Genesis 3

New American Standard Bible

The Fall of Mankind

3 Now ^(A)the serpent was more cunning than any animal of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God really said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden’?” ²The woman said to the serpent, “^(B)From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; ³but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die.’” ⁴^(C)The serpent said to the woman, “You certainly will not die! ⁵For God knows that on the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and ^(D)you will ^[a]become like God, knowing good and evil.” ⁶^(E)When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took some of its fruit and ate; and she also gave some to her husband with her, and he ate. ⁷Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they ^(F)knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves waist coverings.

⁸Now they heard the sound of ^(G)the Lord God walking in the garden in the ^[b]cool of the day, ^(H)and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. ⁹Then the Lord God called to the man, and said to him, “^(I)Where are you?” ¹⁰He said, “^(J)I heard the sound of You in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid myself.” ¹¹And He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree from which I commanded you not to eat?” ¹²^(K)The man said, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me some of the fruit of the tree, and I ate.” ¹³Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” And the woman said, “^(L)The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” ¹⁴Then the Lord God said to the serpent,

“^(M)Because you have done this,
Cursed are you more than all the livestock,
And more than any animal of the field;
On your belly you shall go,
And ^(N)dust you shall eat
All the days of your life;
¹⁵And I will ^[c]^(O)make enemies
Of you and the woman,
And of your ^[d]offspring and her ^[e]Descendant;
^(P)He shall ^[f]bruise you on the head,
And you shall bruise Him on the heel.”

¹⁶To the woman He said,

“I will greatly multiply
Your pain ^[g]in childbirth,
In pain you shall ^(Q)deliver children;
Yet your desire will be for your husband,
And ^(R)he shall rule over you.”

¹⁷Then to Adam He said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree about which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat from it’;

^(S)Cursed is the ground because of you;
^(T)With ^[h]hard labor you shall eat from it
All the days of your life.
¹⁸Both thorns and thistles it shall grow for you;
Yet you shall eat the ^[i]plants of the field;
¹⁹By the sweat of your face
You shall eat bread,
Until you ^(U)return to the ground,
Because ^(V)from it you were taken;
For you are dust,
And to dust you shall return.”

²⁰Now the man named his wife ^[j]^(W)Eve, because she was the mother of all the living. ²¹And the Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife, and clothed them.

²²Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of ^(X)Us, knowing good and evil; and now, he might reach out with his hand, and take fruit also from ^(Y)the tree of life, and eat, and live forever”— ²³therefore the Lord God sent him out of the Garden of Eden, to cultivate the ground from which he was taken. ²⁴So ^(Z)He drove the man out; and at the ^(AA)east of the Garden of Eden He stationed the ^(AB)cherubim and the flaming sword which turned every direction to guard the way to ^(AC)the tree of life.