The Creation of Man and Woman

This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made earth and heaven.

Now no shrub of the field was yet on the earth, and no plant of the field had yet sprouted, for the Lord God had not sent rain upon the earth, and there was no man to cultivate the ground.

Then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and the man became a living person.

The Lord God planted a garden toward the east, in Eden; and there He placed the man whom He had formed.

Out of the ground the Lord God caused every tree to grow that is pleasing to the sight and good for food; the tree of life was also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Then the Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to cultivate it and tend it.

The Lord God commanded the man, saying, “From any tree of the garden you may freely eat;

Then the Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him.”

And out of the ground the Lord God formed every animal of the field and every bird of the sky, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called a living creature, that was its name.

So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then He took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh at that place.

And the Lord God fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the man.

The Fall of Mankind

Now the serpent was more cunning than any animal of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God really said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden’?”

Now they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.

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

Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” And the woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

Then the Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, Cursed are you more than all the livestock, And more than any animal of the field; On your belly you shall go, And dust you shall eat All the days of your life;

And the Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife, and clothed them.

Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, knowing good and evil; and now, he might reach out with his hand, and take fruit also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever”—

therefore the Lord God sent him out of the Garden of Eden, to cultivate the ground from which he was taken.

Cain and Abel

Now the man had relations with his wife Eve, and she conceived and gave birth to Cain, and she said, “I have obtained a male child with the help of the Lord.”

So it came about in the course of time that Cain brought an offering to the Lord from the fruit of the ground.

Abel, on his part also brought an offering, from the firstborn of his flock and from their fat portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering;

Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? And why is your face gloomy?

Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?” And he said, “I do not know. Am I my brother’s keeper?”

Cain said to the Lord, “My punishment is too great to endure!