The garden

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4 This is the story of the heavens and earth when they were created.

At the time when the Lord God made earth and heaven, 5 there were not yet any plants on the earth, and no vegetation had sprung up; for the Lord God had not sent rain upon the earth, and there was no one to till the soil. 6 A mist used to rise from the earth and water all the surface of the ground.

7 Then the Lord God moulded a human being out of dust taken from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and he became a living being. 8 The Lord God planted a garden in Eden, far in the East; and placed the human he had formed there. 9 From the soil the Lord God made grow all kinds of trees that are pleasant to look at and good for food, with the tree of life also in the middle of the garden and the tree that gives the knowledge of good and evil.Sui Generis

10 A river flowed out of Eden and watered the garden, and from there branched into four. 11 The name of the first is Pishon, which flows round the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold. 12 The gold of that land is pure and there is aromatic gum and the onyx stone. 13 The name of the second river is Gihon, which flows round the whole land of Cush, 14 and the name of the third river is the Tigris, which heads toward the east of Asshur. The fourth river is the Euphrates.Shorter

15 Then the Lord God took the human and placed him in the garden of Eden to till it and to care for it. 16 The Lord God also gave the human this command: ‘You may freely eat from every tree of the garden, 17 except from the tree that gives the knowledge of good and evil; from this you must not eat, for on the day that you eat from it you will surely die.’

18 Then the Lord God said, ‘It is not good for the human to be alone; I will make a helper suited to him.’ 19 So out of the ground the Lord God formed all the wild beasts and birds, and made them come to the human to see what he would call them. Whatever he called each living creature, that was its name. 20 So the human, Adam gave names to all cattle and all the wild birds and beasts. But there was no companion suitable for him.

21 Then the Lord God caused the human to fall into a deep sleep, and while he slept, he took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. 22 With the rib which he had taken from the human, the Lord built up a woman and brought her to the human. 23 Then the human said, ‘This now is bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh. She will be called Woman, for from man she was taken.’ 24 For this reason a man leaves his father and his mother and clings to his wife, and the two become one flesh.

25 The man and his wife were both naked, yet felt no shame.

3 Now the snake was craftier than any other wild beast that the Lord God had made. It said to the woman, ‘Has God really said, “You must not eat from any tree of the garden”?’ 2 The woman answered, ‘We are allowed to eat the fruit of all the trees of the garden; 3 it is only about the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden that God has said, “You must not eat from it, nor should you touch it, for if you do, you will die.” ’ 4 Then the snake said to the woman, ‘You will not die! 5 God knows that on the day you eat some of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like gods, knowing what is good and what is evil.’

6 When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, attractive to look at and desirable for acquiring wisdom, she took some of its fruit and ate. Then she gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.

7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they that they were naked, so they sewed fig-leaves together to cover themselves. 8 But when they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the evening breeze, the man and his wife hid from him among the garden trees.

9 When the Lord God called to the man, ‘Where are you?’ 10 he replied, ‘I heard you in the garden and I was afraid, because I was naked, so I hid myself.’ 11 The Lord God said, ‘Who told you that you were naked? Did you eat from the tree from which I ordered you not to eat?’ 12 The man answered, ‘The woman you placed beside me, she gave me fruit from the tree and I ate.’ 13 The Lord God said to the woman, ‘What is this that you have done?’ The woman replied, ‘The snake deceived me, and I ate.’

14 Then the Lord God said to the snake:

‘Because you have done this,

you will be more accursed than all cattle

and all the wild beasts.

You will crawl on your belly

and eat dust

all your life.

15 I will establish hostility between you and the woman,

between your offspring and hers,

who will wound your head,

and you will wound their heel.’

16 To the woman he said,

‘I will greatly increase your anguished toil in pregnancy;

with pain will you bear children.

You will yearn for your husband,

but he will rule over you.’

17 To Adam he said,

‘Because you have listened to the voice of your wife,

and ate from the tree

about which I ordered you:

’You must never eat from it’

the ground will be cursed because of you;

as long as you live, you will earn a living only by anguished toil.

18 The ground will always bring forth thorns and thistles,

and you will eat the plants of the field.

19 By the sweat of your brow you will eat bread,

until you return to the ground,

for from it you were taken;

for dust you are,

and to dust you will return!’

20 The man, Adam, named his wife Eve[fn]; because she was the mother of all living people. 21 The Lord God made clothes from animal skins for Adam and his wife and dressed them.

22 Then the Lord God said: ‘The man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not reach out his hand, and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever.’ 23 So the Lord God sent him out of the garden of Eden, to till the ground from which he had been taken. 24 He drove out Adam and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden the cherubim, and the blazing whirling sword, to bar the way to the tree of life.

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