In the day the land and sky were made, there was no grass upon the ground and all the grain had yet to grow, for Yahweh had not rained on the land, nor were there humans to work the earth, though a mist would rush up over the land and soak the face of the earth. The god Yahweh crafted the earthling, dust of the earth, and puffed in his nose a breath of life; thus the earthling became a living human. Yahweh planted a garden, eastward in Eden, and there he placed the human he crafted. And he grew from the ground all trees that please the sight and are good to eat, with the tree of life in the garden’s center and the tree of knowledge of good and evil. 

A river would flow through Eden, where it watered the garden, splitting from there into four streams. The name of the first was Pishon, which circles through the land of the Havilah, awash with gold and lavish gems. The name of the second was Gihon, which snakes throughout the land of Cush. The name of the third was Tigris, which runs east of Assyria. And the fourth river was the Euphrates.

The god Yahweh took the human and set him in the garden of Eden to work it and guard it, and he charged him as follows: “from all trees of the garden you may certainly eat, but from the tree of knowledge of good and evil you may not—for on the day you eat of it, you must certainly die.”

Yahweh said, “there’s no good in the human being alone, I should make him a helper who's like him.” So, the god Yahweh crafted from the earth all animals of the field and all birds of the sky and brought each to the human to see what he called them—and whatever the human called a living being is its name. The human gave names to all of the beasts, all birds of the sky, and all animals of the field, but he found no helper like him. So, the god Yahweh cast a trance on the human and he slept, as the god took one of his ribs, closed the flesh beneath it, and built the rib he took from the human into a woman. When he brought her before the human, the human said:

“This is the one—

Bone of my bones,

Flesh of my flesh.

This one is woman:

From man was this taken.” 

And so a man leaves his father and mother, and clings to his wife, and they become one flesh. The two of them were naked—the human and his wife—but they were not ashamed. 

Now, the snake was craftier than all the animals of the field the god Yahweh had made, so he said to the woman, “even though a god said, ‘do not eat from the garden’s trees’—” 

But the woman said, “we may eat from the garden’s trees! Only regarding the fruit of the tree in the garden’s center did the god say, ‘do not eat from it and do not touch it, or else you will die.’”

And the snake said, “—you will not certainly die! Rather, the god knows that on the day you eat from it, your eyes will be uncovered and you will be like gods, knowing good and evil.”

Now the woman saw: the tree was good to eat, enticing to the eyes, pleasing for its insight. She took of its fruit, and she ate. She gave to her man, who was with her, and he ate. Then their eyes were uncovered and they knew they were naked, so they sewed fig leaves and made themselves loincloths.

Listening, they heard the god Yahweh strolling the garden with the evening’s wind. The human and his wife hid from Yahweh amidst the trees, so he called out to the human, “where are you?”

He said, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I am naked, so I hid.”

He said, “who told you that you are naked? The tree I commanded you not to eat from—have you eaten from it?”

The human said, “the woman you gave me—to be with me—she gave me from the tree, and I ate.”

Yahweh said to the woman, “what have you done?”

The woman said, “the snake tricked me, and I ate.” 

The god Yahweh said to the snake, “Because you have done this, you are cursed more than all the animals and beasts:

Slide on your belly,

Eat dust all your life.

I am planting a hatred

Between you and the woman— 

Between your seed and hers—

He will crush your head,

But you will crunch his heel.”

To the woman, he said:

“I grow and grow your pains and pangs—

In pain, you will bear children.

And you will desire your man,

But he will rule over you.”

And to the man, he said, “since you listened to your wife and ate of the tree regarding which I charged you, ‘do not eat from it’:

Because of you, the earth is cursed—

You’ll eat with pain for all your days.

Thorns and thistles alone will grow

When you eat from the grass of the field.

By the sweat from your nose, you’ll eat your bread,

Until you return to the earth,

As from it       you were taken.

Because—

you are dust,

And to dust you will return.” 

Now the human named his wife Eve, since she would be the eve of all life. The god Yahweh made hide tunics for the human and his wife and he dressed them. And he said, “look!—the human has become like one of us, knowing good and evil. Now, so he does not reach out and take from the tree of life as well, and eat and live forever . . .” The god Yahweh sent him from the garden of Eden to work the earth from which he was taken. He banished him, settling east of Eden the Cherubs and the flaming, swirling sword to guard the way to the tree of life.