1 Now the snake was wiser than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, Has God truly said that you may not take of the fruit of any tree in the garden? 2 And the woman said, We may take of the fruit of the trees in the garden: 3 But of the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden, God has said, If you take of it or put your hands on it, death will come to you. 4 And the snake said, Death will not certainly come to you: 5 For God sees that on the day when you take of its fruit, your eyes will be open, and you will be as gods, having knowledge of good and evil. 6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and a delight to the eyes, and to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit, and gave it to her husband. 7 And their eyes were open and they were conscious that they had no clothing and they made themselves coats of leaves stitched together. 8 And there came to them the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the evening wind: and the man and his wife went to a secret place among the trees of the garden, away from the eyes of the Lord God. 9 And the voice of the Lord God came to the man, saying, Where are you? 10 And he said, Hearing your voice in the garden I was full of fear, because I was without clothing: and I kept myself from your eyes. 11 And he said, Who gave you the knowledge that you were without clothing? Have you taken of the fruit of the tree which I said you were not to take? 12 And the man said, The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me the fruit of the tree and I took it. 13 And the Lord God said to the woman, What have you done? And the woman said, I was tricked by the deceit of the snake and I took it. 14 And the Lord God said to the snake, Because you have done this you are cursed more than all cattle and every beast of the field; you will go flat on the earth, and dust will be your food all the days of your life: 15 And there will be war between you and the woman and between your seed and her seed: by him will your head be crushed and by you his foot will be wounded. 16 To the woman he said, Great will be your pain in childbirth; in sorrow will your children come to birth; still your desire will be for your husband, but he will be your master. 17 And to Adam he said, Because you gave ear to the voice of your wife and took of the fruit of the tree which I said you were not to take, the earth is cursed on your account; in pain you will get your food from it all your life. 18 Thorns and waste plants will come up, and the plants of the field will be your food; 19 With the hard work of your hands you will get your bread till you go back to the earth from which you were taken: for dust you are and to the dust you will go back. 20 And the man gave his wife the name of Eve because she was the mother of all who have life. 21 And the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife coats of skins for their clothing. 22 And the Lord God said, Now the man has become like one of us, having knowledge of good and evil; and now if he puts out his hand and takes of the fruit of the tree of life, he will go on living for ever. 23 So the Lord God sent him out of the garden of Eden to be a worker on the earth from which he was taken. 24 So he sent the man out; and at the east of the garden of Eden he put winged ones and a flaming sword turning every way to keep the way to the tree of life.
Genesis · Bible in Basic English
Genesis 3 Bible in Basic English
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
People & places in this chapter
From this site's family tree and Bible maps, only where those guides cite this chapter.
People
Adam
Formed from the dust by God's own hand, the father of all who live.
Cited in the guide: Genesis 1–5
Eve
The first woman, formed from Adam and named "the mother of all living."
Cited in the guide: Genesis 2-4
Cross references (24)
Related passages for each verse, from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge as collected and ranked by readers at OpenBible.info.
