In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. He formed the first man, Adam, from the dust of the ground and breathed life into him. Then, God planted a beautiful garden called Eden and placed Adam there to tend and keep it. In this garden, there were many trees, including the Tree of Life and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.
God told Adam that he could eat from any tree in the garden except for the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. He said, ¡°On the day you eat from it, you will surely die.¡± Later, God created a companion for Adam, a woman named Eve, from one of Adam’s ribs. Together, they lived in the garden, enjoying the beauty and abundance around them.
One day, a serpent, who was crafty and deceitful, approached Eve. It questioned her about the tree that God had forbidden them to eat from. Eve replied, ¡°We may eat from any tree in the garden, but we must not eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, or we will die.¡± The serpent, however, told her, ¡°You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat from it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.¡±
Eve was tempted by the serpent’s words. She saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food, pleasing to the eye, and desirable for gaining wisdom. So, she took some of the fruit and ate it. She then gave some to Adam, and he ate it too. Immediately, their eyes were opened, and they realized they were naked. They felt ashamed and sewed fig leaves together to cover themselves.
When God came to walk in the garden in the cool of the day, Adam and Eve hid from Him. But God called out to Adam, ¡°Where are you?¡± Adam replied, ¡°I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid.¡± God asked, ¡°Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?¡± Adam blamed Eve, saying, ¡°The woman you gave me¡ªshe gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.¡± Eve, in turn, blamed the serpent, saying, ¡°The serpent deceived me, and I ate.¡±
God then pronounced judgment on the serpent, the woman, and the man. He cursed the serpent to crawl on its belly and said there would be enmity between its offspring and Eve’s offspring. To Eve, He said that she would experience pain in childbirth and that her desire would be for her husband, who would rule over her. To Adam, He said that the ground would be cursed because of him, and he would have to work hard to grow crops. Eventually, they would return to the dust from which they were made.
God drove Adam and Eve out of the garden, placing cherubim and a flaming sword at the entrance to guard the way to the Tree of Life. Thus, Adam and Eve were separated from the presence of God and the eternal life that the Tree of Life offered. This story of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden marks the beginning of human sin and the consequences that followed.