Genesis 3–6

The Disobedience of Man

3^*Now the snake was the most cunning animal that the Lord God had made. The snake asked the woman, “Did God really tell you not to eat fruit from any tree in the garden?”

²“We may eat the fruit of any tree in the garden,” the woman answered, ³“except the tree in the middle of it. God told us not to eat the fruit of that tree or even touch it; if we do, we will die.”

⁴The snake replied, “That’s not true; you will not die. ⁵God said that, because he knows that when you eat it you will be like God^m and know what is good and what is bad.”ⁿ

⁶The woman saw how beautiful the tree was and how good its fruit would be to eat, and she thought how wonderful it would be to become wise. So she took some of the fruit and ate it. Then she gave some to her husband, and he also ate it. ⁷As soon as they had eaten it, they were given understanding and realized that they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and covered themselves.

⁸That evening they heard the Lord God walking in the garden, and they hid from him among the trees. ⁹But the Lord God called out to the man, “Where are you?”

¹⁰He answered, “I heard you in the garden; I was afraid and hid from you, because I was naked.”

¹¹“Who told you that you were naked?” God asked. “Did you eat the fruit that I told you not to eat?”

¹²The man answered, “The woman you put here with me gave me the fruit, and I ate it.”

^13*The Lord God asked the woman, “Why did you do this?”

She replied, “The snake tricked me into eating it.”

God Pronounces Judgement

¹⁴Then the Lord God said to the snake, “You will be punished for this; you alone of all the animals must bear this curse: from now on you will crawl on your belly, and you will have to eat dust as long as you live. ^15*I will make you and the woman hate each other; her offspring and yours will always be enemies. Her offspring will crush your head, and you will bite her offspring’s^o heel.”

¹⁶And he said to the woman, “I will increase your trouble in pregnancy and your pain in giving birth. In spite of this, you will still have desire for your husband, yet you will be subject to him.”

^17*And he said to the man, “You listened to your wife and ate the fruit which I told you not to eat. Because of what you have done, the ground will be under a curse. You will have to work hard all your life to make it produce enough food for you. ^18*It will produce weeds and thorns, and you will have to eat wild plants. ¹⁹You will have to work hard and sweat to make the soil produce anything, until you go back to the soil from which you were formed. You were made from soil, and you will become soil again.”

²⁰Adam^p named his wife Eve,^q because she was the mother of all human beings. ²¹And the Lord God made clothes out of animal skins for Adam and his wife, and he clothed them.

Adam and Eve Are Sent Out of the Garden

^22*Then the Lord God said, “Now the man has become like one of us and has knowledge of what is good and what is bad.^r He must not be allowed to take fruit from the tree that gives life, eat it, and live for ever.” ²³So the Lord God sent him out of the Garden of Eden and made him cultivate the soil from which he had been formed. ²⁴Then at the east side of the garden he put living creatures^s and a flaming sword which turned in all directions. This was to keep anyone from coming near the tree that gives life.

Cain and Abel

4Then Adam had intercourse with his wife, and she became pregnant. She bore a son and said, “By the Lord’s help I have acquired a son.” So she named him Cain.^{t 2}Later she gave birth to another son, Abel. Abel became a shepherd, but Cain was a farmer. ³After some time, Cain brought some of his harvest and gave it as an offering to the Lord. ^4*Then Abel brought the first lamb born to one of his sheep, killed it, and gave the best parts of it as an offering. The Lord was pleased with Abel and his offering, ⁵but he rejected Cain and his offering. Cain became furious, and he scowled in anger. ⁶Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why that scowl on your face? ⁷If you had done the right thing, you would be smiling;^u but because you have done evil, sin is crouching at your door. It wants to rule you, but you must overcome it.”

^8*Then Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let’s go out in the fields.”^v When they were out in the fields, Cain turned on his brother and killed him.

⁹The Lord asked Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?”

He answered, “I don’t know. Am I supposed to take care of my brother?”

^10*Then the Lord said, “Why have you done this terrible thing? Your brother’s blood is crying out to me from the ground, like a voice calling for revenge. ¹¹You are placed under a curse and can no longer farm the soil. It has soaked up your brother’s blood as if it had opened its mouth to receive it when you killed him. ¹²If you try to grow crops, the soil will not produce anything; you will be a homeless wanderer on the earth.”

¹³And Cain said to the Lord, “This punishment is too hard for me to bear. ¹⁴You are driving me off the land and away from your presence. I will be a homeless wanderer on the earth, and anyone who finds me will kill me.”