- 1 2 Corinthians 11:3; 2 Corinthians 11:14; Revelation 12:9; Revelation 20:2; Matthew 4:3
- 2 Psalm 58:4
- 3 Genesis 2:16–17; 2 Corinthians 6:17; Genesis 20:6; Job 1:11; Exodus 19:12–13
- 4 John 8:44; 2 Corinthians 11:3; 1 Timothy 2:14; 2 Corinthians 2:11; Genesis 3:13
- 5 Ezekiel 28:2; 2 Thessalonians 2:4; 2 Corinthians 11:13–15; 2 Corinthians 4:4; Genesis 2:17
- 6 1 John 2:16; James 1:14–15; 1 Timothy 2:14; 2 Samuel 11:2; Romans 5:12–19
- 7 Isaiah 59:6; Genesis 2:25; Genesis 3:5; Job 9:29–31; Isaiah 28:20
- 8 Jeremiah 23:24; Hebrews 4:13; Proverbs 15:3; Job 34:21–22; Psalm 139:1–12
- 9 Genesis 4:9; Genesis 16:8; Revelation 20:12–13; Joshua 7:17–19; Genesis 11:5
- 10 Genesis 2:25; Psalm 119:120; Isaiah 57:11; Isaiah 47:3; 1 John 3:20
- 11 Romans 3:20; Genesis 4:10; Psalm 50:21
- 12 Proverbs 28:13; James 1:13–15; Romans 10:3; Job 31:33; Luke 10:29
- 13 2 Corinthians 11:3; 1 Timothy 2:14; John 18:35; Genesis 4:10–12; Genesis 3:4–6
- 14 Micah 7:17; Isaiah 65:25; Psalm 72:9; Isaiah 29:4; Leviticus 20:25
- 15 Romans 16:20; 1 John 3:8; Revelation 12:17; Isaiah 7:14; Hebrews 2:14–15
- 16 Titus 2:5; Colossians 3:18; 1 Corinthians 11:3; 1 Timothy 2:15; 1 Corinthians 14:34
- 17 Romans 8:20–22; Genesis 5:29; Isaiah 24:5–6; Ecclesiastes 2:22–23; John 16:33
- 18 Job 5:5; Matthew 13:7; Isaiah 7:23; Psalm 104:14–15; Proverbs 22:5
- 19 Ecclesiastes 12:7; Job 34:15; Psalm 104:29; Genesis 2:7; Psalm 90:3
- 20 Matthew 1:23; Genesis 2:23; Genesis 2:20; Genesis 5:29; Genesis 16:11
- 21 Isaiah 61:10; 2 Corinthians 5:21; 2 Corinthians 5:2–3; Genesis 3:7; Romans 3:22
- 22 Revelation 2:7; Revelation 22:14; Proverbs 3:18; Genesis 11:6–7; Revelation 22:2
- 23 Genesis 4:2; Genesis 4:12; Genesis 3:19; Ecclesiastes 5:9; Genesis 2:5
- 24 Hebrews 1:7; Psalm 104:4; Exodus 25:18–22; 1 Chronicles 21:16–17; Hebrews 10:18–22
Cross references: OpenBible.info (CC BY), drawn mainly from the public-domain Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. · Sources & licences
What the Fathers said
Passages from the Church Fathers that expound or quote this chapter, verbatim from the public-domain Schaff edition (19th-century English translations).
How these were chosen
“Commentary” is the opening of a homily or exposition on this chapter (John Chrysostom’s homilies, Augustine’s tractates, sermons and expositions of the Psalms). “Quotes” are sentences where the edition’s own footnotes identify a quotation of a verse here, kept only when the wording matches the verse. Only works whose authorship is not in doubt are used. Psalms follow the Hebrew/English numbering (Augustine numbers them as the Septuagint does: his Psalm 50 is Psalm 51 here).
"And God," it is declared, "said to the serpent: Because thou hast done this, cursed art thou above all cattle, and above all the beasts of the earth." And this same thing does the Lord also say in the Gospel, to those who are found upon the left hand: "Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, which my Father …
… be subjected and bring them over unto Himself, allaying their swelling, and fostering their love; to the end that they might go on no further in self-confidence, but rather should become weak, seeing before their feet the Divinity weak by taking our "coats of skins;" and wearied, might cast themselves down upon It, and It rising, might lift them up.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 1 (1886)
For it will be no longer, "Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return," and thou "tillest the ground," and those former words, that will be said to us; but what is far more grievous than these, the "outer darkness," the bonds that may not be burst, the venomous worm, the "gnashing of teeth;" and this with great reason.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 10 (1888)
Adam received the sentence, Cursed is the ground in thy labours; thorns and thistles shall it bring forth to thee.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 2, vol. 7 (1894)
"The serpent," says she, "beguiled me, and I did eat." But He put no question to the serpent; for He knew that he had been the prime mover in the guilty deed; but He pronounced the curse upon him in the first instance, that it might fall upon man with a mitigated rebuke.