---
title: "Genesis 3 – Catholic Bible (CPDV) & Latin Vulgate · Bless"
url: https://blessbible.app/bible/genesis/3/
description: "The serpent's craft. The fall of our first parents. Their punishment. The… Genesis 3 in the Catholic Public Domain Version, with the Latin Vulgate."
---

# Genesis 3

Genesis 3 is chapter 3 of 50 in the Book of Genesis. Here are all 24 verses in the Catholic Public Domain Version, with the Latin of the Clementine Vulgate beside them.

> The serpent's craft. The fall of our first parents. Their punishment. The promise of a Redeemer.
>
> — Bp. Richard Challoner, chapter summary

## Genesis 3 (Catholic Public Domain Version)

1. However, the serpent was more crafty than any of the creatures of the earth that the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Why has God instructed you, that you should not eat from every tree of Paradise?”
2. The woman responded to him: “From the fruit of the trees which are in Paradise, we eat.
3. Yet truly, from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of Paradise, God has instructed us that we should not eat, and that we should not touch it, lest perhaps we may die.”
4. Then the serpent said to the woman: “By no means will you die a death.
5. For God knows that, on whatever day you will eat from it, your eyes will be opened; and you will be like gods, knowing good and evil.”
6. And so the woman saw that the tree was good to eat, and beautiful to the eyes, and delightful to consider. And she took from its fruit, and she ate. And she gave to her husband, who ate.
7. And the eyes of them both were opened. And when they realized themselves to be naked, they joined together fig leaves and made coverings for themselves.
8. And when they had heard the voice of the Lord God taking a walk in Paradise in the afternoon breeze, Adam and his wife hid themselves from the face of the Lord God in the midst of the trees of Paradise.
9. And the Lord God called Adam and said to him: “Where are you?”
10. And he said, “I heard your voice in Paradise, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and so I hid myself.”
11. He said to him, “Then who told you that you were naked, if you have not eaten of the tree from which I instructed you that you should not eat?”
12. And Adam said, “The woman, whom you gave to me as a companion, gave to me from the tree, and I ate.”
13. And the Lord God said to the woman, “Why have you done this?” And she responded, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”
14. And the Lord God said to the serpent: “Because you have done this, you are cursed among all living things, even the wild beasts of the earth. Upon your breast shall you travel, and the ground shall you eat, all the days of your life.
15. I will put enmities between you and the woman, between your offspring and her offspring. She will crush your head, and you will lie in wait for her heel.”
16. To the woman, he also said: “I will multiply your labors and your conceptions. In pain shall you give birth to sons, and you shall be under your husband’s power, and he shall have dominion over you.”
17. Yet truly, to Adam, he said: “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten of the tree, from which I instructed you that you should not eat, cursed is the land that you work. In hardship shall you eat from it, all the days of your life.
18. Thorns and thistles shall it produce for you, and you shall eat the plants of the earth.
19. By the sweat of your face shall you eat bread, until you return to the earth from which you were taken. For dust you are, and unto dust you shall return.”
20. And Adam called the name of his wife, ‘Eve,’ because she was the mother of all the living.
21. The Lord God also made for Adam and his wife garments from skins, and he clothed them.
22. And he said: “Behold, Adam has become like one of us, knowing good and evil. Therefore, now perhaps he may put forth his hand and also take from the tree of life, and eat, and live in eternity.”
23. And so the Lord God sent him away from the Paradise of enjoyment, in order to work the earth from which he was taken.
24. And he cast out Adam. And in front of the Paradise of enjoyment, he placed the Cherubim with a flaming sword, turning together, to guard the way to the tree of life.

