Genesis 3–6

The Fall

3Now the serpent^e was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?^f”

²The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden,^{g 3}but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’ ”^h

⁴“You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman.^{i 5}“For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God,^j knowing good and evil.”

⁶When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable^k for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband,^l who was with her, and he ate it.^{m 7}Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked;ⁿ so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.^o

⁸Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking^p in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid^q from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. ⁹But the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?”^r

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

¹¹And he said, “Who told you that you were naked?^u Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?^v”

¹²The man said, “The woman you put here with me^w—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.”

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

The woman said, “The serpent deceived me,^x and I ate.”

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

“Cursed^y are you above all livestock

and all wild animals!

You will crawl on your belly

and you will eat dust^z

all the days of your life.

¹⁵And I will put enmity

between you and the woman,

and between your offspring^aa and hers;^b

he will crush^b your head,^c

and you will strike his heel.”

¹⁶To the woman he said,

“I will make your pains in childbearing very severe;

with painful labor you will give birth to children.^d

Your desire will be for your husband,

and he will rule over you.^e”

¹⁷To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat from it,’^f

“Cursed^g is the ground^h because of you;

through painful toilⁱ you will eat food from it

all the days of your life.^j

¹⁸It will produce thorns and thistles^k for you,

and you will eat the plants of the field.^l

¹⁹By the sweat of your brow^m

you will eat your foodⁿ

until you return to the ground,

since from it you were taken;

for dust you are

and to dust you will return.”^o

²⁰Adam^c named his wife Eve,^dp because she would become the mother of all the living.

²¹The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them.^{q 22}And the Lord God said, “The man has now become like one of us,^r knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life^s and eat, and live forever.” ²³So the Lord God banished him from the Garden of Eden^t to work the ground^u from which he had been taken. ²⁴After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side^e of the Garden of Eden^v cherubim^w and a flaming sword^x flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.^y

Cain and Abel

4Adam^a made love to his wife^z Eve,^a and she became pregnant and gave birth to Cain.^bb She said, “With the help of the Lord I have brought forth^c a man.” ²Later she gave birth to his brother Abel.^c

Now Abel kept flocks, and Cain worked the soil.^{d 3}In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering^e to the Lord.^{f 4}And Abel also brought an offering—fat portions^g from some of the firstborn of his flock.^h The Lord looked with favor on Abel and his offering,^{i 5}but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast.

⁶Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry?^j Why is your face downcast? ⁷If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door;^k it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.^l”

⁸Now Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let’s go out to the field.”^d While they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.^m

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

“I don’t know,^o” he replied. “Am I my brother’s keeper?”

¹⁰The Lord said, “What have you done? Listen! Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground.^{p 11}Now you are under a curse^q and driven from the ground, which opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. ¹²When you work the ground, it will no longer yield its crops for you.^r You will be a restless wanderer^s on the earth.^t”

¹³Cain said to the Lord, “My punishment is more than I can bear. ¹⁴Today you are driving me from the land, and I will be hidden from your presence;^u I will be a restless wanderer on the earth,^v and whoever finds me will kill me.”^w

¹⁵But the Lord said to him, “Not so^e; anyone who kills Cain^x will suffer vengeance^y seven times over.^z” Then the Lord put a mark on Cain so that no one who found him would kill him. ¹⁶So Cain went out from the Lord’s presence^a and lived in the land of Nod,^f east of Eden.^b

¹⁷Cain made love to his wife,^c and she became pregnant and gave birth to Enoch. Cain was then building a city,^d and he named it after his son^e Enoch. ¹⁸To Enoch was born Irad, and Irad was the father of Mehujael, and Mehujael was the father of Methushael, and Methushael was the father of Lamech.

¹⁹Lamech married^f two women,^g one named Adah and the other 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 all who play stringed instruments^h and pipes.^{i 22}Zillah also had a son, Tubal-Cain, who forged^j all kinds of tools out of^g bronze and iron. Tubal-Cain’s sister was Naamah.

²³Lamech said to his wives,

“Adah and Zillah, listen to me;

wives of Lamech, hear my words.

I have killed^k a man for wounding me,

a young man for injuring me.

²⁴If Cain is avenged^l seven times,^m

then Lamech seventy-seven times.ⁿ”

²⁵Adam made love to his wife^o again, and she gave birth to a son and named him Seth,^hp saying, “God has granted me another child in place of Abel, since Cain killed him.”^{q 26}Seth also had a son, and he named him Enosh.^r

At that time people began to call onⁱ the name of the Lord.^s

From Adam to Noah

5This is the written account^t of Adam’s family line.^u

When God created mankind, he made them in the likeness of God.^{v 2}He created them^w male and female^x and blessed them. And he named them “Mankind”^a when they were created.

³When Adam had lived 130 years, he had a son in his own likeness, in his own image;^y and he named him Seth.^{z 4}After Seth was born, Adam lived 800 years and had other sons and daughters. ⁵Altogether, Adam lived a total of 930 years, and then he died.^a

⁶When Seth had lived 105 years, he became the father^b of Enosh.^{b 7}After he became the father of Enosh, Seth lived 807 years and had other sons and daughters. ⁸Altogether, Seth lived a total of 912 years, and then he died.

⁹When Enosh had lived 90 years, he became the father of Kenan.^{c 10}After he became the father of Kenan, Enosh lived 815 years and had other sons and daughters. ¹¹Altogether, Enosh lived a total of 905 years, and then he died.

¹²When Kenan had lived 70 years, he became the father of Mahalalel.^{d 13}After he became the father of Mahalalel, Kenan lived 840 years and had other sons and daughters. ¹⁴Altogether, Kenan lived a total of 910 years, and then he died.

¹⁵When Mahalalel had lived 65 years, he became the father of Jared.^{e 16}After he became the father of Jared, Mahalalel lived 830 years and had other sons and daughters. ¹⁷Altogether, Mahalalel lived a total of 895 years, and then he died.

¹⁸When Jared had lived 162 years, he became the father of Enoch.^{f 19}After he became the father of Enoch, Jared lived 800 years and had other sons and daughters. ²⁰Altogether, Jared lived a total of 962 years, and then he died.

²¹When Enoch had lived 65 years, he became the father of Methuselah.^{g 22}After he became the father of Methuselah, Enoch walked faithfully with God^h 300 years and had other sons and daughters. ²³Altogether, Enoch lived a total of 365 years. ²⁴Enoch walked faithfully with God;ⁱ then he was no more, because God took him away.^j

²⁵When Methuselah had lived 187 years, he became the father of Lamech.^{k 26}After he became the father of Lamech, Methuselah lived 782 years and had other sons and daughters. ²⁷Altogether, Methuselah lived a total of 969 years, and then he died.

²⁸When Lamech had lived 182 years, he had a son. ²⁹He named him Noah^cl and said, “He will comfort us in the labor and painful toil of our hands caused by the ground the Lord has cursed.^m” ³⁰After Noah was born, Lamech lived 595 years and had other sons and daughters. ³¹Altogether, Lamech lived a total of 777 years, and then he died.

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

Wickedness in the World

6When human beings began to increase in number on the earth^q and daughters were born to them, ²the sons of God^r saw that the daughters^s of humans were beautiful,^t and they married^u any of them they chose. ³Then the Lord said, “My Spirit^v will not contend with^a humans forever,^w for they are mortal^b;^x their days will be a hundred and twenty years.”

⁴The Nephilim^y were on the earth in those days—and also afterward—when the sons of God went to the daughters of humans^z and had children by them. They were the heroes of old, men of renown.^a

⁵The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth,^b and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time.^{c 6}The Lord regretted^d that he had…