1The snake was the most clever of all the wild animals that the Lord God had made. The snake spoke to the woman and said, “Woman, did God really tell you that you must not eat from any tree in the garden?”

2The woman answered the snake, “No, we can eat fruit from the trees in the garden. 3But there is one tree we must not eat from. God told us, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden. You must not even touch that tree, or you will die.’”

4But the snake said to the woman, “You will not die. 5God knows that if you eat the fruit from that tree you will learn about good and evil, and then you will be like God!”

6The woman could see that the tree was beautiful and the fruit looked so good to eat. She also liked the idea that it would make her wise. So she took some of the fruit from the tree and ate it. Her husband was there with her, so she gave him some of the fruit, and he ate it.

7Then it was as if their eyes opened, and they saw things differently. They saw that they were naked. So they got some fig leaves, sewed them together, and wore them for clothes.

8During the cool part of the day, the Lord God was walking in the garden. The man and the woman heard him, and they hid among the trees in the garden. 9The Lord God called to the man and said, “Where are you?”

10The man said, “I heard you walking in the garden, and I was afraid. I was naked, so I hid.”

11God said to the man, “Who told you that you were naked? Did you eat fruit from that special tree? I told you not to eat from that tree!”

12The man said, “The woman you put here with me gave me fruit from that tree. So I ate it.”

13Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What have you done?”

She said, “The snake tricked me, so I ate the fruit.”

14So the Lord God said to the snake,

“You did this very bad thing,

so bad things will happen to you.

It will be worse for you

than for any other animal.

You must crawl on your belly

and eat dust all the days of your life.

15I will make you and the woman enemies to each other.

Your children and her children will be enemies.

You will bite her child’s foot,

but he will crush your head.”

16Then God said to the woman,

“I will cause you to have much trouble

when you are pregnant.

And when you give birth to children,

you will have much pain.

You will want your husband very much,

but he will rule over you.”#3:16 You will … over you Or “You will want to rule your husband, but he will rule over you.” In Hebrew this is like the last part of Gen. 4:7.

17Then God said to the man,

“I commanded you not to eat from that tree.

But you listened to your wife and ate from it.

So I will curse the ground because of you.

You will have to work hard all your life for the food the ground produces.

18The ground will grow thorns and weeds for you.

And you will have to eat the plants that grow wild in the fields.#3:18 See Gen. 1:28-29.

19You will work hard for your food,

until your face is covered with sweat.

You will work hard until the day you die,

and then you will become dust again.

I used dust to make you,

and when you die, you will become dust again.”

20Adam#3:20 Adam This name means “man” or “people.” It is like the word meaning “earth” or “red clay.” named his wife Eve.#3:20 Eve This name is like the Hebrew word meaning “life.” He gave her this name because Eve would be the mother of everyone who ever lived.

21The Lord God used animal skins and made some clothes for the man and his wife. Then he put the clothes on them.

22The Lord God said, “Look, the man has become like us—he knows about good and evil. And now the man might take the fruit from the tree of life. If the man eats that fruit, he will live forever.”

23So the Lord God forced the man out of the Garden of Eden to work the ground he was made from. 24God forced the man to leave the garden. Then he put Cherub angels and a sword of fire at the entrance to the garden to protect it. The sword flashed around and around, guarding the way to the tree of life.

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Genesis 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

Genesis 3