## Genesis 3 in Latin (Clementine Vulgate, 1592)

1. Sed et serpens erat callidior cunctis animantibus terræ quæ fecerat Dominus Deus. Qui dixit ad mulierem: Cur præcepit vobis Deus ut non comederetis de omni ligno paradisi?
2. Cui respondit mulier: De fructu lignorum, quæ sunt in paradiso, vescimur:
3. de fructu vero ligni quod est in medio paradisi, præcepit nobis Deus ne comederemus, et ne tangeremus illud, ne forte moriamur.
4. Dixit autem serpens ad mulierem: Nequaquam morte moriemini.
5. Scit enim Deus quod in quocumque die comederitis ex eo, aperientur oculi vestri, et eritis sicut dii, scientes bonum et malum.
6. Vidit igitur mulier quod bonum esset lignum ad vescendum, et pulchrum oculis, aspectuque delectabile: et tulit de fructu illius, et comedit: deditque viro suo, qui comedit.
7. Et aperti sunt oculi amborum; cumque cognovissent se esse nudos, consuerunt folia ficus, et fecerunt sibi perizomata.
8. Et cum audissent vocem Domini Dei deambulantis in paradiso ad auram post meridiem, abscondit se Adam et uxor ejus a facie Domini Dei in medio ligni paradisi.
9. Vocavitque Dominus Deus Adam, et dixit ei: Ubi es?
10. Qui ait: Vocem tuam audivi in paradiso, et timui, eo quod nudus essem, et abscondi me.
11. Cui dixit: Quis enim indicavit tibi quod nudus esses, nisi quod ex ligno de quo præceperam tibi ne comederes, comedisti?
12. Dixitque Adam: Mulier, quam dedisti mihi sociam, dedit mihi de ligno, et comedi.
13. Et dixit Dominus Deus ad mulierem: Quare hoc fecisti? Quæ respondit: Serpens decepit me, et comedi.
14. Et ait Dominus Deus ad serpentem: Quia fecisti hoc, maledictus es inter omnia animantia, et bestias terræ: super pectus tuum gradieris, et terram comedes cunctis diebus vitæ tuæ.
15. Inimicitias ponam inter te et mulierem, et semen tuum et semen illius: ipsa conteret caput tuum, et tu insidiaberis calcaneo ejus.
16. Mulieri quoque dixit: Multiplicabo ærumnas tuas, et conceptus tuos: in dolore paries filios, et sub viri potestate eris, et ipse dominabitur tui.
17. Adæ vero dixit: Quia audisti vocem uxoris tuæ, et comedisti de ligno, ex quo præceperam tibi ne comederes, maledicta terra in opere tuo: in laboribus comedes ex ea cunctis diebus vitæ tuæ.
18. Spinas et tribulos germinabit tibi, et comedes herbam terræ.
19. In sudore vultus tui vesceris pane, donec revertaris in terram de qua sumptus es: quia pulvis es et in pulverem reverteris.
20. Et vocavit Adam nomen uxoris suæ, Heva: eo quod mater esset cunctorum viventium.
21. Fecit quoque Dominus Deus Adæ et uxori ejus tunicas pelliceas, et induit eos:
22. et ait: Ecce Adam quasi unus ex nobis factus est, sciens bonum et malum: nunc ergo ne forte mittat manum suam, et sumat etiam de ligno vitæ, et comedat, et vivat in æternum.
23. Et emisit eum Dominus Deus de paradiso voluptatis, ut operaretur terram de qua sumptus est.
24. Ejecitque Adam: et collocavit ante paradisum voluptatis cherubim, et flammeum gladium, atque versatilem, ad custodiendam viam ligni vitæ.

