He 6.8.
“You listened to your wife
and ate fruit from that tree.
And so, the ground
will be under a curse
because of what you did.
As long as you live,
you will have to struggle
to grow enough food.
18Your food will be plants,
but the ground will produce
thorns and thistles.
19You will have to sweat
to earn a living;
you were made out of soil,
and you will once again
turn into soil.”
20The man Adam#3.20 The man Adam: In Hebrew “man” and “Adam” are the same. named his wife Eve#3.20 Eve: In Hebrew “Eve” sounds like “living”. because she would become the mother of all who live.
21Then the LORD God made clothes out of animal skins for the man and his wife.
22The LORD said, “These people now know the difference between right and wrong, just as we do. But they must not be allowed to eat fruit from the tree that lets them live for ever.”#Rev 22.14. 23So the LORD God sent them out of the Garden of Eden, where they would have to work the ground from which the man had been made. 24Then God put winged creatures at the entrance to the garden and a flaming, flashing sword to guard the way to the life-giving tree.
© British and Foreign Bible Society 2012
Genesis 3
3
1 #
Rev 12.9; 20.2. Now the serpent was more subtle than any other wild creature that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree of the garden’?” 2And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden; 3but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’ ” 4#2 Cor 11.3. But 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, 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, 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 themselves aprons.
8And they heard the sound 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. 9But the Lord God called to the man, and said to him, “Where are you?” 10And he said, “I heard the sound of thee 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 of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” 12The man said, “The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.” 13#2 Cor 11.3. Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent beguiled me, and I ate.” 14#Rev 12.9; 20.2. The Lord God said to the serpent,
“Because you have done this,
cursed are you above all cattle,
and above all wild animals;
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 seed and her seed;
he shall bruise your head,
and you shall bruise his heel.”
16To the woman he said,
“I will greatly multiply your pain in childbearing;
in pain you shall bring forth children,
yet your desire shall be for your husband,
and he shall rule over you.”
17 #
Heb 6.8. And to Adam he said,
“Because you have listened to the voice of your wife,
and have eaten of the tree
of 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 to you;
and you shall eat the plants of the field.
19In the sweat of your face
you shall eat bread
till you return to the ground,
for out of it you were taken;
you are dust,
and to dust you shall return.”
20The man called his wife's name Eve,#3.20 The name in Hebrew resembles the word for living because she was the mother of all living. 21And the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins, and clothed them.
22 #
Rev 2.7; 22.2,14,19. Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil; and now, lest he put forth his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever” — 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 flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life.
Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America