Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.

And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.

And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.

These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens,

And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew: for the Lord God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a man to till the ground.

But there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground.

And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed.

And out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

10 And a river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from thence it was parted, and became into four heads.

11 The name of the first is Pison: that is it which compasseth the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold;

12 And the gold of that land is good: there is bdellium and the onyx stone.

13 And the name of the second river is Gihon: the same is it that compasseth the whole land of Ethiopia.

14 And the name of the third river is Hiddekel: that is it which goeth toward the east of Assyria. And the fourth river is Euphrates.

15 And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.

16 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:

17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

18 And the Lord God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.

19 And out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof.

20 And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him.

21 And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof;

22 And the rib, which the Lord God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.

23 And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.

24 Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.

25 And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.

The Garden of Eden

Thus the heavens and the earth, and (A)all the host of them, were finished. (B)And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. Then God (C)blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.

(D)This is the [a]history of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens, before any (E)plant of the field was in the earth and before any herb of the field had grown. For the Lord God had not (F)caused it to rain on the earth, and there was no man (G)to till the ground; but a mist went up from the earth and watered the whole face of the ground.

And the Lord God formed man of the (H)dust of the ground, and (I)breathed into his (J)nostrils the breath of life; and (K)man became a living being.

Life in God’s Garden

The Lord God planted (L)a garden (M)eastward in (N)Eden, and there He put the man whom He had formed. And out of the ground the Lord God made (O)every tree grow that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. (P)The tree of life was also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and (Q)evil.

10 Now a river went out of Eden to water the garden, and from there it parted and became four riverheads. 11 The name of the first is Pishon; it is the one which skirts (R)the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold. 12 And the gold of that land is good. (S)Bdellium and the onyx stone are there. 13 The name of the second river is Gihon; it is the one which goes around the whole land of Cush. 14 The name of the third river is (T)Hiddekel;[b] it is the one which goes toward the east of [c]Assyria. The fourth river is the Euphrates.

15 Then the Lord God took [d]the man and put him in the garden of Eden to [e]tend and keep it. 16 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; 17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (U)you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it (V)you[f] shall surely (W)die.”

18 And the Lord God said, “It is not good that man should be alone; (X)I will make him a helper comparable to him.” 19 (Y)Out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air, and (Z)brought them to [g]Adam to see what he would call them. And whatever Adam called each living creature, that was its name. 20 So Adam gave names to all cattle, to the birds of the air, and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper comparable to him.

21 And the Lord God caused a (AA)deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place. 22 Then the rib which the Lord God had taken from man He [h]made into a woman, (AB)and He (AC)brought her to the man.

23 And Adam said:

“This is now (AD)bone of my bones
And flesh of my flesh;
She shall be called [i]Woman,
Because she was (AE)taken out of [j]Man.”

24 (AF)Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and (AG)be[k] joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.

25 (AH)And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not (AI)ashamed.

Footnotes

  1. Genesis 2:4 Heb. toledoth, lit. generations
  2. Genesis 2:14 Or Tigris
  3. Genesis 2:14 Heb. Ashshur
  4. Genesis 2:15 Or Adam
  5. Genesis 2:15 cultivate
  6. Genesis 2:17 Lit. dying you shall die
  7. Genesis 2:19 Or the man
  8. Genesis 2:22 Lit. built
  9. Genesis 2:23 Heb. Ishshah
  10. Genesis 2:23 Heb. Ish
  11. Genesis 2:24 Lit. cling

The heavens and the earth were finished, along with everything in them.[a] On the seventh day God had finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had been doing. God blessed the seventh day and set it apart as holy, because on it he rested from all his work of creation that he had done.

The Creation of Man and Woman

This is the account about the development[b] of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens:

No bushes that grow in the field were yet on the earth,[c] and no plants of the field had yet sprung up, since the Lord God had not yet caused it to rain on the earth. There was not yet a man to till the soil, but water[d] came up from the earth and watered the entire surface of the ground.

The Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground[e] and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being. The Lord God planted a garden[f] in Eden in the east, and there he put the man whom he had formed. Out of the ground the Lord God made every kind of tree grow—trees that are pleasant to look at and good for food, including the Tree of Life in the middle of the garden and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.

10 A river went out from Eden to water the garden, and from there it divided and became the headwaters of four rivers. 11 The name of the first river is Pishon. It flows through the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold, 12 and the gold of that land is good. Incense[g] and onyx stone are also found there. 13 The name of the second river is Gihon. It is the same river that winds through the whole land of Cush.[h] 14 The name of the third river is Tigris. This is the one which flows along the east side of Assyria. The fourth river is the Euphrates.

15 The Lord God took the man and settled him in the Garden of Eden to work it and to take care of it. 16 The Lord God gave a command to the man. He said, “You may freely eat from every tree in the garden, 17 but you shall not eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, for on the day that you eat from it, you will certainly die.”

18 The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper who is a suitable partner for him.” 19 Out of the soil the Lord God had formed every wild animal and every bird of the sky, and he brought them to the man to see what he would call them. Whatever the man called every living creature, that became its name. 20 The man gave names to all the livestock, and to the birds of the sky, and to every wild animal, but for Adam[i] no helper was found who was a suitable partner for him. 21 The Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep. As the man slept, the Lord God took a rib[j] and closed up the flesh where it had been. 22 The Lord God built a woman from the rib that he had taken from the man and brought her to the man.

23 The man said,
Now this one is bone of my bones
and flesh of my flesh.
She will be called “woman,”
because she was taken out of man.[k]
24 For this reason a man will leave his father and his mother
and will remain united with his wife,
and they will become one flesh.[l]
25 They were both naked, the man and his wife, and they were not ashamed.

Footnotes

  1. Genesis 2:1 Literally all their armies
  2. Genesis 2:4 The Hebrew word toledoth, which is used in the headings of the ten sections of Genesis, is related to the Hebrew root for give birth, but as used in the section headings of Genesis (such as 2:4; 5:1; 6:9, etc.), toledoth seems to refer to the development more than to the origin of the group being discussed. For this reason, in the section headings of Genesis, toledoth is regularly translated account about the development.
  3. Genesis 2:5 Literally every bush of the field was not yet on the earth. This wording seems to refer to the time before the creation of plants on day 3, but the context of chapter 2 seems to be the preparation of the Garden of Eden as a special home for man and woman. Some commentators suggest that this verse refers only to the area of the Garden of Eden, which had been left unfinished, but the wide term on the earth does not seem to be a natural way to say this, so this may be a reference back to day 3.
  4. Genesis 2:6 A rare word (ed) is used. It may refer to springs or, less likely, to mist. Genesis 2:10 refers to the presence of rivers.
  5. Genesis 2:7 Literally as dust from the ground. This means man is still dust and will return to dust.
  6. Genesis 2:8 In Hebrew, the term garden includes groves of trees.
  7. Genesis 2:12 The meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain. It probably refers to a fragrant resin or a precious stone.
  8. Genesis 2:13 In the Old Testament, Cush often refers to the land south of Egypt. Here the names of the third and fourth rivers suggest an area in Mesopotamia, today’s Iraq.
  9. Genesis 2:20 Here the Hebrew word adam without the article becomes a personal name.
  10. Genesis 2:21 Part of his side is a more literal translation than the traditional translation rib.
  11. Genesis 2:23 Here the Hebrew word for man is ish not adam. Like the English word pair man/woman, the Hebrew words ish/ishah correspond to one another.
  12. Genesis 2:24 Verse 24 may be a continuation of the words of Adam or a comment of the inspired writer. In either case, Jesus recognizes them as part of the divine institution of marriage (Matthew 19:4-5).