Genesis 3:19 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."

◄ Genesis 3:19 ►

New International Version
By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.”

New Living Translation
By the sweat of your brow will you have food to eat until you return to the ground from which you were made. For you were made from dust, and to dust you will return.”

English Standard Version
By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”

Berean Standard Bible
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.”

King James Bible
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.

New King James Version
In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread Till you return to the ground, For out of it you were taken; For dust you are, And to dust you shall return.”

New American Standard Bible
By the sweat of your face You shall eat bread, Until you return to the ground, Because from it you were taken; For you are dust, And to dust you shall return.”

NASB 1995
By the sweat of your face You will eat bread, Till you return to the ground, Because from it you were taken; For you are dust, And to dust you shall return.”

NASB 1977
By the sweat of your face You shall eat bread, Till you return to the ground, Because from it you were taken; For you are dust, And to dust you shall return.”

Legacy Standard Bible
By the sweat of your face You will eat bread, Till you return to the ground, Because from it you were taken; For you are dust, And to dust you shall return.”

Amplified Bible
“By the sweat of your face You will eat bread Until you return to the ground, For from it you were taken; For you are dust, And to dust you shall return.”

Christian Standard Bible
You will eat bread by the sweat of your brow until you return to the ground, since you were taken from it. For you are dust, and you will return to dust.”

Holman Christian Standard Bible
You will eat bread by the sweat of your brow until you return to the ground, since you were taken from it. For you are dust, and you will return to dust.”

American Standard Version
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.

Contemporary English Version
You will sweat all your life to earn a living; you were made out of soil, and you will once again turn into soil."

English Revised Version
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.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
By the sweat of your brow, you will produce food to eat until you return to the ground, because you were taken from it. You are dust, and you will return to dust."

Good News Translation
You will have to work hard and sweat to make the soil produce anything, until you go back to the soil from which you were formed. You were made from soil, and you will become soil again."

International Standard Version
You will eat food by the sweat of your brow until you're buried in the ground, because you were taken from it. You're made from dust and you'll return to dust."

Majority Standard Bible
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.”

NET Bible
By the sweat of your brow you will eat food until you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you will return."

New Heart English Bible
By the sweat of your face will you eat bread until you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken. For you are dust, and to dust you shall return."

Webster's Bible Translation
In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou shalt return to the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and to dust shalt thou return.

World English Bible
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.”

Literal Translations

Literal Standard Version
by the sweat of your face you eat bread until your return to the ground, for you have been taken out of it, for dust you [are], and to dust you return.”

Young's Literal Translation
by the sweat of thy face thou dost eat bread till thy return unto the ground, for out of it hast thou been taken, for dust thou art, and unto dust thou turnest back.'

Smith's Literal Translation
In the sweat of thy face thou shalt eat food until thy turning back to the earth; for out of it thou wert taken; for dust thou art, and to dust shalt thou turn back.

Catholic Translations

Douay-Rheims Bible
In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread till thou return to the earth, out of which thou wast taken: for dust thou art, and into dust thou shalt return.

Catholic Public Domain Version
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.”

New American Bible
By the sweat of your brow you shall eat bread, Until you return to the ground, from which you were taken; For you are dust, and to dust you shall return.

New Revised Standard Version
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.”

Translations from Aramaic

Lamsa Bible
In the sweat of your face shall you eat bread, until you return to the ground; out of it you were taken; for dust you are, and to dust shall you return.

Peshitta Holy Bible Translated
In the sweat of your face you will eat bread, until you return to the Earth, for from it you were taken, because dust you are and to dust you shall return.”

OT Translations

JPS Tanakh 1917
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.'

Brenton Septuagint Translation
In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat thy bread until thou return to the earth out of which thou wast taken, for earth thou art and to earth thou shalt return.

Additional Translations ...

Audio Bible

Context

The Punishment of Mankind
…18Both thorns and thistles it will yield for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. 19By 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.” 20And Adam named his wife Eve, because she would be the mother of all the living.…

Berean Standard Bible · Download

Cross References

Romans 5:12
Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, so also death was passed on to all men, because all sinned.

1 Corinthians 15:21-22
For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. / For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.

1 Corinthians 15:45-49
So it is written: “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam a life-giving spirit. / The spiritual, however, was not first, but the natural, and then the spiritual. / The first man was of the dust of the earth, the second man from heaven. ...

Ecclesiastes 3:20
All go to one place; all come from dust, and all return to dust.

Ecclesiastes 12:7
before the dust returns to the ground from which it came and the spirit returns to God who gave it.

Job 34:15
all flesh would perish together and mankind would return to the dust.

Psalm 90:3
You return man to dust, saying, “Return, O sons of mortals.”

