Before rain had fallen and before anyone worked the ground, water rose and moistened the soil. God formed a man from the dust and breathed life into him. God planted a garden in Eden and placed the man there. Trees pleasant to see and good for food grew in the garden, including the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
God gave the man work: cultivate and guard the garden. He could eat from its trees except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. God warned that eating from it would bring death. Seeing that the man should not be alone, God brought the animals to him. The man named them, but none proved to be a corresponding partner for him.
God caused the man to sleep deeply, took from his side, and formed a woman. The man welcomed her as bone of his bones and flesh of his flesh. They lived together naked and felt no shame.
The serpent asked the woman whether God had forbidden every tree. When she explained the command, the serpent denied that death would follow and said the fruit would open their eyes. The woman saw that it looked good for food and desirable for gaining wisdom. She ate and gave some to the man with her, and he ate. Their eyes were opened, they recognized their nakedness, and they covered themselves with fig leaves.
Hearing God in the garden, the pair hid among the trees. The man said he was afraid because he was naked. He blamed the woman, while she said the serpent had deceived her. God announced consequences for the serpent, the woman, and the man: hostility, pain, struggle, hard labor, and eventual return to dust. The man named his wife Eve, and God clothed them with garments of skin.
God sent the humans out of Eden so that they would not also take from the tree of life and live forever. The man now worked the ground from which he had been formed. God stationed cherubim east of the garden with a flashing, turning sword. They guarded the way to the tree of life.