New Revised Standard NRS
The Bible in Basic English BBE
1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any other wild animal that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God say, "You shall not eat from any tree in the garden'?"
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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 The woman said to the serpent, "We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden;
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And the woman said, We may take of the fruit of the trees in the garden:
3 but God said, "You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the garden, nor shall you touch it, or you shall die.' "
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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 But the serpent said to the woman, "You will not die;
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And the snake said, Death will not certainly come to you:
5 for God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."
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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 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate; and she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate.
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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 Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made loincloths for themselves.
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And their eyes were open and they were conscious that they had no clothing and they made themselves coats of leaves stitched together.
8 They heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden at the time of the evening breeze, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.
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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 But the Lord God called to the man, and said to him, "Where are you?"
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And the voice of the Lord God came to the man, saying, Where are you?
10 He said, "I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself."
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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 He said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?"
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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 The man said, "The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit from the tree, and I ate."
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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 Then the Lord God said to the woman, "What is this that you have done?" The woman said, "The serpent tricked me, and I ate."
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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 The Lord God said to the serpent, "Because you have done this, cursed are you among all animals and among all wild creatures; upon your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life.
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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 I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will strike your head, and you will strike his heel."
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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, "I will greatly increase your pangs in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children, yet your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you."
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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 the man he said, "Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten of the tree about which I commanded you, "You shall not eat of it,' cursed is the ground because of you; in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life;
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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 thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field.
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Thorns and waste plants will come up, and the plants of the field will be your food;
19 By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread until you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; you are dust, and to dust you shall return."
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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 The man named his wife Eve, because she was the mother of all living.
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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 garments of skins for the man and for his wife, and clothed them.
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And the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife coats of skins for their clothing.
22 Then the Lord God said, "See, the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil; and now, he might reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever"—
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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 therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from which he was taken.
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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 He drove out the man; and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim, and a sword flaming and turning to guard the way to the tree of life.
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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.
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
The Bible in Basic English is in the public domain.