¹⁵ The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden^(A) to work it and take care of it. ¹⁶ And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden;^{(B) 17} but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil,^(C) for when you eat from it you will certainly die.”^(D)

¹⁸ The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.”^(E)

¹⁹ Now the Lord God had formed out of the ground all the wild animals^(F) and all the birds in the sky.^(G) He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called^(H) each living creature,^(I) that was its name. ²⁰ So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds in the sky and all the wild animals.

But for Adam^[a] no suitable helper^(J) was found. ²¹ So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep;^(K) and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs^[b] and then closed up the place with flesh. ²² Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib^[c](L) he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.

²³ The man said,

²⁴ That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united^(P) to his wife, and they become one flesh.^(Q)

²⁵ Adam and his wife were both naked,^(R) and they felt no shame.