Genesis 3:1-24

The Man and Woman Sin

1Now the serpent was the shrewdest of all the creatures the LORD God had made. "Really?" he asked the woman. "Did God really say you must not eat any of the fruit in the garden?"

2"Of course we may eat it," the woman told him. 3"It's only the fruit from the tree at the center of the garden that we are not allowed to eat. God says we must not eat it or even touch it, or we will die."

4"You won't die!" the serpent hissed. 5"God knows that your eyes will be opened when you eat it. You will become just like God, knowing everything, both good and evil."

6The woman was convinced. The fruit looked so fresh and delicious, and it would make her so wise! So she ate some of the fruit. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her. Then he ate it, too. 7At that moment, their eyes were opened, and they suddenly felt shame at their nakedness. So they strung fig leaves together around their hips to cover themselves.

8Toward evening they heard the LORD God walking about in the garden, so they hid themselves among the trees. 9The LORD God called to Adam, "Where are you?"

10He replied, "I heard you, so I hid. I was afraid because I was naked."

11"Who told you that you were naked?" the LORD God asked. "Have you eaten the fruit I commanded you not to eat?"

12"Yes," Adam admitted, "but it was the woman you gave me who brought me the fruit, and I ate it."

13Then the LORD God asked the woman, "How could you do such a thing?"

"The serpent tricked me," she replied. "That's why I ate it."

14So the LORD God said to the serpent, "Because you have done this, you will be punished. You are singled out from all the domestic and wild animals of the whole earth to be cursed. You will grovel in the dust as long as you live, crawling along on your belly. 15From now on, you and the woman will be enemies, and your offspring and her offspring will be enemies. He will crush your head, and you will strike his heel."

16Then he said to the woman, "You will bear children with intense pain and suffering. And though your desire will be for your husband, he will be your master."

17And to Adam he said, "Because you listened to your wife and ate the fruit I told you not to eat, I have placed a curse on the ground. All your life you will struggle to scratch a living from it. 18It will grow thorns and thistles for you, though you will eat of its grains. 19All your life you will sweat to produce food, until your dying day. Then you will return to the ground from which you came. For you were made from dust, and to the dust you will return."

20Then Adam named his wife Eve, because she would be the mother of all people everywhere. 21And the LORD God made clothing from animal skins for Adam and his wife.

22Then the LORD God said, "The people have become as we are, knowing everything, both good and evil. What if they eat the fruit of the tree of life? Then they will live forever!" 23So the LORD God banished Adam and his wife from the Garden of Eden, and he sent Adam out to cultivate the ground from which he had been made. 24After banishing them from the garden, the LORD God stationed mighty angelic beings to the east of Eden. And a flaming sword flashed back and forth, guarding the way to the tree of life.


Dig Deeper

Genesis 3 records perhaps the saddest day in human history. It is the day that our ancestor Adam chose to disobey God and allow sin to enter our world. Even one sin separates us from God as Adam and Eve soon found out.


Satan convinced Adam and Eve to sin by using the same lie that he stills uses on us today. He convinced them that that they could do things their own way rather than God’s.


What is exciting is that even as man was sinning and disobeying God, He already had a plan ready for mankind to be forgiven of our sin. God gives a prophecy of this plan in verse 15, called the protoevangelium, when He predicts that the offspring of a woman would crush the head of Satan, the great serpent. Normally, in biblical times, a child would be said to be the seed or offspring of a man. This verse is a clear prediction that a child would be born of a woman in an unusual way, which is exactly what Jesus Christ did.


This passage also explains many other biblical doctrines for us and why things are the way they are. For example, why women have pain during childbirth but animals do not (v. 16), why men have authority in the family (v. 16), why we must work for a living and just to survive (v. 17), why we wear clothes (vv. 10, 21), etc.


We see in this passage, and in the following chapters, that the entry of sin into the world, corrupted all four of the primary purposes for man that God had intended. Two of those are clearly in sight in this chapter. First, in verses 17-19, Adam is told that he will no longer work for himself, but must work hard just to provide for himself. Working for ourselves is a sign of rebellion that can only be restored by a relationship with Jesus (see Matt. 6:33). Second, the purpose of having an intimate relationship with God is also destroyed by sin, as we see Adam and Eve were banished from God’s presence and His Garden. Sin always separates us from God (Isaiah 59:2), another condition that can only be solved through Jesus.



Devotional Thought

Even though Adam and Eve did a terrible thing by sinning against and disobeying a perfect and holy God, He showed them mercy immediately. Before they even sinned God had a plan to reconcile with His creation. What an awesome God. Spend a few extra minutes each day this week praising and thanking God for His mercy and forgiveness in your own life. Think of specific ways in your life in which He has showered you with His grace and mercy.