Life in God’s Garden

⁸ The Lord God planted ^(A)a garden ^(B)eastward in ^(C)Eden, and there He put the man whom He had formed. ⁹ And out of the ground the Lord God made ^(D)every tree grow that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. ^(E)The tree of life was also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and ^(F)evil.

¹⁰ Now a river went out of Eden to water the garden, and from there it parted and became four riverheads. ¹¹ The name of the first is Pishon; it is the one which skirts ^(G)the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold. ¹² And the gold of that land is good. ^(H)Bdellium and the onyx stone are there. ¹³ The name of the second river is Gihon; it is the one which goes around the whole land of Cush. ¹⁴ The name of the third river is ^(I)Hiddekel;^[a] it is the one which goes toward the east of ^[b]Assyria. The fourth river is the Euphrates.

¹⁵ Then the Lord God took ^[c]the man and put him in the garden of Eden to ^[d]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 ^(J)you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it ^(K)you^[e] shall surely ^(L)die.”

¹⁸ And the Lord God said, “It is not good that man should be alone; ^(M)I will make him a helper comparable to him.” ^19 (N)Out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air, and ^(O)brought them to ^[f]Adam to see what he would call them. And whatever Adam called each living creature, that was its name. ²⁰ So Adam gave names to all cattle, to the birds of the air, and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper comparable to him.

²¹ And the Lord God caused a ^(P)deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place. ²² Then the rib which the Lord God had taken from man He ^[g]made into a woman, ^(Q)and He ^(R)brought her to the man.

²³ And Adam said:

^24 (U)Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and ^(V)be^[j] joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.

^25 (W)And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ^(X)ashamed.

The Temptation and Fall of Man^(Y)

3 Now ^(Z)the serpent was ^(AA)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 ^(AB)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 ^(AC)touch it, lest you die.’ ”

^4 (AD)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 ^(AE)saw that the tree was good for food, that it was ^[k]pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit ^(AF)and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. ⁷ Then the eyes of both of them were opened, ^(AG)and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves ^[l]coverings.

⁸ And they heard ^(AH)the ^[m]sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the ^[n]cool of the day, and Adam and his wife ^(AI)hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.

⁹ Then the Lord God called to Adam and said to him, “Where are you?”

¹⁰ So he said, “I heard Your voice in the garden, ^(AJ)and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself.”

¹¹ And He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat?”

¹² Then the man said, ^(AK)“The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate.”

¹³ And the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?”

The woman said, ^(AL)“The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

¹⁴ So the Lord God said to the serpent:

The Great Apostasy

4 Now the Spirit ^[a]expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed ^(A)to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, ^2 (B)speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience ^(C)seared with a hot iron, ³ forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from foods which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. ⁴ For every creature of God is good, and nothing is to be refused if it is received with thanksgiving; ⁵ for it is ^[b]sanctified by the word of God and prayer.