Genesis 3–6

Adam and Eve Fall Into Sin

3The serpent was more clever than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. The serpent said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat the fruit of any tree that is in the garden’?”

²The woman said to the serpent, “We can eat the fruit of the trees that are in the garden. ³But God did say, ‘You must not eat the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the garden. Do not even touch it. If you do, you will die.’ ”

⁴“You can be sure that you won’t die,” the serpent said to the woman. ⁵“God knows that when you eat the fruit of that tree, you will know things you have never known before. You will be able to tell the difference between good and evil. You will be like God.”

⁶The woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good to eat. It was also pleasing to look at. And it would make a person wise. So she took some of the fruit and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her. And he ate it.

⁷Then both of them knew things they had never known before. They realized they were naked. So they sewed fig leaves together and made clothes for themselves.

⁸Then the man and his wife heard the Lord God walking in the garden. It was the coolest time of the day. They hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden.

⁹But the Lord God called out to the man. “Where are you?” he asked.

¹⁰“I heard you in the garden,” the man answered. “I was afraid. I was naked, so I hid.”

¹¹The Lord God said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten the fruit of the tree I commanded you not to eat?”

¹²The man said, “It was the woman you put here with me. She gave me some fruit from the tree. And I ate it.”

¹³Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What have you done?”

The woman said, “The serpent tricked me. That’s why I ate the fruit.”

¹⁴So the Lord God spoke to the serpent. He said, “Because you have done this,

“I am putting a curse on you.

You are cursed more than all of the livestock

and all of the wild animals.

You will crawl on the ground.

You will eat dust

all of the days of your life.

¹⁵I will put hatred

between you and the woman.

Your children and her children will be enemies.

Her son will crush your head.

And you will crush his heel.”

¹⁶The Lord God said to the woman,

“I will greatly increase your pain when you give birth.

You will be in pain when you have children.

You will long for your husband.

And he will rule over you.”

¹⁷The Lord God said to Adam, “You listened to your wife. You ate the fruit of the tree that I commanded you about. I said, ‘You must not eat its fruit.’

“So I am putting a curse on the ground because of what you did.

All the days of your life you will have to work hard

to get food from the ground.

¹⁸You will eat the plants of the field,

even though the ground produces thorns and thistles.

¹⁹You will have to work hard and sweat a lot

to produce the food you eat.

You were made out of the ground.

And you will return to it.

You are dust.

So you will return to it.”

²⁰Adam named his wife Eve. She would become the mother of every living person.

²¹The Lord God made clothes out of animal skins for Adam and his wife to wear. ²²The Lord God said, “The man has become like one of us. He can now tell the difference between good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and pick fruit from the tree of life and eat it. If he does, he will live forever.”

²³So the Lord God drove the man out of the Garden of Eden to work the ground he had been made out of. ²⁴The Lord God drove him out and then placed cherubim on the east side of the Garden of Eden. He also placed a flaming sword there. It flashed back and forth. The cherubim and the sword guarded the way to the tree of life.

Cain and Abel

4Adam made love to his wife Eve. She became pregnant and gave birth to Cain. She said, “With the Lord’s help I have had a baby boy.” ²Later she gave birth to his brother Abel.

Abel took care of sheep. Cain worked the ground. ³After some time, Cain gathered some of the things he had grown. He brought them as an offering to the Lord.

⁴But Abel brought the fattest parts of some of the lambs from his flock. They were the male animals that were born first to their mothers.

The Lord was pleased with Abel and his offering. ⁵But he wasn’t pleased with Cain and his offering. So Cain became very angry. His face was sad.

⁶Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why are you looking so sad? ⁷Do what is right. Then you will be accepted. If you don’t do what is right, sin is waiting at your door to grab you. It longs to have you. But you must rule over it.”

⁸Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let’s go out to the field.” So they went out. There Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.

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

“I don’t know,” he replied. “Am I supposed to look after my brother?”

¹⁰The Lord said, “What have you done? Listen! Your brother’s blood is crying out to me from the ground.

¹¹“So I am putting a curse on you. I am driving you away from the ground. It has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. ¹²When you work the ground, it will not produce its crops for you anymore. You will be a restless person who wanders around on the earth.”

¹³Cain said to the Lord, “You are punishing me more than I can take. ¹⁴Today you are driving me away from the land. I will be hidden from you. I’ll be a restless person who wanders around on the earth. Anyone who finds me will kill me.”

