BIBLE STORIES

  Just before everything started to grow in God’s new world, a mist came over the earth. The mist watered the earth, and God took some dust from the ground. From this dust he made Adam and breathed life into his nose. Adam was alive. He was the first man.

 

  For Adam, God made a wonderful garden. He called it Eden. All kinds of plants and every kind of tree grew in the garden. There was a river which flowed through the garden. It then divided into four rivers: Pishon, Gihon, Tigris and Euphrates.

 

  But God had some rules for the garden. “You can eat the fruit from any tree in the garden, but not from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.” He told Adam. “It is not good for you to be on your own. I will make you a helper.” God started working, and out of the ground he made all the birds and animals. He took them all to Adam when he had finished, and Adam named them all. But there wasn’t a helper for Adam amongst all the animals.

 

  So God started working again. When Adam was asleep, God took out one of his ribs and from it he made a woman who he called Eve. When Adam and Eve woke up, they got on very well together.

 

  Although Adam and Eve got on very well, there was a nasty creature in the garden. It was a snake. One day, it slid up to Eve and hissed “Why don’t you try some of the fruit from the knowledge tree, It will make you as clever as God!” Eve couldn’t help herself. She ate some of the fruit from the tree and then gave some to Adam.

 

  Adam and Eve now knew many things that they didn’t know before. They realised that they had no clothes on, and were ashamed. When they heard God walking in the garden, they ran away and hid.

 

  God knew that Adam and Eve had eaten fruit from the knowledge tree and became very angry. He told the snake off and punished Adam and Eve. He was so angry that he threw them out of the garden.

 

  The wonderful life that Adam and Eve had had in the garden was now over. Life was going to be much harder from now on. God sent some angels from heaven to protect the garden of Eden and a sword of fire to protect the tree of life.

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THE GARDEN OF EDEN