Genesis 3
3
The Serpent’s Deception
(Romans 5:12–21)
1Now the serpent #3:1 Hebrew nachash, translated in this chapter as serpent, is translated in most cases as snake. was more crafty than any beast of the field that the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden?’”
2The woman answered the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden, 3but about the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden, God has said, ‘You must not eat of it or touch it, or you will die.’”
4“You will not surely die,” the serpent told her. 5“For God knows that in the day you eat of it, your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
6When the woman saw that the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eyes, and that it was desirable for obtaining wisdom, she took the fruit and ate it. She also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate it.
7And the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; so they sewed together fig leaves and made coverings for themselves.
God Arraigns Adam and Eve
8Then the man and his wife heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the breeze #3:8 Or at the breezy (time); Hebrew unto the Ruach of the day, and they hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.
9But the Lord God called out to the man, “Where are you?”
10“I heard Your voice in the garden,” he replied, “and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid myself.”
11“Who told you that you were naked?” asked the Lord God. “Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?”
12And the man answered, “The woman whom You gave me, she gave me fruit from the tree, and I ate it.”
13Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?”
“The serpent deceived me,” she replied, “and I ate.”
The Fate of the Serpent
14So the Lord God said to the serpent:
“Because you have done this,
cursed are you above all livestock
and every beast of the field!
On your belly will you go,
and dust you will eat,
all the days of your life.
15And I will put enmity between you and the woman,
and between your seed and her seed.
He will crush your head,
and you will strike his heel.#3:15 Or He will bruise your head, and you will bruise his heel. The same Hebrew root for crush, bruise, or strike appears twice in this verse.”
The Punishment of Mankind
16To the woman He said:
“I will sharply increase your pain in childbirth;
in pain you will bring forth children.
Your desire will be for your husband,#3:16 Or You will desire to control your husband
and he will rule over you.”
17And to Adam He said:
“Because you have listened to the voice of your wife
and have eaten from the tree
of which I commanded you not to eat,
cursed is the ground because of you;
through toil you will eat of it
all the days of your life.
18Both thorns and thistles it will yield for you,
and you will eat the plants of the field.
19By the sweat of your brow
you will eat your bread,
until you return to the ground—
because out of it were you taken.
For dust you are,
and to dust you shall return.”
20And Adam named his wife Eve,#3:20 Eve sounds like the Hebrew for giving life or living. because she would be the mother of all the living.
The Expulsion from Paradise
21And the Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife, and He clothed them.
22Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, knowing good and evil. And now, lest he reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever...”
23Therefore the Lord God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken. 24So He drove out the man and stationed cherubim on the east side of the Garden of Eden, along with a whirling sword of flame to guard the way to the tree of life.
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Genesis 3
3
The First Sin and the First Promise
1The snake was more clever than all the wild animals the Lord God had made. He asked the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must never eat the fruit of any tree in the garden’?”
2The woman answered the snake, “We’re allowed to eat the fruit from any tree in the garden 3except the tree in the middle of the garden. God said, ‘You must never eat it or touch it. If you do, you will die!’ ”
4“You certainly won’t die!” the snake told the woman. 5“God knows that when you eat it your eyes will be opened. You’ll be like God, knowing good and evil.”
6The woman saw that the tree had fruit that was good to eat, nice to look at, and desirable for making someone wise. So she took some of the fruit and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.
7Then their eyes were opened, and they both realized that they were naked. They sewed fig leaves together and made clothes for themselves.
8In the cool of the evening, the man and his wife heard the Lord God walking around in the garden. So they hid from the Lord God among the trees in the garden. 9The Lord God called to the man and asked him, “Where are you?”
10He answered, “I heard you in the garden. I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid.”
11God asked, “Who told you that you were naked? Did you eat fruit from the tree I commanded you not to eat from?”
12The man answered, “That woman, the one you gave me, gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.”
13Then the Lord God asked the woman, “What have you done?”
“The snake deceived me, and I ate,” the woman answered.
14So the Lord God said to the snake, “Because you have done this,
You are cursed more than all the wild or domestic animals.
You will crawl on your belly.
You will be the lowest of animals as long as you live.
15I will make you and the woman hostile toward each other.
I will make your descendants
and her descendant hostile toward each other.
He will crush your head,
and you will bruise his heel.”
16He said to the woman,
“I will increase your pain and your labor
when you give birth to children.
Yet, you will long for your husband,
and he will rule you.”
17Then he said to the man, “You listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree, although I commanded you, ‘You must never eat its fruit.’
The ground is cursed because of you.
Through hard work you will eat ⌞food that comes⌟ from it
every day of your life.
18The ground will grow thorns and thistles for you,
and you will eat wild plants.
19By the sweat of your brow, you will produce food to eat
until you return to the ground,
because you were taken from it.
You are dust, and you will return to dust.”
20Adam named his wife Eve [Life] because she became the mother of every living person.
21The Lord God made clothes from animal skins for the man and his wife and dressed them.
22Then the Lord God said, “The man has become like one of us, since he knows good and evil. He must not reach out and take the fruit from the tree of life and eat. Then he would live forever.” 23So the Lord God sent the man out of the Garden of Eden to farm the ground from which the man had been formed. 24After he sent the man out, God placed angels #3:24 Or “cherubim.” and a flaming sword that turned in all directions east of the Garden of Eden. He placed them there to guard the way to the tree of life.
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