Genesis 3 | King James Version

King James Version

1 Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? 2 And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: 3 But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. 4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: 5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. 6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. 7 And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons. 8 And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden. 9 And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? 10 And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself. 11 And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat? 12 And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat. 13 And the LORD God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat. 14 And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life: 15 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. 16 Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee. 17 And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; 18 Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; 19 In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art , and unto dust shalt thou return. 20 And Adam called his wife' name Eve; because she was the mother of all living. 21 Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them. 22 And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever: 23 Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken. 24 So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.

New International Reader’s Version

Adam and Eve fall into sin

1 The snake was more clever than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. The snake said to the woman, ‘Did God really say, “You must not eat fruit from any tree in the garden”?’ 2 The woman said to the snake, ‘We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden. 3 But God did say, “You must not eat the fruit from the tree in the middle of the garden. Do not even touch it. If you do, you will die.” ’ 4 ‘You will certainly not die,’ the snake said to the woman. 5 ‘God knows that when you eat fruit from that tree, you will know things you have never known before. Like God, you will be able to tell the difference between good and evil.’ 6 The woman saw that the tree’s fruit was good to eat and pleasing to look at. She also saw that it would make a person wise. So she took some of the fruit and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her. And he ate it. 7 Then both of them knew things they had never known before. They realised they were naked. So they sewed together fig leaves and made clothes for themselves. 8 Then the man and his wife heard the LORD God walking in the garden. It was during the coolest time of the day. They hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the LORD God called out to the man. ‘Where are you?’ he asked. 10 ‘I heard you in the garden,’ the man answered. ‘I was afraid, because I was naked. So I hid.’ 11 The LORD God said, ‘Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten fruit from the tree I commanded you not to eat from?’ 12 The man said, ‘It’s the fault of the woman you put here with me. She gave me some fruit from the tree. And I ate it.’ 13 Then the LORD God said to the woman, ‘What have you done?’ The woman said, ‘The snake tricked me. That’s why I ate the fruit.’ 14 So the LORD God spoke to the snake. He said, ‘Because you have done this, ‘You are set apart from all livestock and all wild animals. I am putting a curse on you. You will crawl on your belly. You will eat dust all the days of your life. 15 I will make you and the woman hate each other. Your children and her children will be enemies. Her son will crush your head. And you will bite his heel.’ 16 The LORD God said to the woman, ‘I will increase your pain when you give birth. You will be in great pain when you have children. You will long for your husband. And he will rule over you.’ 17 The LORD God said to Adam, ‘You listened to your wife’s suggestion. You ate fruit from the tree I warned you about. I said, “You must not eat its fruit.” ‘So I am putting a curse on the ground because of what you did. All the days of your life you will have to work hard. It will be painful for you to get food from the ground. 18 You will eat plants from the field, even though the ground produces thorns and prickly weeds. 19 You will have to work hard and sweat a lot to produce the food you eat. You were made out of the ground. You will return to it when you die. You are dust, and you will return to dust.’ 20 Adam named his wife Eve. She would become the mother of every living person. 21 The LORD God made clothes out of animal skins for Adam and his wife to wear. 22 The LORD God said, ‘Just like one of us, the man can now tell the difference between good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out and pick fruit from the tree of life and eat it. If he does, he will live for ever.’ 23 So the LORD God drove the man out of the Garden of Eden. He sent the man to farm the ground he had been made from. 24 The LORD God drove him out and then placed angels on the east side of the garden. He also placed there a flaming sword that flashed to and fro. The angels and the sword guarded the way to the tree of life.