Psalm 104:29
When You hide Your face, they are terrified; when You take away their breath, they die and return to dust.

Romans 8:20-22
For the creation was subjected to futility, not by its own will, but because of the One who subjected it, in hope / that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God. / We know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until the present time.

1 Corinthians 15:53-54
For the perishable must be clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. / When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come to pass: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.”

Isaiah 40:6-8
A voice says, “Cry out!” And I asked, “What should I cry out?” “All flesh is like grass, and all its glory like the flowers of the field. / The grass withers and the flowers fall when the breath of the LORD blows on them; indeed, the people are grass. / The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands forever.”

Job 10:9
Please remember that You molded me like clay. Would You now return me to dust?

Job 14:1-2
“Man, who is born of woman, is short of days and full of trouble. / Like a flower, he comes forth, then withers away; like a fleeting shadow, he does not endure.

Hebrews 9:27
Just as man is appointed to die once, and after that to face judgment,

James 4:14
You do not even know what will happen tomorrow! What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.

Treasury of Scripture

In the sweat of your face shall you eat bread, till you return to the ground; for out of it were you taken: for dust you are, and to dust shall you return.

In.

Ecclesiastes 1:3,13
What profit hath a man of all his labour which he taketh under the sun? …

Ephesians 4:28
Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth.

1 Thessalonians 2:9
For ye remember, brethren, our labour and travail: for labouring night and day, because we would not be chargeable unto any of you, we preached unto you the gospel of God.

till.

Job 1:21
And said, Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.

Psalm 90:3
Thou turnest man to destruction; and sayest, Return, ye children of men.

Psalm 104:29
Thou hidest thy face, they are troubled: thou takest away their breath, they die, and return to their dust.

for dust.

Genesis 2:7
And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

Genesis 18:27
And Abraham answered and said, Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord, which am but dust and ashes:

and.

Genesis 23:4
I am a stranger and a sojourner with you: give me a possession of a buryingplace with you, that I may bury my dead out of my sight.

Job 17:13-16
If I wait, the grave is mine house: I have made my bed in the darkness…

Job 19:26
And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God:

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Genesis 3

1. The serpent deceives Eve.
6. Both she and Adam transgress the divine command, and fall into sin.
8. God arraigns them.
14. The serpent is cursed.
15. The promised seed.
16. The punishment of mankind.
21. Their first clothing.
22. Their expulsion from paradise.

Berean Study Bible

By the sweat of your brow
This phrase emphasizes the toil and labor that humanity must endure as a consequence of the Fall. The Hebrew word for "sweat" is "זֵעָה" (ze'ah), which is only used here in the Old Testament, highlighting the unique nature of this curse. The "brow" or "face" (פָּנֶיךָ, panecha) signifies the personal and direct impact of this labor. Historically, this reflects the agrarian society of ancient times, where physical labor was essential for survival. Spiritually, it underscores the shift from the ease of Eden to a life of struggle, reminding believers of the cost of sin and the need for redemption.

you will eat your bread
The phrase "eat your bread" signifies sustenance and survival. The Hebrew word for "bread" is "לֶחֶם" (lechem), which can also mean food in general. This reflects the basic necessity of life that now requires effort and labor to obtain. In a broader scriptural context, bread often symbolizes God's provision, as seen in the manna provided to the Israelites. Here, it serves as a reminder of the reliance on God for daily needs, even amidst the curse of labor.

until you return to the ground
This phrase introduces the concept of mortality. The Hebrew word for "ground" is "אֲדָמָה" (adamah), which is closely related to "אָדָם" (adam), meaning man. This connection highlights humanity's origin and destiny, as man was formed from the dust of the ground. Theologically, it underscores the consequence of sin, which is death, and the return to the earth from which man was created. It serves as a humbling reminder of human frailty and the temporal nature of life.

because out of it were you taken
This phrase reiterates the creation account, where man was formed from the dust of the ground. The Hebrew word "לָקַח" (laqach) means "taken" or "brought forth," emphasizing God's active role in creation. This serves as a reminder of humanity's dependence on God for life and existence. It also points to the intimate relationship between man and the earth, as well as the responsibility to steward it wisely.

For dust you are
The phrase "dust you are" highlights the material composition of humanity. The Hebrew word "עָפָר" (aphar) means dust or dry earth, emphasizing the humble and fragile nature of human life. This serves as a reminder of the humility required before God, acknowledging our limitations and need for His grace. It also points to the reality of human mortality and the need for spiritual renewal through Christ.

and to dust you shall return
This final phrase underscores the inevitability of death. The repetition of "dust" (עָפָר, aphar) reinforces the cycle of life and death introduced by sin. It serves as a sobering reminder of the consequences of the Fall and the need for redemption. In a broader biblical context, it points to the hope of resurrection and eternal life through Jesus Christ, who conquered death and offers new life to all who believe.

