Genesis 2; Genesis 3:1-13

1 Heaven and Earth were finished, down to the last detail.

2 By the seventh day God had finished his work. On the seventh day he rested from all his work.

3 God blessed the seventh day. He made it a Holy Day Because on that day he rested from his work, all the creating God had done.

4 This is the story of how it all started, of Heaven and Earth when they were created.

5 At the time God made Earth and Heaven, before any grasses or shrubs had sprouted from the ground - God hadn't yet sent rain on Earth, nor was there anyone around to work the ground

6 (the whole Earth was watered by underground springs) -

7 God formed Man out of dirt from the ground and blew into his nostrils the breath of life. The Man came alive - a living soul!

8 Then God planted a garden in Eden, in the east. He put the Man he had just made in it.

9 God made all kinds of trees grow from the ground, trees beautiful to look at and good to eat. The Tree-of-Life was in the middle of the garden, also the Tree-of-Knowledge-of-Good-and-Evil.

10 A river flows out of Eden to water the garden and from there divides into four rivers.

11 The first is named Pishon; it flows through Havilah where there is gold.

12 The gold of this land is good. The land is also known for a sweet-scented resin and the onyx stone.

13 The second river is named Gihon; it flows through the land of Cush.

14 The third river is named Hiddekel and flows east of Assyria. The fourth river is the Euphrates.

15 God took the Man and set him down in the Garden of Eden to work the ground and keep it in order.

16 God commanded the Man, "You can eat from any tree in the garden,

17 except from the Tree-of-Knowledge-of-Good-and-Evil. Don't eat from it. The moment you eat from that tree, you're dead."

18 God said, "It's not good for the Man to be alone; I'll make him a helper, a companion."

19 So God formed from the dirt of the ground all the animals of the field and all the birds of the air. He brought them to the Man to see what he would name them. Whatever the Man called each living creature, that was its name.

20 The Man named the cattle, named the birds of the air, named the wild animals; but he didn't find a suitable companion.

21 God put the Man into a deep sleep. As he slept he removed one of his ribs and replaced it with flesh.

22 God then used the rib that he had taken from the Man to make Woman and presented her to the Man.

23 The Man said, "Finally! Bone of my bone, flesh of my flesh! Name her Woman for she was made from Man."

24 Therefore a man leaves his father and mother and embraces his wife. They become one flesh.

25 The two of them, the Man and his Wife, were naked, but they felt no shame.

1 The serpent was clever, more clever than any wild animal God had made. He spoke to the Woman: "Do I understand that God told you not to eat from any tree in the garden?"

2 The Woman said to the serpent, "Not at all. We can eat from the trees in the garden.

3 It's only about the tree in the middle of the garden that God said, 'Don't eat from it; don't even touch it or you'll die.'"

4 The serpent told the Woman, "You won't die.

5 God knows that the moment you eat from that tree, you'll see what's really going on. You'll be just like God, knowing everything, ranging all the way from good to evil."

6 When the Woman saw that the tree looked like good eating and realized what she would get out of it - she'd know everything! - she took and ate the fruit and then gave some to her husband, and he ate.

7 Immediately the two of them did "see what's really going on" - saw themselves naked! They sewed fig leaves together as makeshift clothes for themselves.

8 When they heard the sound of God strolling in the garden in the evening breeze, the Man and his Wife hid in the trees of the garden, hid from God.

9 God called to the Man: "Where are you?"

10 He said, "I heard you in the garden and I was afraid because I was naked. And I hid."

11 God said, "Who told you you were naked? Did you eat from that tree I told you not to eat from?"

12 The Man said, "The Woman you gave me as a companion, she gave me fruit from the tree, and, yes, I ate it."

13 God said to the Woman, "What is this that you've done?" "The serpent seduced me," she said, "and I ate."