Genesis 3

The Fall

1Now #Matt. 10:16; 2 Cor. 11:3; Rev. 12:9; 20:2the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made.

He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You#3:1 In Hebrew you is plural in verses 1–5 shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” 2And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, 3but God said, #ch. 2:17‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’” 4#ver. 13; John 8:44; [2 Cor. 11:3]But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely 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,#3:6 Or to give insight she took of its fruit #1 Tim. 2:14 and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, #ver. 12, 17; Hos. 6:7and he ate. 7#ver. 5 Then the eyes of both were opened, #ch. 2:25and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.

8And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool#3:8 Hebrew wind of the day, and the man and his wife #[Ps. 139:1-12; Jer. 23:23, 24]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?”#3:9 In Hebrew you is singular in verses 9 and 11 10And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, #ver. 7; ch. 2:25because 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, #ch. 2:18; Job 31:33“The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.” 13Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, #ver. 4; 2 Cor. 11:3; 1 Tim. 2:14“The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

14The Lord God said to the serpent,

“Because you have done this,

cursed are you above all livestock

and above all beasts of the field;

on your belly you shall go,

and #Isa. 65:25; Mic. 7:17dust you shall eat

all the days of your life.

15I will put enmity between you and the woman,

and between your offspring#3:15 Hebrew seed; so throughout Genesis and #Isa. 7:14; Mic. 5:3; Matt. 1:23, 25; Luke 1:34, 35; Gal. 4:4; 1 Tim. 2:15 her offspring;

# Rom. 16:20; Heb. 2:14; Rev. 20:1-3, 10 he shall bruise your head,

and you shall bruise his heel.”

16To the woman he said,

“I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing;

# [John 16:21] in pain you shall bring forth children.

# ch. 4:7; Song 7:10 Your desire shall be contrary to#3:16 Or shall be toward (see 4:7) your husband,

but he shall #1 Cor. 11:3; 14:34; Eph. 5:22-24; Col. 3:18; 1 Tim. 2:11, 12; Titus 2:5; 1 Pet. 3:1, 5, 6rule over you.”

17And to Adam he said,

“Because you have listened to the voice of your wife

and have eaten of the tree

# ch. 2:17 of which I commanded you,

‘You shall not eat of it,’

# ch. 5:29; [Rom. 8:20-22] cursed is the ground because of you;

# Eccles. 2:22, 23 in pain 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,

till you return to the ground,

for out of it you were taken;

# ch. 2:7; Ps. 103:14 for you are dust,

and #Job 34:15; Ps. 104:29; Eccles. 3:20; 12:7; Rom. 5:12to dust you shall return.”

20The man called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all living.#3:20 Eve sounds like the Hebrew for life-giver and resembles the word for living 21And the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them.

22Then the Lord God said, #ver. 5 “Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand #ch. 2:9and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever—” 23therefore the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden #ch. 2:5to work the ground from which he was taken. 24He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the #Ps. 18:10; 104:4; Heb. 1:7; [Ex. 25:18-22; Ezek. 28:11-16]cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life.

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Genesis 3

Adam and Eve Fall Into Sin

1The serpent was more clever than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. The serpent said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat fruit 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 the fruit from the tree in the middle of the garden. Do not even touch it. If you do, you will die.’ ”

4“You will certainly not die,” the serpent said to the woman. 5“God knows that when you eat fruit from that tree, you will know things you have never known before. Like God, you will be able to tell the difference between good and evil.”

6The woman saw that the tree’s fruit was good to eat and pleasing to look at. She also saw that it would make a person 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 both of them knew things they had never known before. They realized they were naked. So they sewed together fig leaves and made clothes for themselves.

8Then the man and his wife heard the Lord God walking in the garden. It was during the coolest time of the day. They hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 9But the Lord God called out to the man. “Where are you?” he asked.

10“I heard you in the garden,” the man answered. “I was afraid, because I was naked. So I hid.”

11The Lord God said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten fruit from the tree I commanded you not to eat from?”

12The man said, “It’s the fault of 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 have you done?”

The woman said, “The serpent tricked me. That’s why I ate the fruit.”

14So the Lord God spoke to the serpent. He said, “Because you have done this,

“You are set apart from all livestock

and all wild animals.

I am putting a curse on you.

You will crawl on your belly.

You will eat dust

all the days of your life.

15I will make you and the woman hate each other.

Your children and her children will be enemies.

Her son will crush your head.

And you will bite his heel.”

16The Lord God said to the woman,

“I will increase your pain when you give birth.

You will be in great pain when you have children.

You will long for your husband.

And he will rule over you.”

17The Lord God said to Adam, “You listened to your wife’s suggestion. You ate fruit from the tree I warned you about. I said, ‘You must not eat its fruit.’

“So I am putting a curse on the ground because of what you did.

All the days of your life you will have to work hard.

It will be painful for you to get food from the ground. 18You will eat plants from the field,

even though the ground produces thorns and prickly weeds.

19You will have to work hard and sweat a lot

to produce the food you eat.

You were made out of the ground.

You will return to it when you die.

You are dust,

and you will return to dust.”

20Adam named his wife Eve. She would become the mother of every living person.

21The Lord God made clothes out of animal skins for Adam and his wife to wear. 22The Lord God said, “Just like one of us, the man can now tell the difference between good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out and pick fruit from the tree of life and eat it. If he does, he will live forever.” 23So the Lord God drove the man out of the Garden of Eden. He sent the man to farm the ground he had been made from. 24The Lord God drove him out and then placed angels on the east side of the garden. He also placed there a flaming sword that flashed back and forth. The angels and the sword guarded the way to the tree of life.

Holy Bible, New International Reader’s Version®, NIrV®

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