¹⁵But the Lord said to him, “No. Anyone who kills you will be paid back seven times.” The Lord put a mark on Cain. Then anyone who found him wouldn’t kill him.

¹⁶So Cain went away from the Lord. He lived in the land of Nod. It was east of Eden.

¹⁷Cain made love to his wife. She became pregnant and gave birth to Enoch. At that time Cain was building a city. He named it after his son Enoch.

¹⁸Enoch had a son named Irad. Irad was the father of Mehujael. Mehujael was the father of Methushael. And Methushael was the father of Lamech.

¹⁹Lamech married two women. One was named Adah, and the other was named Zillah. ²⁰Adah gave birth to Jabal. He was the father of those who live in tents and raise livestock. ²¹His brother’s name was Jubal. He was the father of everyone who plays the harp and flute.

²²Zillah also had a son. His name was Tubal-Cain. He made all kinds of tools out of bronze and iron. Tubal-Cain’s sister was Naamah.

²³Lamech said to his wives,

“Adah and Zillah, listen to me.

You wives of Lamech, hear my words.

I have killed a man because he wounded me.

I have killed a young man because he hurt me.

²⁴Anyone who would have killed Cain would have been paid back seven times.

But anyone who hurts me will be paid back 77 times.”

²⁵Adam made love to his wife again. She gave birth to a son and named him Seth. She said, “God has given me another child. The child will take the place of Abel, because Cain killed him.”

²⁶Seth also had a son. He named him Enosh.

At that time people began to worship the Lord.

The Family Line of Adam

5Here is the written story of Adam’s family line.

When God created man, he made him in his own likeness. ²He created them as male and female. He blessed them. And he called them “man” when they were created.

³When Adam was 130 years old, he had a son in his own likeness. He named him Seth. ⁴Adam lived 800 years after Seth was born. He also had other sons and daughters. ⁵Adam lived a total of 930 years. Then he died.

⁶Seth lived 105 years. Then he became the father of Enosh. ⁷Seth lived 807 years after Enosh was born. He also had other sons and daughters. ⁸Seth lived a total of 912 years. Then he died.

⁹Enosh lived 90 years. Then he became the father of Kenan. ¹⁰Enosh lived 815 years after Kenan was born. He also had other sons and daughters. ¹¹Enosh lived a total of 905 years. Then he died.

¹²Kenan lived 70 years. Then he became the father of Mahalalel. ¹³Kenan lived 840 years after Mahalalel was born. He also had other sons and daughters. ¹⁴Kenan lived a total of 910 years. Then he died.

¹⁵Mahalalel lived 65 years. Then he became the father of Jared. ¹⁶Mahalalel lived 830 years after Jared was born. He also had other sons and daughters. ¹⁷Mahalalel lived a total of 895 years. Then he died.

¹⁸Jared lived 162 years. Then he became the father of Enoch. ¹⁹Jared lived 800 years after Enoch was born. He also had other sons and daughters. ²⁰Jared lived a total of 962 years. Then he died.

²¹Enoch lived 65 years. Then he became the father of Methuselah. ²²Enoch walked with God 300 years after Methuselah was born. He also had other sons and daughters. ²³Enoch lived a total of 365 years.

²⁴Enoch walked with God. Then he couldn’t be found, because God took him from this life.

²⁵Methuselah lived 187 years. Then he became the father of Lamech. ²⁶Methuselah lived 782 years after Lamech was born. He also had other sons and daughters. ²⁷Methuselah lived a total of 969 years. Then he died.

²⁸Lamech lived 182 years. Then he had a son. ²⁹He named him Noah. Lamech said, “He will comfort us when we are working. He’ll comfort us when our hands work so hard they hurt. We have to work hard. That’s because the Lord has put a curse on the ground.”

³⁰Lamech lived 595 years after Noah was born. He also had other sons and daughters. ³¹Lamech lived a total of 777 years. Then he died.

³²After Noah was 500 years old, he became the father of Shem, Ham and Japheth.

The Flood

6Men began to increase their numbers on the earth, and daughters were born to them. ²The sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful. So they married any of them they chose.

³Then the Lord said, “My Spirit will not struggle with man forever. He will die. He will have only 120 years to live until I judge him.”

⁴The Nephilim were on the earth in those days. That was when the sons of God went to the daughters of men and had children by them. The Nephilim were the heroes of long ago. They were famous men. Nephilim were also on the earth later on.

⁵The Lord saw how bad the sins of man had…