The First Sin

The Lord God made a beautiful garden called Eden. Then the God placed Adam and Eve to look after it.

God told them, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.”

The snake was the most cunning animal that any of the wild animals the God had made. The snake said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”

The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God told, ‘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.’ ”

The snake replied “You will not die. If you do, you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

Eve saw that the fruit of the tree and ate it. She also gave some to her husband. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and covered themselves.

Then they heard the sound of the God walking in the garden. The Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?”

He answered, “I heard you walking in the garden. I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.”

God said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?”

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

Then the Lord God said to the woman, “Why did you do this?”

She said, “The snake deceived me, and I ate.”

Then the God punished the snake. “You will crawl on your belly

and you will eat dust all the days of your life.”

Then God said to the woman, I will make your pains in childbearing very severe; with painful labor you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.”

To Adam he said, “You listened to your wife and ate fruit from that tree.
And so, the ground will be under a curse because of what you did.
As long as you live, you will have to struggle to grow enough food.”  

The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them. Then Lord God banished them from the Garden of Eden.