## Catechism of the Catholic Church

Paragraph numbers and the Catechism's own section headings (never quoted); text at vatican.va.
- cf. CCC ¶ 391: The Fall ([vatican.va index](https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_INDEX.HTM))
- cf. CCC ¶ 397: The Fall ([vatican.va index](https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_INDEX.HTM))
- cf. CCC ¶ 2795: "Who Art in Heaven" ([vatican.va index](https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_INDEX.HTM))
- CCC ¶ 1008: Dying in Christ Jesus ([vatican.va index](https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_INDEX.HTM))
- CCC ¶ 392: The Fall ([vatican.va index](https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_INDEX.HTM))
- CCC ¶ 1850: The Definition of Sin ([vatican.va index](https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_INDEX.HTM))
- cf. CCC ¶ 398: The Fall ([vatican.va index](https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_INDEX.HTM))
- cf. CCC ¶ 399: The Fall ([vatican.va index](https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_INDEX.HTM))
- CCC ¶ 2541: The Desires of the Spirit ([vatican.va index](https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_INDEX.HTM))
- cf. CCC ¶ 2847: "And Lead Us not into Temptation" ([vatican.va index](https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_INDEX.HTM))
- cf. CCC ¶ 400: The Fall ([vatican.va index](https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_INDEX.HTM))
- CCC ¶ 29: The Desire for God ([vatican.va index](https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_INDEX.HTM))
- CCC ¶ 2568: In the Old Testament ([vatican.va index](https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_INDEX.HTM))
- cf. CCC ¶ 410: The Fall ([vatican.va index](https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_INDEX.HTM))
- cf. CCC ¶ 2515: The Ninth Commandment ([vatican.va index](https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_INDEX.HTM))
- cf. CCC ¶ 1607: Marriage in God's Plan ([vatican.va index](https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_INDEX.HTM))
- CCC ¶ 1736: Freedom and Responsibility ([vatican.va index](https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_INDEX.HTM))
- cf. CCC ¶ 2427: Economic Activity and Social Justice ([vatican.va index](https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_INDEX.HTM))
- cf. CCC ¶ 55: The Stages of Revelation ([vatican.va index](https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_INDEX.HTM))
- cf. CCC ¶ 489: "Conceived By the Power of the Holy Spirit and Born of the Virgin Mary" ([vatican.va index](https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_INDEX.HTM))
- CCC ¶ 376: Man ([vatican.va index](https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_INDEX.HTM))
- CCC ¶ 1607: Marriage in God's Plan ([vatican.va index](https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_INDEX.HTM))
- CCC ¶ 1609: Marriage in God's Plan ([vatican.va index](https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_INDEX.HTM))
- cf. CCC ¶ 378: Man ([vatican.va index](https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_INDEX.HTM))
- cf. CCC ¶ 1608: Marriage in God's Plan ([vatican.va index](https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_INDEX.HTM))
- CCC ¶ 332: Heaven and Earth ([vatican.va index](https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_INDEX.HTM))

## Bishop Challoner's notes

Bp. Richard Challoner, notes on the Douay-Rheims (1750); they comment on its older wording.
- Verse 7: “And the eyes” … Not that they were blind before, (for the woman saw that the tree was fair to the eyes, ver. 6.) nor yet that their eyes were opened to any more perfect knowledge of good; but only to the unhappy experience of having lost the good of original grace and innocence, and incurred the dreadful evil of sin. From whence followed a shame of their being naked; which they minded not before; because being now stript of original grace, they quickly began to be subject to the shameful rebellions of the flesh.
- Verse 15: Ipsa, the woman; so divers of the fathers read this place, conformably to the Latin: others read it ipsum, viz., the seed. The sense is the same: for it is by her seed, Jesus Christ, that the woman crushes the serpent's head.
- Verse 22: “Behold Adam” … This was spoken by way of reproaching him with his pride, in affecting a knowledge that might make him like to God.

## Read at Mass (US)

- Tue, Dec 8, 2026: Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary — First Reading, Genesis 3:9-15, 20
- Mon, May 17, 2027: Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church — First Reading, Genesis 3:9-15, 20
- Sun, Jun 6, 2027 (computed): Tenth Sunday in Ordinary Time — First Reading, Genesis 3:9-15
- Wed, Dec 8, 2027 (computed): Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary — First Reading, Genesis 3:9-15, 20

1 more date through December 31, 2028, in the [liturgical calendar](https://blessbible.app/calendar/).

Citations as published in the USCCB liturgical calendar (principal Mass, first option). Dates after May 31, 2027 are computed by Bless from the US Lectionary cycle — confirm with your parish.

Source: Catholic Public Domain Version (Ronald L. Conte Jr., 2009), public domain; Latin: Clementine Vulgate (1592).