Genesis Chapter 3 to 5 : Easy-to-Read Version  | SearchSearch | Next Version | Previous Page | Next Page |

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The Beginning of Sin

3 The snake was the most clever of all the wild animals that the Lord God had made. {The snake wanted to trick the woman.} The snake spoke to the woman and said, “Woman, did God really tell you that you must not eat from any tree in the garden?” 2The woman answered the snake, “{No! God did not say that!} We can eat fruit from the trees in the garden. 3But there is one tree we must not eat from. God told us, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden. You must not even touch that tree or you will die.’” 4But the snake said to the woman, “You will not die. 5God knows that if you eat the fruit from that tree you will learn about good and evil. And then you will be the same as God!” 6The woman saw the tree was beautiful. She saw the fruit was good to eat. And it was exciting that the tree would make her wise. So the woman took fruit from the tree and ate it. Her husband was there with her, so she gave some of the fruit to him and he ate it. 7Then {both the man and the woman changed. It was like} their eyes opened, {and they saw things differently}. They saw that they had no clothes on—they were naked. So they got some fig leaves and sewed them together and wore the fig leaves for clothes. 8During the cool part of the day, the Lord God was walking in the garden. The man and the woman heard him, and they hid among the trees in the garden. 9The Lord God called to the man and said, “Where are you?” 10The man said, “I heard you walking in the garden, and I was afraid. I was naked, so I hid.” 11The Lord God said to the man, “Who told you that you were naked? {What caused you to be ashamed?} Did you eat fruit from that special tree? I told you not to eat from that tree!” 12The man said, “The woman you made for me gave me fruit from that tree. So I ate it.”

13Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What have you done?” The woman said, “The snake tricked me. He fooled me and I ate the fruit.” 14So the Lord God said to the snake, “You did this very bad thing, so bad things will happen to you. It will be worse for you than for any other animal. You must crawl on your belly and eat dust all the days of your life. 15I will make you and the woman enemies to each other. Your children and her children will be enemies. You will bite her child’s foot, but he will crush your head.” 16Then the Lord God said to the woman, “I will cause you to have much trouble when you are pregnant. And when you give birth to children, you will have much pain. You will want your husband very much, but he will rule over you.”* 17Then the Lord God said to the man, “I commanded you not to eat from that tree. But you listened to your wife, and you ate from that tree. So I will curse* the ground because of you. You will have to work very hard all the days of your life for the food the ground gives. 18The ground will grow thorns and weeds for you. And you will have to eat the plants that grow wild in the fields.* 19You will work hard for your food, until your face is covered with sweat. You will work hard until the day you die. And then you will become dust again. I used dust to make you. And when you die you will become dust again.” 20Adam* named his wife Eve.* Adam gave her this name because Eve is the mother of every person who ever lived. 21The Lord God used animal skins and made some clothes for the man and his wife. Then he put the clothes on them. 22The Lord God said, “Look, the man has become like us—he knows about good and evil. And now the man might take the fruit from the tree of life. If the man eats that fruit, he will live forever.” 23So the Lord God forced the man to leave the garden of Eden. Adam* was forced to go and work the ground he was made from. 24The Lord God forced the man to leave the garden. Then he put Cherub angels* at the entrance to the garden to protect it. The Lord God also put a sword of fire there. This sword flashed around and around guarding the way to the tree of life.

You … you Or, “You will want {to rule} your husband, but he will rule over you.” In Hebrew this is like Gen. 4:7. curse To ask for bad things to happen to a thing or person. The ground … fields See Gen. 1:28–29. Adam This name means, “man” or “people.” It is like the word meaning “earth” or “red clay.”  Eve This name is like the Hebrew word meaning “life.” Cherub angels Special angels from God. Statues of these angels were on top of the Box of the Agreement.


The First Family

4 Adam and his wife Eve had sexual relations and Eve gave birth to a baby. The baby was named Cain.* Eve said, “With the Lord’s help, I have made a man!” 2After that, Eve gave birth to another baby. This baby was Cain’s brother, Abel. Abel became a shepherd. Cain became a farmer.

The First Murder

3–4At harvest time,* Cain brought a gift to the Lord. Cain brought some of the food that he grew from the ground. But Abel brought some animals from his flock. Abel brought the best parts of his best sheep.* The Lord accepted Abel and his gift. 5But the Lord did not accept Cain and his offering. Cain was sad because of this, and he became very angry. 6The Lord asked Cain, “Why are you angry? Why does your face look sad? 7If you do good things, you will be right with me. Then I will accept you. But if you do wrong things, then that sin is in your life. Your sin will want to control you, but you must control that sin.”* 8Cain said to his brother Abel, {“Let’s go out to the field.”} So Cain and Abel went to the field. Then Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him. 9Later, the Lord said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?” Cain answered, “I don’t know. Is it my job to watch and care for my brother?” 10Then the Lord said, “What have you done? {You killed your brother!} His blood is like a voice shouting to me from the ground. 11{You killed your brother,} and the ground opened up to take his blood from your hands. So now, I will cause bad things to happen to that ground. 12In the past, {you planted, and your plants grew well. But now} you will plant, and the ground will not help your plants grow. You will not have a home on the earth. You will wander from place to place.” 13Then Cain said, “This punishment is more than I can bear! 14Look, you are forcing me to leave my land. I won’t be able to see you or be near you! I won’t have a home! I will be forced to wander from place to place on the earth. And whoever finds me will kill me.” 15Then the Lord said to Cain, “{I will not let that happen!} If anyone kills you, Cain, then I will punish that person much, much more.” Then the Lord put a mark on Cain. This mark showed that no person should kill him.

