So the heavens and the earth and everything in them were completed.(A) On the seventh[a] day God had completed his work that he had done, and he rested[b] on the seventh day from all his work that he had done.(B) God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, for on it he rested(C) from all his work of creation.(D)

Man and Woman in the Garden

These are the records(E) of the heavens and the earth, concerning their creation. At the time[c] that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens, no shrub of the field(F) had yet grown on the land,[d] and no plant of the field had yet sprouted, for the Lord God had not made it rain on the land, and there was no man to work the ground. But mist would come up from the earth and water all the ground. Then the Lord God formed the man out of the dust from the ground(G) and breathed the breath of life into his nostrils,(H) and the man became a living being.(I)

The Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east,(J) and there he placed the man he had formed. The Lord God caused to grow out of the ground every tree pleasing in appearance and good for food, including the tree of life in the middle of the garden,(K) as well as the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.(L)

10 A river went[e] out from Eden to water the garden. From there it divided and became the source of four rivers.[f] 11 The name of the first is Pishon, which flows through the entire land of Havilah,[g](M) where there is gold. 12 Gold from that land is pure;[h] bdellium[i] and onyx[j] are also there. 13 The name of the second river is Gihon, which flows through the entire land of Cush. 14 The name of the third river is Tigris,(N) which runs east of Assyria. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.(O)

15 The Lord God took the man and placed him in the garden of Eden to work it and watch over it. 16 And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree of the garden,(P) 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for on the day you eat from it, you will certainly die.”(Q) 18 Then the Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper corresponding(R) to him.” 19 The Lord God formed out of the ground every wild animal and every bird of the sky, and brought each to the man to see what he would call it.(S) And whatever the man called a living creature, that was its name. 20 The man gave names to all the livestock, to the birds of the sky, and to every wild animal; but for the man[k] no helper was found corresponding to him. 21 So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to come over the man,(T) and he slept. God took one of his ribs and closed the flesh at that place. 22 Then the Lord God made the rib he had taken from the man into a woman and brought her to the man.(U) 23 And the man said:

This one, at last, is bone of my bone
and flesh of my flesh;
this one will be called “woman,”
for she was taken from man.(V)

24 This is why a man leaves his father and mother and bonds with his wife, and they become one flesh.(W) 25 Both the man and his wife were naked, yet felt no shame.

The Temptation and the Fall

Now the serpent was the most cunning of all the wild animals that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You can’t eat from any tree in the garden’?” (X)

The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit from the trees in the garden. But about the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden, God said, ‘You must not eat it or touch it, or you will die.’”(Y)

“No! You will certainly not die,” the serpent said to the woman.(Z) “In fact, God knows that when[l] you eat it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” The woman saw that the tree was good for food and delightful to look at, and that it was desirable for obtaining wisdom. So she took some of its fruit and ate it; she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.(AA) Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.

Sin’s Consequences

Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden at the time of the evening breeze,[m] and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden.(AB) So the Lord God called out to the man and said to him, “Where are you?”

10 And he said, “I heard you[n] in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid.”

11 Then he asked, “Who told you that you were naked? Did you eat from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?”

12 The man replied,(AC) “The woman you gave to be with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate.”

13 So the Lord God asked the woman, “What have you done?”

And the woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”(AD)

14 So the Lord God said to the serpent:

Because you have done this,
you are cursed more than any livestock
and more than any wild animal.
You will move on your belly
and eat dust all the days of your life.(AE)
15 I will put hostility between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and her offspring.[o]
He will strike your head,
and you will strike his heel.(AF)

16 He said to the woman:

I will intensify your labor pains;
you will bear children with painful effort.(AG)
Your desire(AH) will be for your husband,
yet he will rule over you.

17 And he said to the man, “Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘Do not eat from it’:

The ground is cursed because of you.(AI)
You will eat from it by means of painful labor[p]
all the days of your life.
18 It will produce thorns and thistles for you,
and you will eat the plants of the field.(AJ)
19 You will eat bread[q] by the sweat of your brow
until you return to the ground,(AK)
since you were taken from it.
For you are dust,
and you will return to dust.”

20 The man named his wife Eve[r] because she was the mother of all the living. 21 The Lord God made clothing from skins for the man and his wife, and he clothed them.

22 The Lord God said, “Since the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil, he must not reach out, take from the tree of life, eat, and live forever.”(AL) 23 So the Lord God sent him away from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken. 24 He drove the man out and stationed the cherubim and the flaming, whirling sword east of the garden of Eden to guard the way to the tree of life.(AM)

Footnotes

  1. 2:2 Sam, LXX, Syr read sixth
  2. 2:2 Or ceased, also in v. 3
  3. 2:4 Lit creation on the day
  4. 2:5 Or earth
  5. 2:10 Or goes
  6. 2:10 Lit became four heads
  7. 2:11 Or of the Havilah
  8. 2:12 Lit good
  9. 2:12 A yellowish, transparent gum resin
  10. 2:12 Identity of this precious stone uncertain
  11. 2:20 Or for Adam
  12. 3:5 Lit on the day
  13. 3:8 Lit at the wind of the day
  14. 3:10 Lit the sound of you
  15. 3:15 Lit your seed and her seed
  16. 3:17 Lit it through pain
  17. 3:19 Or food
  18. 3:20 Lit Living, or Life

Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array.(A)

By the seventh day(B) God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work.(C) Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy,(D) because on it he rested(E) from all the work of creating(F) that he had done.

