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The Temptation and Fall of Man
(Rom. 5:12–21)
1Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?”
2And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden;
3but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’ ”
4Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die.
5For God knows that in the day 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, that it was 3:6 Lit. a desirable thingpleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate.
7Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves 3:7 girding coveringscoverings.
8And they heard the 3:8 Or voicesound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the 3:8 Or wind, breezecool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.
9Then the Lord God called to Adam and said to him, “Where are you?”
10So he said, “I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself.”
11And He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat?”
12Then the man said, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate.”
13And the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?”
The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”
14So the Lord God said to the serpent:
“Because you have done this,
You are cursed more than all cattle,
And more than every beast of the field;
On your belly you shall go,
And you shall eat dust
All the days of your life.
15And I will put enmity
Between you and the woman,
And between your seed and her Seed;
He shall bruise your head,
And you shall bruise His heel.”
16To the woman He said:
“I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception;
In pain you shall bring forth children;
Your desire shall be 3:16 Lit. towardfor your husband,
And he shall rule over you.”
17Then to Adam He said, “Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it’:
“Cursed is the ground for your sake;
In toil you shall eat of it
All the days of your life.
18Both thorns and thistles it shall 3:18 cause to growbring forth for you,
And you shall eat the herb of the field.
19In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread
Till you return to the ground,
For out of it you were taken;
For dust you are,
And to dust you shall return.”
20And Adam called his wife’s name Eve,3:20 Lit. Life or Living because she was the mother of all living.
21Also for Adam and his wife the Lord God made tunics of skin, and clothed them.
22Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil. And now, lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever”—
23therefore the Lord God sent him out of the garden of Eden to till the ground from which he was taken.
24So He drove out the man; and He placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life.