Genesis 3

The Serpent and the Tree

1Now the serpent was more crafty than any other wild animal that the LORD God had made. The serpent said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden’?” 2The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden; 3but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the garden, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’”

4But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die; 5for God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 6So 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 for gaining wisdom, she took of its fruit and ate; and she also gave some to her companion who was with her, and he ate. 7Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made loincloths for themselves.

The Human Pair before God

8They heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden at the time of the evening breeze, and the human and the woman hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden. 9But the LORD God called to the human and said, “Where are you?” 10He said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.”

11God said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” 12The human said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me—she gave me fruit from the tree, and I ate.” 13Then the LORD God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

Words of Consequence

14The LORD God said to the serpent,

“Because you have done this,
cursed are you above all livestock
and above all wild animals;
upon your belly you shall go,
and dust you shall eat
all the days of your life.

15I will put enmity between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and her offspring;
he shall bruise your head,
and you shall bruise his heel.”

16To the woman God said,

“I will greatly multiply your pain in childbearing;
in pain you shall bring forth children.
Your desire shall be for your husband,
and he shall rule over you.”

17And to the human God said,

“Because you have listened to the voice of your wife
and have eaten of the tree
about which I commanded you,
‘You shall not eat of it,’
cursed is the ground because of you;
in toil you shall eat of it
all the days of your life.

18Thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you;
and you shall eat the plants of the field.

19By the sweat of your face
you shall eat bread,
until you return to the ground,
for out of it you were taken;
for you are dust,
and to dust you shall return.”

Mercy and Expulsion

20The human named his wife Eve, because she was the mother of all living. 21And the LORD God made garments of skins for the human and for his wife, and clothed them.

22Then the LORD God said, “See, the human has become like one of us, knowing good and evil; and now, lest the human reach out and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever—” 23therefore the LORD God sent the human out from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from which the human was taken. 24God drove out the human; and at the east of the garden of Eden God placed the cherubim, and a flaming sword that turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life.