Genesis 3

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.