Bible Gateway passage: Genesis 3 - English Standard Version (2024)

The Fall

3Now ^(A)the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made.

He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You^[a] shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” ²And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, ³but God said, ^(B)‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’” ^4(C)But 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 to be desired to make one wise,^[b] she took of its fruit ^(D)and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, ^(E)and he ate. ^7(F)Then the eyes of both were opened, ^(G)and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.

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

¹⁴The Lord God said to the serpent,

“Because you have done this,
cursed are you above all livestock
and above all beasts of the field;
on your belly you shall go,
and ^(L)dust you shall eat
all the days of your life.
¹⁵I will put enmity between you and the woman,
and between your offspring^[e] and ^(M)her offspring;
^(N)he shall bruise your head,
and you shall bruise his heel.”

¹⁶To the woman he said,

“I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing;
^(O)in pain you shall bring forth children.
^(P)Your desire shall be contrary to^[f] your husband,
but he shall ^(Q)rule over you.”

¹⁷And to Adam he said,

“Because you have listened to the voice of your wife
and have eaten of the tree
^(R)of which I commanded you,
‘You shall not eat of it,’
^(S)cursed is the ground because of you;
^(T)in pain 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,
till you return to the ground,
for out of it you were taken;
^(U)for you are dust,
and ^(V)to dust you shall return.”

²⁰The man called his wife's name Eve, because she was the mother of all living.^{[g] 21}And the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them.

²²Then the Lord God said, ^(W)“Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand ^(X)and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever—” ²³therefore the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden ^(Y)to work the ground from which he was taken. ²⁴He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the ^(Z)cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life.