Genesis 3–6

The Fall

3Now ^uthe 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, ‘You¹ 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, ^v‘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.’ ” ^4wBut 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,² she took of its fruit ^xand ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, ^yand he ate. ^7zThen the eyes of both were opened, ^aand 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 cool³ of the day, and the man and his wife ^bhid 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?”^{4 10}And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, ^cbecause 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, ^d“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, ^e“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 ^fdust you shall eat

all the days of your life.

¹⁵I will put enmity between you and the woman,

and between your offspring⁵ and ^gher offspring;

^hhe shall bruise your head,

and you shall bruise his heel.”

¹⁶To the woman he said,

“I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing;

ⁱin pain you shall bring forth children.

^jYour desire shall be for⁶ your husband,

and he shall ^krule over you.”

¹⁷And to Adam he said,

“Because you have listened to the voice of your wife

and have eaten of the tree

^lof which I commanded you,

‘You shall not eat of it,’

^mcursed is the ground because of you;

ⁿin 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;

^ofor you are dust,

and ^pto dust you shall return.”

²⁰The man called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all living.^{7 21}And the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them.

²²Then the Lord God said, ^q“Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand ^rand take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever—” ²³therefore the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden ^sto 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 ^tcherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life.

Cain and Abel

4Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying, “I have gotten¹ a man with the help of the Lord.” ²And again, she bore his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, and Cain a worker of the ground. ³In the course of time Cain brought to the Lord an offering of ^uthe fruit of the ground, ⁴and Abel also brought of ^vthe firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions. And the Lord ^whad regard for Abel and his offering, ⁵but ^xfor Cain and his offering he had no regard. So Cain was very angry, and his face fell. ⁶The Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen? ^7yIf you do well, will you not be accepted?² And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. ^zIts desire is for³ you, and you must rule over it.”

⁸Cain spoke to Abel his brother.⁴ And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and ^akilled him. ⁹Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?” He said, ^b“I do not know; am I my brother’s keeper?” ¹⁰And the Lord said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood ^cis crying to me from the ground. ¹¹And now ^dyou are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. ¹²When you work the ground, it shall no longer yield to you its strength. You shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth.” ¹³Cain said to the Lord, “My ^epunishment is greater than I can bear.^{5 14}Behold, ^fyou have driven me today away from the ground, and ^gfrom your face I shall be hidden. I shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth, ^hand whoever finds me will kill me.” ¹⁵Then the Lord said to him, “Not so! If anyone kills Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him ⁱsevenfold.” And the Lord ^jput a mark on Cain, lest any who found him should attack him. ¹⁶Then Cain went away from the presence of the Lord and settled in the land of Nod,⁶ east of Eden.

¹⁷Cain knew his wife, and she conceived and bore Enoch. When he built a city, he called the name of the city after the name of his son, Enoch. ¹⁸To Enoch was born Irad, and Irad fathered Mehujael, and Mehujael fathered Methushael, and Methushael fathered Lamech. ¹⁹And Lamech took two wives. The name of the one was Adah, and the name of the other Zillah. ²⁰Adah bore Jabal; he was the father of those who dwell in tents and have livestock. ²¹His brother’s name was Jubal; he was the father of all those who play the lyre and pipe. ²²Zillah also bore Tubal-cain; he was the forger of all instruments of bronze and iron. The sister of Tubal-cain was Naamah.

²³Lamech said to his wives:

“Adah and Zillah, hear my voice;

you wives of Lamech, listen to what I say:

I have killed a man for wounding me,

a young man for striking me.

^24kIf Cain’s revenge is sevenfold,

then Lamech’s is seventy-sevenfold.”

²⁵And Adam knew his wife again, and she bore a son and called his name Seth, for she said, “God has appointed⁷ for me another offspring instead of Abel, for Cain killed him.” ²⁶To ^lSeth also a son was born, and he called his name ^mEnosh. At that time people began ⁿto call upon the name of the Lord.

Adam’s Descendants to Noah

5This is the book of the generations of Adam. When God created man, ^ohe made him in the likeness of God. ²Male and female he created them, and he blessed them and named them Man¹ when they were created. ³When Adam had lived 130 years, he fathered a son in his own likeness, after his image, and ^pnamed him Seth. ^4qThe days of Adam after he fathered Seth were 800 years; and he had other sons and daughters. ⁵Thus all the days that Adam lived were 930 years, ^rand he died.

⁶When Seth had lived 105 years, ^she fathered Enosh. ⁷Seth lived after he fathered Enosh 807 years and had other sons and daughters. ⁸Thus all the days of Seth were 912 years, and he died.

⁹When Enosh had lived 90 years, he fathered Kenan. ¹⁰Enosh lived after he fathered Kenan 815 years and had other sons and daughters. ¹¹Thus all the days of Enosh were 905 years, and he died.

¹²When Kenan had lived 70 years, he fathered Mahalalel. ¹³Kenan lived after he fathered Mahalalel 840 years and had other sons and daughters. ¹⁴Thus all the days of Kenan were 910 years, and he died.

¹⁵When Mahalalel had lived 65 years, he fathered Jared. ¹⁶Mahalalel lived after he fathered Jared 830 years and had other sons and daughters. ¹⁷Thus all the days of Mahalalel were 895 years, and he died.

¹⁸When Jared had lived 162 years, he fathered ^tEnoch. ¹⁹Jared lived after he fathered Enoch 800 years and had other sons and daughters. ²⁰Thus all the days of Jared were 962 years, and he died.

²¹When Enoch had lived 65 years, he fathered Methuselah. ²²Enoch ^uwalked with God² after he fathered Methuselah 300 years and had other sons and daughters. ²³Thus all the days of Enoch were 365 years. ²⁴Enoch ^uwalked with God, and he was not,^{3 v}for God took him.

²⁵When Methuselah had lived 187 years, he fathered Lamech. ²⁶Methuselah lived after he fathered Lamech 782 years and had other sons and daughters. ²⁷Thus all the days of Methuselah were 969 years, and he died.

²⁸When Lamech had lived 182 years, he fathered a son ²⁹and called his name Noah, saying, “Out of the ground ^wthat the Lord has cursed, this one shall bring us relief⁴ from our work and from the painful toil of our hands.” ³⁰Lamech lived after he fathered Noah 595 years and had other sons and daughters. ³¹Thus all the days of Lamech were 777 years, and he died.

³²After Noah was 500 years old, Noah fathered ^xShem, Ham, and ^yJapheth.

Increasing Corruption on Earth

6When man began to multiply on the face of the land and daughters were born to them, ²the sons of God saw that the daughters of man were attractive. And they took as their wives any they chose. ³Then the Lord said, ^z“My Spirit shall not abide in¹ man forever, ^afor he is flesh: his days shall be 120 years.” ⁴The Nephilim² were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of man and they bore children to them. These were the mighty men who were of old, the men of renown.

^5bThe Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every ^cintention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. ⁶And ^dthe Lord regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it ^egrieved him to his heart. ⁷So the Lord said, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens, for I am sorry that I have made them.” ⁸But Noah ^ffound favor in…