Genesis 3–5

The Fall

3Now the serpent was more crafty than any other wild animal^a which Yahweh God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God indeed say, ‘You shall not eat from any tree in the garden’?” ²The woman said to the serpent, “From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat, ³but from the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, God said, ‘You shall not eat from it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die’.” ⁴But the serpent said to the woman, “You shall not surely die. ⁵For God knows that on the day you both eat from it, then your eyes will be opened and you both shall be like gods,^b knowing good and evil.” ⁶When^c the woman saw that the tree was good for food and that it was a delight to the eyes, and the tree was desirable to make one wise, then^d she took from its fruit and she ate. And she gave it also to her husband with her, and he ate. ⁷Then^e the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed together fig leaves and they made for themselves coverings.

⁸Then^f they heard the sound of Yahweh God walking in the garden at the windy time of day.^g And the man^h and his wife hid themselves from the presence of Yahweh God among the trees of the garden. ⁹And Yahweh God called to the manⁱ and said to him, “Where are you?” ¹⁰And he replied,^j “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid because I am naked, so I hid myself.” ¹¹Then he^k asked,^l “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree from which I forbade you to eat?”^{m 12}And the manⁿ replied,^o “The woman whom you gave to be with me—she gave to me from the tree and I ate.” ¹³Then^p Yahweh God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” And the woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” ¹⁴Then^q Yahweh God said to the serpent,

“Because you have done this,

you will be cursed

more than any domesticated animal

and more than any wild animal.^r

On your belly you shall go

and dust you shall eat

all the days of your life.

¹⁵And I will put hostility

between you and between the woman,

and between your offspring^s and between her offspring;^t

he will strike you on the head,

and you will strike him on the heel.”

¹⁶To the woman he said,

“I will greatly increase

your pain in childbearing;^u

in pain you shall bear children.

And to your husband shall be your desire.

And he shall rule over you.”

¹⁷And to Adam^v he said, “Because you listened to the voice of your wife and you ate from the tree from which I forbade you to eat,^w

the ground shall be cursed on your account.

In pain you shall eat from it

all the days of your life.

¹⁸And thorns and thistles shall sprout for you,

and you shall eat the plants of the field.

¹⁹By the sweat of your brow^x

you shall eat bread,

until your return to the ground.

For from it you were taken;

for you are dust,

and to dust you shall return.”

²⁰And the man^y named^z his wife Eve, because she was the mother of all life. ²¹And Yahweh God made for Adam^a and for his wife garments of skin, and he clothed them.

²²And Yahweh God said, “Look—the man has become as one of us, to know good and evil. What if^b he stretches out his hand and takes also from the tree of life and eats, and lives forever?” ²³And Yahweh God sent him out from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from which he was taken. ²⁴So^c he drove the man out, and placed cherubim east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming, turning sword^d to guard the way to the tree of life.

Cain and Abel

4Now Adam knew^a Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain. And she said, “I have given birth to a man with the help of Yahweh.” ²Then she bore^b his brother Abel. And Abel became a keeper of sheep, and Cain became a tiller of the ground. ³And in the course of time^c Cain brought an offering from the fruit of the ground to Yahweh, ⁴and Abel also brought an offering from the choicest firstlings of his flock.^d And Yahweh looked with favor to Abel and to his offering, ⁵but to Cain and to his offering he did not look with favor. And Cain became very angry, and his face fell. ⁶And Yahweh said to Cain, “Why are you angry, and why is your face fallen? ⁷If you do well will I not accept you?^e But if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. And its desire is for you, but you must rule over it.”

⁸Then^f Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let us go out into the field.”^g And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him. ⁹Then^h Yahweh said to Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?” And he said, “I do not know; am I my brother’s keeper?” ¹⁰And he said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood is crying out to me from the ground. ¹¹So now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive the blood of your brother from your hand. ¹²When you till the ground it shall no longer yield its strength to you.ⁱ You shall be a wanderer and a fugitive on the earth.” ¹³And Cain said to Yahweh, “My punishment is greater than I can bear. ¹⁴Look, you have driven me out today from the face of the ground, and from your face I must hide. I will be a wanderer and a fugitive on the earth, and it will happen that whoever finds me will kill me.” ¹⁵Then^j Yahweh said to him, “Therefore, whoever kills Cain will be avenged sevenfold.” Then^k Yahweh put a sign on Cain so that whoever found him would not kill him. ¹⁶And Cain went out from the presence of Yahweh, and he settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden.