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(19) Dust thou art . . . --It appears from this that death was man's normal condition. A spiritual being is eternal by its own constitution, but the argument by which Bishop Butler proves the soul to be immortal equally proves the mortality of the body. Death, he says, is the division of a compound substance into its component parts; but as the soul is a simple substance, and incapable of division, it is per se incapable of death (Analogy, Part 1, Genesis 1). The body of Adam, composed of particles of earth, was capable of division, and our first parents in Paradise were assured of an unending existence by a special gift, typified by the tree of life. But now this gift was withdrawn, and henceforward the sweat of man's brow was in itself proof that he was returning to his earth: for it told of exhaustion and waste. Even now labour is a blessing only when it is moderate, as when Adam kept a garden that spontaneously brought forth flowers and fruit. In excess it wears out the body and benumbs the soul, and by the pressure of earthly cares leaves neither time nor the wish for any such pursuits as are worthy of a being endowed with thought and reason and a soul.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 19. - In the sweat of thy face (so called, as having there its source and being there visible) shalt thou eat bread. I.e. all food (vide Job 28:5; Psalm 104:14; Matthew 14:15; Mark 6:36). "To eat bread" is to possess the means of sustaining life (Ecclesiastes 5:16; Amos 7:12). Till thou return unto the ground (the mortality-of man is thus assumed as certain); for out of it thou wast taken. Not declaring the reason of man's dissolution, as if it were involved in his original material constitution, but reminding him that in consequence of his transgression he had forfeited the privilege of immunity from death, and must now return to the soil whence he sprung. Ἐξ η΅ς ἐλήφθης (LXX.); de qua sumptus es (Vulgate); "out of which thou wast taken" (Macdonald, Gesenius). On the use of כִּי as a relative pronoun - אַשֶׁר cf. Gesenius, ' Lex. sub nom.,' who quotes this and Genesis 4:25 as examples. Vide also Stanley Leathes, 'Hebrews Gram.,' p. 202; and 'Glassii Philologiae,' lib. 3. tr. 2, c. 15. p. 335. This use of כִּי, however, appears to be doubtful, and is not necessary in any of the examples quoted.

Parallel Commentaries ...

Hebrew

By the sweat
בְּזֵעַ֤ת (bə·zê·‘aṯ)
Preposition-b | Noun - feminine singular construct
Strong's 2188: Perspiration

of your brow
אַפֶּ֙יךָ֙ (’ap·pe·ḵā)
Noun - mdc | second person masculine singular
Strong's 639: The nose, nostril, the face, a person, ire

you will eat
תֹּ֣אכַל (tō·ḵal)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - second person masculine singular
Strong's 398: To eat

[your] bread,
לֶ֔חֶם (le·ḥem)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 3899: Food, bread, grain

until
עַ֤ד (‘aḏ)
Preposition
Strong's 5704: As far as, even to, up to, until, while

you return
שֽׁוּבְךָ֙ (šū·ḇə·ḵā)
Verb - Qal - Infinitive construct | second person masculine singular
Strong's 7725: To turn back, in, to retreat, again

to
אֶל־ (’el-)
Preposition
Strong's 413: Near, with, among, to

the ground—
הָ֣אֲדָמָ֔ה (hā·’ă·ḏā·māh)
Article | Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 127: Ground, land

because
כִּ֥י (kî)
Conjunction
Strong's 3588: A relative conjunction

out of it
מִמֶּ֖נָּה (mim·men·nāh)
Preposition | third person feminine singular
Strong's 4480: A part of, from, out of

were you taken.
לֻקָּ֑חְתָּ (luq·qā·ḥə·tā)
Verb - QalPass - Perfect - second person masculine singular
Strong's 3947: To take

For
כִּֽי־ (kî-)
Conjunction
Strong's 3588: A relative conjunction

dust
עָפָ֣ר (‘ā·p̄ār)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 6083: Dust, clay, earth, mud

you [are],
אַ֔תָּה (’at·tāh)
Pronoun - second person masculine singular
Strong's 859: Thou and thee, ye and you

and to
וְאֶל־ (wə·’el-)
Conjunctive waw | Preposition
Strong's 413: Near, with, among, to

dust
עָפָ֖ר (‘ā·p̄ār)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 6083: Dust, clay, earth, mud

you {shall} return.”
תָּשֽׁוּב׃ (tā·šūḇ)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - second person masculine singular
Strong's 7725: To turn back, in, to retreat, again

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OT Law: Genesis 3:19 By the sweat of your face will (Gen. Ge Gn)