17. Then God said to the man, “You listened to what your wife said. And you ate fruit from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from.“So I will put a curse on the ground.You will have to work very hard for food.In pain you will eat its foodall the days of your life.
18. The ground will produce thorns and weeds for you.And you will eat the plants of the field.
19. You will sweat and work hardfor your food.Later you will return to the ground.This is because you were taken from the ground.You are dust.And when you die, you will return to the dust.”
20. The man named his wife Eve. This is because she is the mother of everyone who ever lived.
21. The Lord God made clothes from animal skins for the man and his wife. And so the Lord dressed them.
22. Then the Lord God said, “Look, the man has become like one of us. He knows good and evil. And now we must keep him from eating some of the fruit from the tree of life. If he does, he will live forever.”
23. So the Lord God forced the man out of the garden of Eden. He had to work the ground he was taken from.
24. God forced the man out of the garden. Then God put angels on the east side of the garden. He also put a sword of fire there. It flashed around in every direction. This kept people from getting to the tree of life.