3:1 The serpent was more crafty
than the beasts of the field
that Almighty Yahweh had created.
3:2 The mate told the serpent
that they can eat the fruit
from the trees in the forest
3:3 and the Almighty had advised them
not to eat the fruit of the tree
in the center of the forest
nor even touch it
or they would die.
3:4 The serpent told the soul’s mate
surely you will not die.
3:5 Because the Almighty knows
that when you eat it
your eyes will be opened
and you will be like God
knowing pleasure and pain.
3:6 When the mate looked at the fruit
she found it pleasing to the eyes
and good for food
and desiring to gain knowledge
she picked it and ate it.
She also gave some to her mate
who was with her
and he ate it.
3:7 Then the eyes of both of them
were opened and they realized
they had been bare
so they tied together some fig leaves
and made themselves aprons.
3:8 Then the soul and his mate
heard the sound of Almighty Yahweh
as His spirit moved through the forest
during the day time.
So they hid themselves
among the trees of the forest
from the presence of Almighty Yahweh.
3:9 But Almighty Yahweh spoke
to the soul asking:
Why do you hide?
3:10 He answered:
I heard you in the forest
but I was worried
because I was bare
so I hid.
3:11 And the Almighty replied:
Who said you were bare?
Have you eaten from the tree
I asked you not to eat?
3:12 The soul responded:
The mate you brought me
gave me some fruit from the tree
so I ate it.
3:13 Almighty Yahweh spoke
to the mate:
What have you done?
The mate replied:
The serpent tricked me
so I ate it.
3:14 Almighty Yahweh spoke
to the serpent:
What you did will curse you
more than creatures that roam
and beasts of the field.
Thus on your belly
you will crawl and eat dust
all the days of your life.
3:15 And this will create hostility
between you and your mate
and between yours and her offspring;
which will strike your front
should you strike their rear.
3:16 To the mate He warned:
This will make your childbearing painful
and only with pain will you bear children.
And your desire for your husband
will cause him to rule over you.
3:17 To the soul He said:
Because you listened to your mate
and ate the fruit from the tree
I warned you about not eating
cursed is the earth because of you;
through painful toil
you will eat food from it
all the days of your life.
3:18 It will produce thorns
and thistles for you
and you will eat the herbs
of the field.
3:19 By the sweat of your brow
you will eat your food
until you return to the ground
since from it you were taken;
for you were made from dust
and to dust will you return.
3:20 The soul called his mate
mother because she would become
the mother of their family.
3:21 Then Almighty Yahweh
covered them with skin.
3:22 Almighty Yahweh declared:
They have become like one of Us
knowing pleasure and pain.
So they cannot reach out
and take the fruit
of the tree of life
to eat and live eternally.
3:23 So Almighty Yahweh banished them
from the forest of bliss
in order to work the earth
to which they were taken.
3:24 After He sent them out
He placed on the outside
of the forest of bliss
a guardian of angels
and a flaming sword
flashing back and forth
to protect the path back
to the tree of life.
