Genesis 3-5

Evangelical Heritage Version

The Fall Into Sin

3 Now the serpent was more clever than any wild animal which the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Has God really said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree in the garden’?”

² The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees of the garden, ³ but not from the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the garden. God has said, ‘You shall not eat from it. You shall not touch it, or else you will die.’”

⁴ The serpent said to the woman, “You certainly will not die. ⁵ In fact, God knows that the day you eat from it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

⁶ When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was appealing to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took some of its fruit and ate. She gave some also to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. ⁷ The eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized that they were naked. They sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for their waists.^{[a] 8} They heard the voice of the Lord God, who was walking around in the garden during the cooler part^[b] of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.

⁹ The Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?”

¹⁰ The man said, “I heard your voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, so I hid myself.”

¹¹ God said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree from which I commanded you not to eat?”

¹² The man said, “The woman you gave to be with me—she gave me fruit from the tree, and I ate it.”

¹³ The Lord God said to the woman, “What have you done?”

The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

¹⁴ The Lord God said to the serpent:

²⁰ The man named his wife Eve^[e] because she would be the mother of all the living. ²¹ The Lord God made clothing of animal skins for Adam and for his wife and clothed them.

²² The Lord God said, “Look, the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil. Now, so that he does not reach out his hand and also take from the Tree of Life and eat and live forever—” ²³ the Lord God sent him out from the Garden of Eden to work the soil from which he had been taken. ²⁴ So he drove the man out, and in front of^[f] the Garden of Eden he stationed cherubim^[g] and a flaming sword, which turned in every direction to guard the way to the Tree of Life.

The First Children: Cain and Abel

4 The man was intimate with Eve, his wife. She conceived and gave birth to Cain. She said, “I have gotten a man with the Lord.”^{[h] 2} She also gave birth to Cain’s brother Abel.

Abel tended sheep, but Cain worked the ground. ³ As time passed, one day Cain brought an offering to the Lord from the fruit of the soil. ⁴ Abel also brought some of the firstborn of his flock and their fat portions. The Lord looked favorably on Abel and his offering, ⁵ but he did not look favorably on Cain and his offering. Cain was very angry, and his face showed it.

⁶ The Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why do you have that angry look on your face?^{[i] 7} If you do good, will you not be lifted up? If you do not do good, sin is crouching at the door. It has a strong desire for you, but you must rule over it.”

⁸ Cain said to Abel, his brother, “Let’s go into the field.”^[j] When they were in the field, Cain attacked Abel, his brother, and killed him.

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

He said, “I don’t know. Am I my brother’s keeper?”

¹⁰ The Lord said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood is crying to me from the soil. ¹¹ Now you are cursed and sent away from the soil^[k] which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. ¹² When you work the soil, it will no longer give its strength to you. You shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth.”

¹³ Cain said to the Lord, “My punishment is too great for me to bear. ¹⁴ Look, today you have driven me away from the soil. I will be hidden from your face, and I will be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth. And whoever finds me will kill me.”

¹⁵ The Lord said to him, “No!^[l] If anyone kills Cain, he will face sevenfold revenge.” And the Lord appointed a sign for^[m] Cain, so that anyone who found him would not strike him down.

The Descendants of Cain

¹⁶ Cain went out from the Lord’s presence and lived in the land of Nod,^[n] east of Eden.

¹⁷ Cain was intimate with his wife. She conceived and gave birth to Enoch. Cain built a city and named the city after his son Enoch. ¹⁸ To Enoch, Irad was born. Irad became the father of Mehujael. Mehujael became the father of Methushael. Methushael became the father of Lamech.

¹⁹ Lamech took two wives. The name of one was Adah, and the name of the other was Zillah. ²⁰ Adah gave birth to Jabal, who was the predecessor^[o] of those who dwell in tents and have livestock. ²¹ His brother’s name was Jubal, who was the predecessor of all who play the lyre and flute. ²² Zillah also gave birth to Tubal Cain, who made all kinds of tools and weapons from bronze and iron. Tubal Cain’s sister was Na’amah.

The Family Line of Seth

²⁵ Adam was intimate with his wife again. She gave birth to a son and named him Seth,^[p] because she said, “God has set another child in place of Abel for me, since Cain killed him.” ²⁶ Later a son was born to Seth, and he named him Enosh. This is when people began to proclaim^[q] the name of the Lord.

5 This is the account about the development of Adam’s family:

In the day that God created man, he made him in the likeness of God. ² He created them male and female and blessed them, and on the day they were created, he named them “mankind.”^[r]

³ Adam lived 130 years, and he became the father of a son in his own likeness, according to his own image, and he named him Seth. ⁴ The days of Adam after he became the father of Seth were 800 years, and he became the father of sons and daughters. ⁵ All the days that Adam lived were 930 years. Then he died.

⁶ Seth lived 105 years, and he became the father of Enosh. ⁷ Seth lived 807 years after he became the father of Enosh, and he became the father of sons and daughters. ⁸ All the days of Seth were 912 years. Then he died.

⁹ Enosh lived 90 years, and he became the father of Kenan. ¹⁰ Enosh lived 815 years after he became the father of Kenan, and he became the father of sons and daughters. ¹¹ All the days of Enosh were 905 years. Then he died.

¹² Kenan lived 70 years, and he became the father of Mahalalel. ¹³ Kenan lived 840 years after he became the father of Mahalalel, and he became the father of sons and daughters. ¹⁴ All the days of Kenan were 910 years. Then he died.

¹⁵ Mahalalel lived 65 years, and he became the father of Jared. ¹⁶ Mahalalel lived 830 years after he became the father of Jared, and he became the father of sons and daughters. ¹⁷ All the days of Mahalalel were 895 years. Then he died.

¹⁸ Jared lived 162 years, and he became the father of Enoch. ¹⁹ Jared lived 800 years after he became the father of Enoch, and he became the father of sons and daughters. ²⁰ All the days of Jared were 962 years. Then he died.

²¹ Enoch lived 65 years, and he became the father of Methuselah. ²² After he became the father of Methuselah, Enoch walked with God 300 years, and he became the father of sons and daughters. ²³ All the days of Enoch were 365 years. ²⁴ Enoch walked with God. Then, he was not there, for God took him.

²⁵ Methuselah lived 187 years, and he became the father of Lamech. ²⁶ After he became the father of Lamech, Methuselah lived 782 years, and he became the father of sons and daughters. ²⁷ All the days of Methuselah were 969 years. Then he died.

²⁸ Lamech lived 182 years and became the father of a son. ²⁹ He named him Noah^[s] and said, “This one will bring us comfort during our work and the hard labor that we must perform with our hands because the Lord has cursed the soil.” ³⁰ Lamech lived 595 years after he became father of Noah, and he became the father of sons and daughters. ³¹ All the days of Lamech were 777 years. Then he died.

³² Noah was 500 years old, and Noah became the father of Shem, Ham, and Japheth.^[t]