Adam and Eve

This is the account(G) of the heavens and the earth when they were created,(H) when the Lord God made the earth and the heavens.

Now no shrub had yet appeared on the earth[a] and no plant had yet sprung up,(I) for the Lord God had not sent rain on the earth(J) and there was no one to work the ground, but streams[b] came up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground. Then the Lord God formed(K) a man[c](L) from the dust(M) of the ground(N) and breathed into his nostrils the breath(O) of life,(P) and the man became a living being.(Q)

Now the Lord God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden;(R) and there he put the man he had formed. The Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees(S) that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life(T) and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.(U)

10 A river(V) watering the garden flowed from Eden;(W) from there it was separated into four headwaters. 11 The name of the first is the Pishon; it winds through the entire land of Havilah,(X) where there is gold. 12 (The gold of that land is good; aromatic resin[d](Y) and onyx are also there.) 13 The name of the second river is the Gihon; it winds through the entire land of Cush.[e] 14 The name of the third river is the Tigris;(Z) it runs along the east side of Ashur. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.(AA)

15 The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden(AB) to work it and take care of it. 16 And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden;(AC) 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil,(AD) for when you eat from it you will certainly die.”(AE)

18 The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.”(AF)

19 Now the Lord God had formed out of the ground all the wild animals(AG) and all the birds in the sky.(AH) He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called(AI) each living creature,(AJ) that was its name. 20 So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds in the sky and all the wild animals.

But for Adam[f] no suitable helper(AK) was found. 21 So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep;(AL) and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs[g] and then closed up the place with flesh. 22 Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib[h](AM) he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.

23 The man said,

“This is now bone of my bones
    and flesh of my flesh;(AN)
she shall be called(AO) ‘woman,’
    for she was taken out of man.(AP)

24 That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united(AQ) to his wife, and they become one flesh.(AR)

25 Adam and his wife were both naked,(AS) and they felt no shame.

The Fall

Now the serpent(AT) was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?(AU)

The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden,(AV) but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’”(AW)

“You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman.(AX) “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God,(AY) knowing good and evil.”

When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable(AZ) for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband,(BA) who was with her, and he ate it.(BB) Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked;(BC) so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.(BD)

Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking(BE) in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid(BF) from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?”(BG)

10 He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid(BH) because I was naked;(BI) so I hid.”

11 And he said, “Who told you that you were naked?(BJ) Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?(BK)

12 The man said, “The woman you put here with me(BL)—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.”

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

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

14 So the Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this,

“Cursed(BN) are you above all livestock
    and all wild animals!
You will crawl on your belly
    and you will eat dust(BO)
    all the days of your life.
15 And I will put enmity
    between you and the woman,
    and between your offspring[i](BP) and hers;(BQ)
he will crush[j] your head,(BR)
    and you will strike his heel.”

16 To the woman he said,

“I will make your pains in childbearing very severe;
    with painful labor you will give birth to children.(BS)
Your desire will be for your husband,
    and he will rule over you.(BT)

17 To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat from it,’(BU)

“Cursed(BV) is the ground(BW) because of you;
    through painful toil(BX) you will eat food from it
    all the days of your life.(BY)
18 It will produce thorns and thistles(BZ) for you,
    and you will eat the plants of the field.(CA)
19 By the sweat of your brow(CB)
    you will eat your food(CC)
until you return to the ground,
    since from it you were taken;
for dust you are
    and to dust you will return.”(CD)

20 Adam[k] named his wife Eve,[l](CE) because she would become the mother of all the living.

21 The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them.(CF) 22 And the Lord God said, “The man has now become like one of us,(CG) knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life(CH) and eat, and live forever.” 23 So the Lord God banished him from the Garden of Eden(CI) to work the ground(CJ) from which he had been taken. 24 After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side[m] of the Garden of Eden(CK) cherubim(CL) and a flaming sword(CM) flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.(CN)

Footnotes

  1. Genesis 2:5 Or land; also in verse 6
  2. Genesis 2:6 Or mist
  3. Genesis 2:7 The Hebrew for man (adam) sounds like and may be related to the Hebrew for ground (adamah); it is also the name Adam (see verse 20).
  4. Genesis 2:12 Or good; pearls
  5. Genesis 2:13 Possibly southeast Mesopotamia
  6. Genesis 2:20 Or the man
  7. Genesis 2:21 Or took part of the man’s side
  8. Genesis 2:22 Or part
  9. Genesis 3:15 Or seed
  10. Genesis 3:15 Or strike
  11. Genesis 3:20 Or The man
  12. Genesis 3:20 Eve probably means living.
  13. Genesis 3:24 Or placed in front