Genesis 3–6

The Temptation and Fall of Man

3Now ^athe serpent was ^bmore cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?”

²And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the ^cfruit of the trees of the garden; ³but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you ^dtouch it, lest you die.’ ”

^4eThen the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. ⁵For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

⁶So when the woman ^fsaw that the tree was good for food, that it was ¹pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit ^gand ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. ⁷Then the eyes of both of them were opened, ^hand they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves ²coverings.

⁸And they heard ⁱthe ³sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the ⁴cool of the day, and Adam and his wife ^jhid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.

⁹Then the Lord God called to Adam and said to him, “Where are you?”

¹⁰So he said, “I heard Your voice in the garden, ^kand I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself.”

¹¹And He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat?”

¹²Then the man said, ^l“The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate.”

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

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

¹⁴So the Lord God said to the serpent:

“Because you have done this,

You are cursed more than all cattle,

And more than every beast of the field;

On your belly you shall go,

And ⁿyou shall eat dust

All the days of your life.

¹⁵And I will put enmity

Between you and the woman,

And between ^oyour seed and ^pher Seed;

^qHe shall bruise your head,

And you shall bruise His heel.”

¹⁶To the woman He said:

“I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception;

^rIn pain you shall bring forth children;

^sYour desire shall be ⁵for your husband,

And he shall ^trule over you.”

¹⁷Then to Adam He said, ^u“Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree ^vof which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it’:

^w“Cursed is the ground for your sake;

^xIn toil you shall eat of it

All the days of your life.

¹⁸Both thorns and thistles it shall ⁶bring forth for you,

And ^yyou shall eat the herb of the field.

^19zIn the sweat of your face you shall eat bread

Till you return to the ground,

For out of it you were taken;

^aFor dust you are,

And ^bto dust you shall return.”

²⁰And Adam called his wife’s name ^cEve, ⁷because she was the mother of all living.

²¹Also for Adam and his wife the Lord God made tunics of skin, and clothed them.

²²Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil. And now, lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever”—²³therefore the Lord God sent him out of the garden of Eden ^dto till the ground from which he was taken. ²⁴So ^eHe drove out the man; and He placed ^fcherubim ^gat the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of ^hlife.

Cain Murders Abel

4Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore ¹Cain, and said, “I have acquired a man from the Lord.” ²Then she bore again, this time his brother ²Abel. Now ^aAbel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. ³And ³in the process of time it came to pass that Cain brought an offering of the fruit ^bof the ground to the Lord. ⁴Abel also brought of ^cthe firstborn of his flock and of ^dtheir fat. And the Lord ^erespected Abel and his offering, ⁵but He did not respect Cain and his offering. And Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell.

⁶So the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? ⁷If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is ⁴for you, but you should rule over it.”

⁸Now Cain ⁵talked with Abel his ⁶brother; and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and ^fkilled him.

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

He said, ^g“I do not know. Am I ^hmy brother’s keeper?”

¹⁰And He said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood ⁱcries out to Me from the ground. ¹¹So now ^jyou are cursed from the earth, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. ¹²When you till the ground, it shall no longer yield its strength to you. A fugitive and a vagabond you shall be on the earth.”

¹³And Cain said to the Lord, “My ⁷punishment is greater than I can bear! ¹⁴Surely You have driven me out this day from the face of the ground; ^kI shall be ^lhidden from Your face; I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond on the earth, and it will happen that ^manyone who finds me will kill me.”

¹⁵And the Lord said to him, ⁸“Therefore, whoever kills Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him ⁿsevenfold.” And the Lord set a ^omark on Cain, lest anyone finding him should kill him.

The Family of Cain

¹⁶Then Cain ^pwent out from the ^qpresence of the Lord and dwelt in the land of ⁹Nod on the east of Eden. ¹⁷And Cain knew his wife, and she conceived and bore Enoch. And he built a city, ^rand called the name of the city after the name of his son—Enoch. ¹⁸To Enoch was born Irad; and Irad begot Mehujael, and Mehujael begot Methushael, and Methushael begot Lamech.

