Genesis 3–5

THE TEMPTATION AND THE FALL

3Now the serpent was the most cunning of all the wild animals that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You can’t eat from any tree in the garden’?”^x

²The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit from the trees in the garden. ³But about the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden, God said, ‘You must not eat it or touch it, or you will die.’ ”^y

⁴“No! You will certainly not die,” the serpent said to the woman.^{z 5}“In fact, God knows that when^F you eat it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” ⁶The woman saw that the tree was good for food and delightful to look at, and that it was desirable for obtaining wisdom. So she took some of its fruit and ate it; she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.^{aa 7}Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.

SIN’S CONSEQUENCES

⁸Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden at the time of the evening breeze,^A and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden.^{a 9}So the Lord God called out to the man and said to him, “Where are you?”

¹⁰And he said, “I heard you^B in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid.”

¹¹Then he asked, “Who told you that you were naked? Did you eat from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?”

¹²The man replied,^b “The woman you gave to be with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate.”

¹³So the Lord God asked the woman, “What have you done?”

And the woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”^c

¹⁴So the Lord God said to the serpent:

Because you have done this,

you are cursed more than any livestock

and more than any wild animal.

You will move on your belly

and eat dust all the days of your life.^d

¹⁵I will put hostility between you and the woman,

and between your offspring and her offspring.

He will strike your head,

and you will strike his heel.^e

¹⁶He said to the woman:

I will intensify your labor pains;

you will bear children with painful effort.^f

Your desire^g will be for your husband,

yet he will rule over you.

¹⁷And he said to the man, “Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘Do not eat from it’:

The ground is cursed because of you.^h

You will eat from it by means of painful labor^D

all the days of your life.

¹⁸It will produce thorns and thistles for you,

and you will eat the plants of the field.ⁱ

¹⁹You will eat bread^E by the sweat of your brow

until you return to the ground,^j

since you were taken from it.

For you are dust,

and you will return to dust.”

²⁰The man named his wife Eve^F because she was the mother of all the living. ²¹The Lord God made clothing from skins for the man and his wife, and he clothed them.

²²The Lord God said, “Since the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil, he must not reach out, take from the tree of life, eat, and live forever.”^{k 23}So the Lord God sent him away from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken. ²⁴He drove the man out and stationed the cherubim and the flaming, whirling sword east of the garden of Eden to guard the way to the tree of life.^l

CAIN MURDERS ABEL

4The man was intimate with his wife Eve, and she conceived and gave birth to Cain. She said, “I have had a male child with the Lord’s help.”^{A 2}She also gave birth to his brother Abel. Now Abel became a shepherd of flocks, but Cain worked the ground. ³In the course of time Cain presented some of the land’s produce as an offering to the Lord.^{m 4}And Abel also presented an offering—some of the firstborn of his flock and their fat portions.ⁿ The Lord had regard for Abel and his offering,^{o 5}but he did not have regard for Cain and his offering. Cain was furious, and he looked despondent.

⁶Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you furious?^p And why do you look despondent? ⁷If you do what is right, won’t you be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it.”^q

⁸Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let’s go out to the field.”^B And while they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.^r

⁹Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?”

“I don’t know,” he replied. “Am I my brother’s guardian?”

¹⁰Then he said, “What have you done? Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground!^{s 11}So now you are cursed, alienated from the ground that opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood you have shed.^{C 12}If you work the ground, it will never again give you its yield. You will be a restless wanderer on the earth.”^t

¹³But Cain answered the Lord, “My punishment^D is too great to bear! ¹⁴Since you are banishing me today from the face of the earth, and I must hide from your presence and become a restless wanderer on the earth, whoever finds me will kill me.”^a. ¹⁵Then the Lord replied to him, “In that case,^E whoever kills Cain will suffer vengeance seven times over.” And he placed a mark^b on Cain so that whoever found him would not kill him. ¹⁶Then Cain went out from the Lord’s presence and lived in the land of Nod,^F east of Eden.

THE LINE OF CAIN

¹⁷Cain was intimate with his wife, and she conceived and gave birth to Enoch. Then Cain became the builder of a city, and he named the city Enoch after his son. ¹⁸Irad was born to Enoch, Irad fathered Mehujael, Mehujael fathered Methushael, and Methushael fathered Lamech. ¹⁹Lamech took two wives for himself, one named Adah and the other named Zillah. ²⁰Adah bore Jabal; he was the first^G of the nomadic herdsmen. ²¹His brother was named Jubal; he was the first^* of all who play the lyre and the flute. ²²Zillah bore Tubal-cain, who made all kinds of bronze and iron tools. Tubal-cain’s sister was Naamah.

²³Lamech said to his wives:

Adah and Zillah, hear my voice;

wives of Lamech, pay attention to my words.

For I killed a man for wounding me,

a young man for striking me.

²⁴If Cain is to be avenged seven times over,

then for Lamech it will be seventy-seven times!

²⁵Adam was intimate with his wife again, and she gave birth to a son and named him Seth, for she said, “God has given^A me another offspring^B in place of Abel, since Cain killed him.” ²⁶A son was born to Seth^c also, and he named him Enosh. At that time people began to call on the name of the Lord.^d

THE LINE OF SETH

5This is the document containing the family^C records^e of Adam.^D On the day that God created man,^E he made him in the likeness of God; ²he created them male and female. When they were created, he blessed them and called them mankind.^F

³Adam was 130 years old when he fathered a son in his likeness, according to his image, and named him Seth. ⁴Adam lived 800 years after he fathered Seth, and he fathered other sons and daughters. ⁵So Adam’s life lasted 930 years; then he died.

⁶Seth was 105 years old when he fathered Enosh. ⁷Seth lived 807 years after he fathered Enosh, and he fathered other sons and daughters. ⁸So Seth’s life lasted 912 years; then he died.

⁹Enosh was 90 years old when he fathered Kenan. ¹⁰Enosh lived 815 years after he fathered Kenan, and he fathered other sons and daughters. ¹¹So Enosh’s life lasted 905 years; then he died.

¹²Kenan was 70 years old when he fathered Mahalalel. ¹³Kenan lived 840 years after he fathered Mahalalel, and he fathered other sons and daughters. ¹⁴So Kenan’s life lasted 910 years; then he died.

¹⁵Mahalalel was 65 years old when he fathered Jared. ¹⁶Mahalalel lived 830 years after he fathered Jared, and he fathered other sons and daughters. ¹⁷So Mahalalel’s life lasted 895 years; then he died.

¹⁸Jared was 162 years old when he fathered Enoch. ¹⁹Jared lived 800 years after he fathered Enoch, and he fathered other sons and daughters. ²⁰So Jared’s life lasted 962 years; then he died.

²¹Enoch was 65 years old when he fathered Methuselah. ²²And after he fathered Methuselah, Enoch walked with God^f 300 years and fathered other sons and daughters. ²³So Enoch’s life lasted 365 years. ²⁴Enoch walked with God; then he was not there because God took him.^g

²⁵Methuselah was 187 years old when he fathered Lamech. ²⁶Methuselah lived 782 years after he fathered Lamech, and he fathered other sons and daughters. ²⁷So Methuselah’s life lasted 969 years; then he died.

²⁸Lamech was 182 years old when he fathered a son. ²⁹And he named him Noah,^G saying, “This one will bring us relief from the agonizing labor of our hands, caused by the ground the Lord has cursed.”^{h 30}Lamech lived 595 years after he fathered Noah, and he fathered other sons and daughters. ³¹So Lamech’s life lasted 777 years; then he died.

³²Noah was 500 years old, and he fathered Shem, Ham, and Japheth.