¹⁵But the Lord answered, “No. If anyone kills you, seven lives will be taken in revenge.” So the Lord put a mark on Cain to warn anyone who met him not to kill him. ¹⁶And Cain went away from the Lord’s presence and lived in a land called “Wandering”, which is east of Eden.

The Descendants

¹⁷Cain and his wife had a son and named him Enoch. Then Cain built a city and named it after his son. ¹⁸Enoch had a son named Irad, who was the father of Mehujael, and Mehujael had a son named Methushael, who was the father of Lamech. ¹⁹Lamech had two wives, Adah and Zillah. ²⁰Adah gave birth to Jabal, who was the ancestor of those who raise livestock and live in tents. ²¹His brother was Jubal, the ancestor of all musicians who play the harp and the flute. ²²Zillah gave birth to Tubal Cain, who made all kinds of tools^w out of bronze and iron. The sister of Tubal Cain was Naamah.

²³Lamech said to his wives,

“Adah and Zillah, listen to me: I have killed a young man because he struck me.

²⁴If seven lives are taken to pay for killing Cain,

Seventy-seven will be taken if anyone kills me.”

Seth and Enosh

²⁵Adam and his wife had another son. She said, “God has given me a son to replace Abel, whom Cain killed.” So she named him Seth.^{x 26}Seth had a son whom he named Enosh. It was then that people began using the Lord’s holy name in worship.

The Descendants of Adam

5^*This is the list of the descendants of Adam. (When God created human beings, he made them like himself. ^2*He created them male and female, blessed them, and named them “Humanity”.) ³When Adam was 130 years old, he had a son who was like him, and he named him Seth. ⁴After that, Adam lived another 800 years. He had other children ⁵and died at the age of 930.

⁶When Seth was 105, he had a son, Enosh, ⁷and then lived another 807 years. He had other children ⁸and died at the age of 912.

⁹When Enosh was 90, he had a son, Kenan, ¹⁰and then lived another 815 years. He had other children ¹¹and died at the age of 905.

¹²When Kenan was 70, he had a son, Mahalalel, ¹³and then lived another 840 years. He had other children ¹⁴and died at the age of 910.

¹⁵When Mahalalel was 65, he had a son, Jared, ¹⁶and then lived another 830 years. He had other children ¹⁷and died at the age of 895.

¹⁸When Jared was 162, he had a son, Enoch, ¹⁹and then lived another 800 years. He had other children ²⁰and died at the age of 962.

²¹When Enoch was 65, he had a son, Methuselah. ²²After that, Enoch lived in fellowship with God for 300 years and had other children. ²³He lived to be 365 years old. ^24*He spent his life in fellowship with God, and then he disappeared, because God took him away.

²⁵When Methuselah was 187, he had a son, Lamech, ²⁶and then lived another 782 years. He had other children ²⁷and died at the age of 969.

²⁸When Lamech was 182, he had a son, ²⁹and said, “From the very ground on which the Lord put a curse, this child will bring us relief from all our hard work”; so he named him Noah.^{y 30}Lamech lived another 595 years. He had other children ³¹and died at the age of 777.

³²After Noah was 500 years old, he had three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

The Wickedness of Mankind

6^*When the human race had spread all over the world, and daughters were being born, ^2*some of the heavenly beings^z saw that these young women were beautiful, so they took the ones they liked. ^3*Then the Lord said, “I will not allow people to live for ever; they are mortal. From now on they will live no longer than a hundred and twenty years.” ^4*In those days, and even later, there were giants on the earth who were descendants of human women and the heavenly beings.^a They were the great heroes and famous men of long ago.

^5*When the Lord saw how wicked everyone on earth was and how evil their thoughts were all the time, ^6*he was sorry that he had ever made them and put them on the earth. He was so filled with regret ^7*that he said, “I will wipe out these people I have created, and also the animals and the birds, because I am sorry that I made any of them.” ^8*But the Lord was pleased with Noah.

Noah

^9–10*This is the story of Noah. He had three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Noah had no faults and was the only good man of his time. He lived in fellowship with God, ¹¹but everyone else was evil in God’s sight, and violence had spread everywhere. ¹²God looked at the world and saw that it was evil, for the people were all living evil lives.

¹³God said to Noah, “I have decided to put an end to the whole human race. I will destroy them completely, because the world is full of their violent deeds. ¹⁴Build a boat for yourself out of good timber; make rooms in it and cover it with tar inside and out. ¹⁵Make it 133 metres long, 22 metres wide, and 13 metres high. ¹⁶Make a roof^b for the boat and leave a space of 44 centimetres between the roof^c and the sides. Build it with…