Genesis 3

The First Sin

1 # Ws 2.24; Rev 12.9; 20.2. The snake was sneakier 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?”

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. 7At once they saw what they had done, and they realized they were naked. Then they sewed fig leaves together to cover themselves.

8Late in the afternoon, when the breeze began to blow, the man and woman heard the Lord God walking in the garden. So they hid behind some trees.

Sin Brings a Curse

9The Lord God 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.”

13 # 2 Co 11.3; 1 Ti 2.14. The Lord God then asked the woman, “What have you done?”

“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 dirt.

15 # Rev 12.17. You and this woman

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 God 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.”

17 # He 6.8. The Lord said to the man,

“You listened to your wife

and ate the fruit

I told you not to eat.

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 sweat all your life

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.

22 # Rev 22.14. The Lord said, “They 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 forever.” 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.

Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)

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Genesis 3

1But the serpent was shrewder than any animal of the field that Adonai Elohim made. So it said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from all the trees of the garden’?”

2The woman said to the serpent, “Of the fruit of the trees, we may eat.

3But of the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God said, ‘You must not eat of it and you must not touch it, or you will die.’”

4The serpent said to the woman, “You most assuredly won’t 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.”

6Now the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a thing of lust for the eyes, and that the tree was desirable for imparting wisdom. So she took of its fruit and she ate. She also gave to her husband who was with her and he ate.

7Then the eyes of both of them were opened and they knew that they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made for themselves loin-coverings.

8And they heard the sound of Adonai Elohim going to and fro in the garden in the wind of the day. So the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of Adonai Elohim in the midst of the Tree of the garden.

9Then Adonai Elohim called to the man and He said to him, “Where are you?”

10Then he said, “Your sound—I heard it in the garden and I was afraid. Because I am naked, I hid myself.”

11Then He said, “Who told you that you are naked? Have you eaten from the Tree from which I commanded you not to eat?”

12Then the man said, “The woman whom You gave to be with me—she gave me of the Tree, and I ate.”

13Adonai Elohim said to the woman, “What did you do?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me and I ate.”

14Adonai Elohim said to the serpent, “Because you did this, Cursed are you above all the livestock and above every animal of the field. On your belly will you go, and dust will you eat all the days of your life.

15I will put animosity between you and the woman— between your seed and her seed. He will crush your head, and you will crush his heel.

16To the woman He said, “I will greatly increase your pain from conception to labor. In pain will you give birth to children. Your desire will be toward your husband, yet he must rule over you.”

17Then to the man He said, “Because you listened to your wife’s voice and ate of the tree which I commanded you, saying, ‘You must not eat of it’: Cursed is the ground because of you— with pain will you eat of it all the days of your life.

18Thorns and thistles will sprout for you. You will eat the plants of the field,

19By the sweat of your brow will you eat food, until you return to the ground, since from it were you taken. For you are dust, and to dust will you return.”

20Now Adam named his wife Eve because she was the mother of all the living.

21Adonai Elohim made Adam and his wife tunics of skin and He clothed them.

22Then Adonai Elohim said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, knowing good and evil. So now, in case he stretches out his hand and takes also from the Tree of Life and eats and lives forever,”

23Adonai Elohim sent him away from the Garden of Eden, to work the ground from which he had been taken.

24And He expelled the man; and at the east of the Garden of Eden He had cheruvim dwell along, with the whirling sword of flame, to guard the way to the Tree of Life.

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