UST GEN Chapter 3

Adam and Eve Sin against Yahweh, and He Judges Them

3:1-24

3 Now the snake was the craftiest of all the animals that Yahweh God had created. One day he asked the woman, “Did God really command you to not eat fruit from any of the trees in the garden?” 2 The woman answered him, “No, God said that we may eat fruit from any of the trees in the garden, 3 except fruit from the tree that is in the center of the garden. He commanded us to not eat that fruit or even touch it, because if we do, we will die!” 4 But the snake said to the woman, “That is not true. You will not die. 5 Actually, God knows that as soon as you eat fruit from that tree, you will understand new things, so that you will know what is right and what is wrong just like God does.” 6 The woman saw that the tree’s fruit looked good to eat and that the tree itself was very beautiful. She also wanted to eat the fruit so that it would make her wise. So she picked some of the fruit off the tree and ate it. She also gave some of the fruit to her husband, who was there with her, and he ate it too. 7 Suddenly they both understood new things, and they realized that their bodies were bare. So they sewed some fig tree leaves together and made clothes for themselves to cover their nakedness.

8 Late that afternoon, during the cool time of the day, the man and his wife heard Yahweh God’s voice as he walked in the garden, but they hid from him behind some trees in the garden. 9 So Yahweh God called out to the man, “Adam, where are you?” 10 The man replied, “I heard the sound of you walking in the garden, but I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid from you.” 11 Then Yahweh God asked, “Who told you that you were naked? Did you disobey me and eat fruit from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?” 12 The man replied, “The woman whom you put here to be with me, she is the one who gave me some of that fruit, so I ate it.” 13 Then Yahweh God asked the woman, “What did you do?” The woman replied, “The snake tricked me, so I ate some of the fruit.” 14 So Yahweh God said to the snake, “Because you did that,

I am cursing you more severely than all the livestock

and all the animals in the fields!

As a result, you must crawl along the ground on your belly,

and you will eat dust with your food

for as long as you live.

15 Besides that, I will cause you and your descendants to be enemies

with the woman and her descendants.

In fact, her descendant will crush your head,

and you will bite his heel.”

16 Then God said to the woman,

“I will greatly increase how much you suffer when you bear children,

yes, you will suffer much pain when you give birth.

But you will still desire to be with your husband,

and he will dominate you.”

17 Then God said to Adam, “You did what your wife said and ate fruit from the tree that I commanded you not to eat any fruit from.

Because of what you did, I have cursed the ground.

As a result, for as long as you live,

you will have to work very hard and suffer to grow enough food to eat.

18 In fact, thorn plants and thistle plants and other weeds will grow from the ground

and make it difficult for you to grow enough crops in your fields for food.

19 You will have to work hard and sweat a lot

in order to produce enough food to eat,

until you die and again become dirt,

which I created you from.

Yes, I created you out of dirt,

so dirt is what you will become again after you die.”

20 Then Adam named his wife Eve, which means “living,” because she would be the mother of everyone who would ever live. 21 Then Yahweh God made some clothes out of animal skins for Adam and his wife, and he put the clothes on them.

22 Then Yahweh God said to himself, “Look! The man and his wife have become like one of us, so that they know what is good and what is evil. So now we must do something so that they do not also pick and eat fruit from the tree that gives people eternal life, which will make them live forever!” 23 Then Yahweh God expelled the man and his wife from Eden Garden to work the ground which he had made them from. 24 After he expelled them, he stationed to the east side of the garden some powerful cherubim angels and a burning sword that was swinging around in all directions to keep everyone away from the path to the tree whose fruit makes people live forever.