Eve

1The serpent was more crafty than any wild animal the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God really say you must not eat from any tree in the garden?"

Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?

NoteA serpent is a snake. Crafty means clever in a sneaky way. When you see LORD in big letters, it stands for God's own name.

2The woman answered the serpent, "We may eat the fruit of the trees in the garden.

And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:

3But God said about the tree in the middle of the garden, 'You must not eat it. You must not even touch it, or you will die.'"

But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.

4The serpent said to the woman, "You will not really die.

And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:

5God knows that when you eat it, your eyes will be opened. You will be like God, knowing good and evil."

For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.

NoteEvil means things that are very wrong or that hurt people.

6The woman saw that the tree was good for food. It was pretty to look at. She wanted its fruit to make her wise. So she took some fruit and ate it. She gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.

And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.

NoteWise means knowing a lot and making good choices.

7Then the eyes of both of them were opened. They knew that they had no clothes on. So they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.

And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.

NoteFig trees have big, wide leaves. The leaves were the only covering they had.

8They heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool part of the day. Adam and his wife hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden.

And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden.

NoteThe cool part of the day is the evening, after the hot sun goes down.

9The LORD God called out to Adam. He said, "Where are you?"

And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?

10Adam said, "I heard your voice in the garden. I was afraid, because I had no clothes on. So I hid."

And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.

11God said, "Who told you that you had no clothes on? Did you eat from the tree I told you not to eat from?"

And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?

12The man said, "The woman you gave to be with me gave me fruit from the tree. And I ate it."

And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.

13The LORD God said to the woman, "What is this you have done?" The woman said, "The serpent tricked me, and I ate."

And the LORD God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.

14The LORD God said to the serpent, "Because you did this, you are cursed. You are cursed more than all the farm animals and all the wild animals. You will crawl on your belly. You will eat dust all the days of your life.

And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:

NoteTo be cursed means hard times will come to you from now on.

15I will make you and the woman enemies. Your children and her children will be enemies too. He will strike your head, and you will strike his heel."

And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

NoteStrike means to hit hard. Snakes bite at people's feet and heels. People step on a snake's head.

16To the woman God said, "I will make your pain much greater when you have children. You will give birth with pain. You will want your husband, and he will rule over you."

Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.

NoteTo rule over someone means to be in charge of that person.

17To Adam God said, "You listened to your wife. You ate from the tree I told you not to eat from. So the ground is cursed because of you. You will get your food from it with hard, painful work all your life.

And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;

NoteThe ground being cursed means growing food will now be hard work.

18The ground will grow thorns and thistles for you. You will eat the plants of the field.

Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field;

NoteThistles are weeds with sharp points on them. They hurt to touch.

19You will sweat hard to get your bread. You will work until you go back to the ground. You were taken out of the ground. You are dust, and you will go back to dust."

In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.

NoteDust here means the dry dirt of the ground. Bread stands for all the food people eat.

20Adam gave his wife the name Eve. He did this because she was the mother of everyone who lives.

And Adam called his wife’s name Eve; because she was the mother of all living.

NoteIn their language, the name Eve sounds like the word for living.

21The LORD God made clothes out of animal skins for Adam and his wife. He put the clothes on them.

Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them.

NotePeople made clothes from the skins of animals, like leather today.

22The LORD God said, "Look, the man has become like one of us. He knows good and evil. He must not reach out his hand and take fruit from the tree of life. He must not eat it and live forever."

And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever:

NoteThe tree of life was a special tree in the garden. Its fruit kept people alive forever.

23So the LORD God sent him out of the garden of Eden. He sent him to work the ground he was taken from.

Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken.

NoteEden was the name of the garden. To work the ground means to farm it.

24God drove the man out. On the east side of the garden of Eden, he placed cherubim. He also placed a flaming sword that turned every way. They guarded the way to the tree of life.

So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.

NoteCherubim are strong angels. They stand guard over God's special places.

1Adam and his wife Eve came together. She had a baby boy, and she named him Cain. She said, "I have gotten a man from the LORD."

And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the LORD.

NoteThe word LORD in big letters is God's special name. It was the name God's people used for him.

2Later she had his brother Abel. Abel took care of sheep. Cain worked the ground and grew food.

And she again bare his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.

NoteA keeper of sheep is a shepherd. A shepherd leads sheep to grass and water and keeps them safe.

3But I am afraid for you. Long ago the clever snake tricked Eve. I am afraid the same thing could happen to your minds. Then your simple, true love for Christ would be spoiled.

But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.

NoteThis is a story from the very start of the Bible. A snake spoke to the first woman, Eve. He told her clever lies, and she believed him.

13God made Adam first. After that, God made Eve.

For Adam was first formed, then Eve.

NoteAdam and Eve were the first man and the first woman. Their story is at the very start of the Bible.

14Adam was not tricked. The woman was tricked, and she did what was wrong.

And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression.

NoteIn that story a snake tricked Eve into disobeying God. "Transgression" is an old word for breaking a rule.

15But she will be saved through having children. That is true if they keep on trusting God. They must keep loving others and living a holy life. And they must keep control of themselves.

Notwithstanding she shall be saved in childbearing, if they continue in faith and charity and holiness with sobriety.

Note"Childbearing" means having babies. In 1611 "charity" meant love for other people. It did not mean giving money to the poor. "Sobriety" meant being sensible and keeping control of yourself.