¹⁷And Cain knew^l his wife, and she conceived and gave birth to Enoch. And when he built a city he named the city after his son, Enoch.^{m 18}And to Enoch was born Irad, and Irad fathered Mehujael, and Mehujael fathered Methushael, and Methushael fathered Lamech. ¹⁹And Lamech took to himself two wives.ⁿ The name of the first was Adah, and the name of the second was Zillah. ²⁰And Adah gave birth to Jabal; he was the father of those who live in tents and those who have livestock. ²¹And the name of his brother was Jubal; he was the father of all who play stringed instruments and wind instruments. ²²Then^o Zillah also gave birth to Tubal-Cain who forged all kinds of tools of bronze and iron. And the sister of Tubal-Cain was Naamah.

²³Then^p Lamech said to his wives,

“Adah and Zillah, listen to my voice;

O wives of Lamech, hear my words.

I have killed a man for wounding me,

Even a young man for injuring me.

²⁴If Cain is avenged sevenfold,

Then Lamech will be avenged seventy and seven times.

²⁵Then^q Adam knew^r his wife again, and she gave birth to a son. And she called his name Seth, for she said “God has appointed to me another child in the place of Abel, because Cain killed him.” ²⁶And as for Seth, he also fathered a son, and he called his name Enosh. At that time he^s began to call on the name of Yahweh.

Adam’s Descendants to Noah

5This is the record of the generations^a of Adam. When^b God created Adam,^c he made him in the likeness of God. ²Male and female he created them. And he blessed them. And he called their name “Humankind” when^d they were created. ³And when Adam had lived one hundred and thirty years, he fathered a child in his likeness, according to his image. And he called his name Seth. ⁴And the days of Adam after he fathered Seth were eight hundred years. And he fathered sons and daughters. ⁵And all the days of Adam which he lived were nine hundred and thirty years, and he died.

⁶When^e Seth had lived one hundred and five years, he fathered Enosh. ⁷And after Seth had fathered Enosh he lived eight hundred and seven years, and fathered sons and daughters. ⁸And all the days of Seth were nine hundred and twelve years, and he died.

⁹When^f Enosh lived ninety years, he fathered Kenan. ¹⁰And after Enosh fathered Kenan he lived eight hundred and fifteen years, and fathered sons and daughters. ¹¹And all the days of Enosh were nine hundred and five years, and he died.

¹²When^g Kenan had lived seventy years, he fathered Mahalalel. ¹³And after Kenan had fathered Mahalalel, he lived eight hundred and forty years, and fathered sons and daughters. ¹⁴And all the days of Kenan were nine hundred and ten years, and he died.

¹⁵When^h Mahalalel had lived sixty-five years, he fathered Jared. ¹⁶And after Mahalalel had fathered Jared, he lived eight hundred and thirty years, and fathered sons and daughters. ¹⁷And all the days of Mahalalel were eight hundred and ninety-five years, and he died.

¹⁸Whenⁱ Jared had lived one hundred and sixty-two years, he fathered Enoch. ¹⁹And after Jared had fathered Enoch, he lived eight hundred years, and fathered sons and daughters. ²⁰And all the days of Jared were nine hundred and sixty-two years, and he died.

²¹When^j Enoch had lived sixty-five years, he fathered Methuselah. ²²And Enoch walked with God after he fathered Methuselah three hundred years, and fathered sons and daughters. ²³And all the days of Enoch were three hundred and sixty-five years. ²⁴And Enoch walked with God, and he was no more, for God took him.

²⁵When^k Methuselah had lived one hundred and eighty-seven years, he fathered Lamech. ²⁶And after Methuselah had fathered Lamech, he lived seven hundred and eighty-two years, and fathered sons and daughters. ²⁷And all the days of Methuselah were nine hundred and sixty-nine years, and he died.

²⁸When^l Lamech had lived one hundred and eighty-two years, he fathered a son. ²⁹And he called his name Noah, saying, “This one shall relieve us^m from our work, and from the hard labor of our hands, from the ground which Yahweh had cursed. ³⁰And after Lamech had fathered Noah he lived five hundred and ninety-five years, and he fathered sons and daughters. ³¹All the days of Lamech were seven hundred and seventy-seven years, and he died.

³²Whenⁿ Noah was five hundred years old,^o Noah fathered Shem, Ham, and Japheth.