Genesis 3:19

Death and loss Work

¹⁷ And to Adam He said: “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat, cursed is the ground because of you; through toil you will eat of it all the days of your life.

¹⁸ Both thorns and thistles it will yield for you, and you will eat the plants of the field.

By the sweat of your brow you will eat your bread, until you return to the ground— because out of it were you taken. For dust you are, and to dust you shall return.”

²⁰ And Adam named his wife Eve, because she would be the mother of all the living.

²¹ And the LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife, and He clothed them.

Here the Bible tells a story about someone else. Ask yourself what it can say to us today. Do read the surrounding verses too, because the context often says more than a single verse.

Compare

BSB: By the sweat of your brow you will eat your bread, until you return to the ground— because out of it were you taken. For dust you are, and to dust you shall return.”
KJV: 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.
WEB: You will eat bread by the sweat of your face until you return to the ground, for you were taken out of it. For you are dust, and you shall return to dust.”
ASV: 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.
DARBY: In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, until thou return to the ground: for out of it wast thou taken. For dust thou art; and unto dust shalt thou return.
BLB: By the sweat of your nose you shall eat bread, until your returning to the ground, for from it you were taken. For dust you [are], and to dust you shall return.”

ÅB: I ditt ansikts sved skal du spise ditt brød, inntil du vender tilbake til jorden, for av den er du tatt; for støv er du, og til støv skal du vende tilbake.
OTB: I ditt ansikts sved skal du ete ditt brød inntil du vender tilbake til jorden, for av den er du tatt; for støv er du, og til støv skal du vende tilbake.»
B1930: I ditt ansikts sved skal du ete ditt brød, inntil du vender tilbake til jorden, for av den er du tatt; for støv er du, og til støv skal du vende tilbake.

Study notes (Tyndale)

Original text and word study

Cross references

Ecclesiastes 12:7
before the dust returns to the ground from which it came and the spirit returns to God who gave it.
Read in context
Job 34:15
all flesh would perish together and mankind would return to the dust.
Read in context
Psalms 104:29
When You hide Your face, they are terrified; when You take away their breath, they die and return to dust.
Read in context
Genesis 2:7
Then the LORD God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed the breath of life into his nostrils, and the man became a living being.
Read in context
Psalms 90:3
You return man to dust, saying, “Return, O sons of mortals.”
Read in context
Ephesians 4:28
He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing good with his own hands, that he may have something to share with the one in need.
Read in context
Ecclesiastes 3:20
All go to one place; all come from dust, and all return to dust.
Read in context
1 Corinthians 15:21–22
For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man.
Read in context