Cain’s Family

16Cain went away from the Lord. Cain lived in the land of Nod.* 17Cain had sexual relations with his wife. She became pregnant and gave birth to a son named Enoch. Cain built a city and gave the city the same name as his son Enoch. 18Enoch had a son named Irad. Irad had a son named Mehujael. Mehujael had a son named Methushael. And Methushael had a son named Lamech. 19Lamech married two women. One wife was named Adah, and the other wife was named Zillah. 20Adah gave birth to Jabal. Jabal was the father* of people who live in tents and earn their living by keeping cattle. 21Adah also had another son Jubal. (Jubal was Jabal’s brother.) Jubal was the father of people who play the harp and flute. 22Zillah gave birth to Tubal-Cain. Tubal-Cain was the father of people who work with bronze and iron. The sister of Tubal-Cain was named Naamah. 23Lamech said to his wives: “Adah and Zillah, hear my voice! You wives of Lamech, listen to me. A man hurt me, so I killed him. A child hit me, so I killed him. 24The punishment for killing Cain was very great! So the punishment for killing me will be much, much greater!”

Adam and Eve Have a New Son

25Adam again had sexual relations with Eve. And Eve gave birth to another son. They named him Seth.* Eve said, “God has given me another son. Cain killed Abel, but now I have Seth.” 26Seth also had a son. He named him Enosh. At that time, the people began to pray to the Lord.*

Cain This is like the Hebrew word meaning “make” or “get.” At harvest time Literally, “at the end of days.” Abel brought … best sheep Literally, “Abel brought some of his firstborn sheep, especially their fat.”  But if you … control that sin Or, “But if you don’t do right, then sin is crouching at your door. It wants you, but you must rule over it.”  Nod This name means “wandering.” father This probably means that this man invented these things, or was the first person to use them.  Seth This is like a Hebrew word meaning “to give.” people … the Lord Literally, “people began calling on the name YAHWEH.”


Adam’s Family History

5 This is the book about the family of Adam.* God made people a copy of himself.* 2God made them male and female. And on the same day he made them, God blessed them and named them “Adam.”* 3After Adam was 130 years old, he had another son. This son looked just like Adam.* Adam named his son Seth. 4After Seth was born, Adam lived 800 years. During that time, Adam had other sons and daughters. 5So Adam lived a total of 930 years; then he died. 6After Seth was 105 years old, he had a son named Enosh. 7After Enosh was born, Seth lived 807 years. During that time, Seth had other sons and daughters. 8So Seth lived a total of 912 years; then he died. 9After Enosh was 90 years old, he had a son named Kenan. 10After Kenan was born, Enosh lived 815 years. During that time, he had other sons and daughters. 11So Enosh lived a total of 905 years; then he died. 12After Kenan was 70 years old, he had a son named Mahalalel. 13After Mahalalel was born, Kenan lived 840 years. During that time, Kenan had other sons and daughters. 14So Kenan lived a total of 910 years; then he died. 15When Mahalalel was 65 years old, he had a son named Jared. 16After Jared was born, Mahalalel lived 830 years. During that time, he had other sons and daughters. 17So Mahalalel lived a total of 895 years; then he died. 18After Jared was 162 years old, he had a son named Enoch. 19After Enoch was born, Jared lived 800 years. During that time, he had other sons and daughters. 20So Jared lived a total of 962 years; then he died. 21After Enoch was 65 years old, he had a son named Methuselah. 22After Methuselah was born, Enoch walked with God for 300 years more. During that time, he had other sons and daughters. 23So Enoch lived a total of 365 years. 24One day Enoch was walking with God, and Enoch disappeared. God took him.* 25After Methuselah was 187 years old, he had a son named Lamech. 26After Lamech was born, Methuselah lived 782 years. During that time, he had other sons and daughters. 27So Methuselah lived a total of 969 years; then he died. 28When Lamech was 182 years old, he had a son. 29Lamech named his son Noah.* Lamech said, “We work very hard as farmers because God cursed the ground. But Noah will bring us rest.” 30After Noah was born, Lamech lived 595 years. During that time he had other sons and daughters. 31So Lamech lived a total of 777 years; then he died. 32After Noah was 500 years old, he had sons named Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

Adam This name means “man” or “people.” It is like the word meaning “earth” or “red clay.”  God made people … himself Literally, “He made him in the image of God.” See Gen. 1:27; 5:3.  he had … like Adam Or, “he fathered a son in his image and likeness.” In Hebrew this is like Gen. 1:27; 5:1. One day … God took him Or, “Enoch pleased God. Enoch disappeared. God took him.”  Noah This name means “rest.” 

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