^4 (A)This is the ^[a]history of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens, ⁵ before any ^(B)plant of the field was in the earth and before any herb of the field had grown. For the Lord God had not ^(C)caused it to rain on the earth, and there was no man ^(D)to till the ground; ⁶ but a mist went up from the earth and watered the whole face of the ground.

⁷ And the Lord God formed man of the ^(E)dust of the ground, and ^(F)breathed into his ^(G)nostrils the breath of life; and ^(H)man became a living being.

Life in God’s Garden

⁸ The Lord God planted ^(I)a garden ^(J)eastward in ^(K)Eden, and there He put the man whom He had formed. ⁹ And out of the ground the Lord God made ^(L)every tree grow that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. ^(M)The tree of life was also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and ^(N)evil.

¹⁵ Then the Lord God took ^[a]the man and put him in the garden of Eden to ^[b]tend and keep it. ¹⁶ And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; ¹⁷ but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil ^(A)you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it ^(B)you^[c] shall surely ^(C)die.”

The Temptation and Fall of Man^(A)

3 Now ^(B)the serpent was ^(C)more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?”

² And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the ^(D)fruit of the trees of the garden; ³ but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you ^(E)touch it, lest you die.’ ”

^4 (F)Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. ⁵ For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

⁶ So when the woman ^(G)saw that the tree was good for food, that it was ^[a]pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit ^(H)and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. ⁷ Then the eyes of both of them were opened, ^(I)and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves ^[b]coverings.