Genesis 3-4

Holman Christian Standard Bible

The Temptation and the Fall

3 Now the serpent was the most cunning of all the wild animals that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You can’t eat from any tree in the garden’?”^(A)

² The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit from the trees in the garden. ³ But about the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden, God said, ‘You must not eat it or touch it, or you will die.’”^(B)

⁴ “No! You will not die,” the serpent said to the woman.^{(C) 5} “In fact, God knows that when^[a] you eat it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God,^[b] knowing good and evil.” ⁶ Then the woman saw that the tree was good for food and delightful to look at, and that it was desirable for obtaining wisdom. So she took some of its fruit and ate it; she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.^{(D) 7} Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made loincloths for themselves.

Sin’s Consequences

⁸ Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden at the time of the evening breeze,^[c] and they hid themselves from the Lord God among the trees of the garden.^{(E) 9} So the Lord God called out to the man and said to him, “Where are you?”

¹⁰ And he said, “I heard You^[d] in the garden and I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid.”

¹¹ Then He asked, “Who told you that you were naked? Did you eat from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?”

¹² Then the man replied,^(F) “The woman You gave to be with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate.”

¹³ So the Lord God asked the woman, “What is this you have done?”

And the woman said, “It was the serpent. He deceived me, and I ate.”^(G)

¹⁴ Then the Lord God said to the serpent:

¹⁶ He said to the woman:

¹⁷ And He said to Adam, “Because you listened to your wife’s voice and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘Do not eat from it’:

²⁰ Adam named his wife Eve^[g] because she was the mother of all the living. ²¹ The Lord God made clothing out of skins for Adam and his wife, and He clothed them.

²² The Lord God said, “Since man has become like one of Us, knowing good and evil, he must not reach out, take from the tree of life, eat, and live forever.”^{(O) 23} So the Lord God sent him away from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken. ²⁴ He drove man out and stationed the cherubim and the flaming, whirling sword east of the garden of Eden to guard the way to the tree of life.^(P)

Cain Murders Abel

4 Adam was intimate with his wife Eve, and she conceived and gave birth to Cain. She said, “I have had a male child with the Lord’s help.”^{[h] 2} Then she also gave birth to his brother Abel. Now Abel became a shepherd of flocks, but Cain worked the ground. ³ In the course of time Cain presented some of the land’s produce as an offering to the Lord.^{(Q) 4} And Abel also presented an offering—some of the firstborn of his flock and their fat portions.^(R) The Lord had regard for Abel and his offering,^{(S) 5} but He did not have regard for Cain and his offering. Cain was furious, and he looked despondent.^[i]

⁶ Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you furious?^(T) And why do you look despondent?^{[j] 7} If you do what is right, won’t you be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it.”^(U)

⁸ Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let’s go out to the field.”^[k] And while they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.^(V)

⁹ Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?”

“I don’t know,” he replied. “Am I my brother’s guardian?”

¹⁰ Then He said, “What have you done? Your brother’s blood cries out to Me from the ground!^{(W) 11} So now you are cursed, alienated, from the ground that opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood you have shed.^{[l] 12} If you work the ground, it will never again give you its yield. You will be a restless wanderer on the earth.”^(X)

¹³ But Cain answered the Lord, “My punishment^[m] is too great to bear! ¹⁴ Since You are banishing me today from the soil, and I must hide myself from Your presence and become a restless wanderer on the earth, whoever finds me will kill me.”^(Y)

¹⁵ Then the Lord replied to him, “In that case,^[n] whoever kills Cain will suffer vengeance seven times over.”^[o] And He placed a mark^(Z) on Cain so that whoever found him would not kill him. ¹⁶ Then Cain went out from the Lord’s presence and lived in the land of Nod, east of Eden.

The Line of Cain

¹⁷ Cain was intimate with his wife, and she conceived and gave birth to Enoch. Then Cain became the builder of a city, and he named the city Enoch after his son. ¹⁸ Irad was born to Enoch, Irad fathered Mehujael, Mehujael fathered Methushael, and Methushael fathered Lamech. ¹⁹ Lamech took two wives for himself, one named Adah and the other named Zillah. ²⁰ Adah bore Jabal; he was the father of the nomadic herdsmen.^{[p] 21} His brother was named Jubal; he was the father of all who play the lyre and the flute. ²² Zillah bore Tubal-cain, who made all kinds of bronze and iron tools. Tubal-cain’s sister was Naamah.

²³ Lamech said to his wives:

²⁵ Adam was intimate with his wife again, and she gave birth to a son and named him Seth, for she said, “God has given^[q] me another child in place of Abel, since Cain killed him.” ²⁶ A son was born to Seth^(AA) also, and he named him Enosh. At that time people began to call on the name of Yahweh.^(AB)