¹⁹Then Lamech took for himself ^stwo wives: the name of one was Adah, and the name of the second was Zillah. ²⁰And Adah bore Jabal. He was the father of those who dwell in tents and have livestock. ²¹His brother’s name was Jubal. He was the father of all those who play the harp and ¹flute. ²²And as for Zillah, she also bore Tubal-Cain, an instructor of every craftsman in bronze and iron. And the sister of Tubal-Cain was Naamah.

²³Then Lamech said to his wives:

“Adah and Zillah, hear my voice;

Wives of Lamech, listen to my speech!

For I have ²killed a man for wounding me,

Even a young man ³for hurting me.

^24tIf Cain shall be avenged sevenfold,

Then Lamech seventy-sevenfold.”

A New Son

²⁵And Adam knew his wife again, and she bore a son and ^unamed him ⁴Seth, “For God has appointed another seed for me instead of Abel, whom Cain killed.” ²⁶And as for Seth, ^vto him also a son was born; and he named him ⁵Enosh. Then men began ^wto call on the name of the Lord.

The Family of Adam

5This is the book of the ^agenealogy of Adam. In the day that God created man, He made him in ^bthe likeness of God. ²He created them ^cmale and female, and ^dblessed them and called them Mankind in the day they were created. ³And Adam lived one hundred and thirty years, and begot a son ^ein his own likeness, after his image, and ^fnamed him Seth. ⁴After he begot Seth, ^gthe days of Adam were eight hundred years; ^hand he had sons and daughters. ⁵So all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years; ⁱand he died.

⁶Seth lived one hundred and five years, and begot ^jEnosh. ⁷After he begot Enosh, Seth lived eight hundred and seven years, and had sons and daughters. ⁸So all the days of Seth were nine hundred and twelve years; and he died.

⁹Enosh lived ninety years, and begot ¹Cainan. ¹⁰After he begot Cainan, Enosh lived eight hundred and fifteen years, and had sons and daughters. ¹¹So all the days of Enosh were nine hundred and five years; and he died.

¹²Cainan lived seventy years, and begot Mahalalel. ¹³After he begot Mahalalel, Cainan lived eight hundred and forty years, and had sons and daughters. ¹⁴So all the days of Cainan were nine hundred and ten years; and he died.

¹⁵Mahalalel lived sixty-five years, and begot Jared. ¹⁶After he begot Jared, Mahalalel lived eight hundred and thirty years, and had sons and daughters. ¹⁷So all the days of Mahalalel were eight hundred and ninety-five years; and he died.

¹⁸Jared lived one hundred and sixty-two years, and begot ^kEnoch. ¹⁹After he begot Enoch, Jared lived eight hundred years, and had sons and daughters. ²⁰So all the days of Jared were nine hundred and sixty-two years; and he died.

²¹Enoch lived sixty-five years, and begot Methuselah. ²²After he begot Methuselah, Enoch ^lwalked with God three hundred years, and had sons and daughters. ²³So all the days of Enoch were three hundred and sixty-five years. ²⁴And ^mEnoch walked with God; and he was not, for God ⁿtook him.

²⁵Methuselah lived one hundred and eighty-seven years, and begot Lamech. ²⁶After he begot Lamech, Methuselah lived seven hundred and eighty-two years, and had sons and daughters. ²⁷So all the days of Methuselah were nine hundred and sixty-nine years; and he died.

²⁸Lamech lived one hundred and eighty-two years, and had a son. ²⁹And he called his name ^oNoah, ²saying, “This one will comfort us concerning our work and the toil of our hands, because of the ground ^pwhich the Lord has cursed.” ³⁰After he begot Noah, Lamech lived five hundred and ninety-five years, and had sons and daughters. ³¹So all the days of Lamech were seven hundred and seventy-seven years; and he died.

³²And Noah was five hundred years old, and Noah begot ^qShem, Ham, ^rand Japheth.

The Wickedness and Judgment of Man

6Now it came to pass, ^awhen men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born to them, ²that the sons of God saw the daughters of men, that they were beautiful; and they ^btook wives for themselves of all whom they chose.

³And the Lord said, ^c“My Spirit shall not ^dstrive ¹with man forever, ^efor he is indeed flesh; yet his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.” ⁴There were ²giants on the earth in those ^fdays, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men and they bore children to them. Those…