¹⁸ Then the Lord God said, ‘It is not good for the man to live alone. I will make a helper who is right for him.’^[a]

¹⁹ The Lord God took soil from the ground and he made all the animals and birds. He brought them to the man. God wanted to know what names the man would call them. Whatever the man called each living thing, that became its name. ²⁰ So the man gave names to the farm animals, to the birds in the sky and to all the other animals.

But none of these animals was the right helper for the man. ²¹ So the Lord God caused the man to sleep.^[b] While the man was sleeping, God took a rib from the man. Then he closed up the place in his body and he covered it again.^{[c] 22} The Lord God used the man's rib to make a woman. He brought the woman to the man.

²³ Then the man said, ‘Finally, this is someone who is right for me. She has bones that are taken from my bones. Her body comes from my body. I will call her “woman” because God used me, a man, to make her.’

²⁴ Because of this, when a man marries, he leaves his father and his mother. Instead, God joins the man and his wife together. The two people become as one body.^[d]

²⁵ The man and his wife were not wearing any clothes. But they did not feel ashamed.

⁴ Jesus replied, ‘You surely have read about this in the Bible. At the start, when God created the world, he made people male and female.^{[a] 5} Because of this, a man leaves his father and his mother. God joins him and his wife together. The man and the woman become like one body. ⁶ They are not two separate people any longer. They have come together as one person. God has put them together to be husband and wife. So nobody should make them separate.’

⁶ But at the start, when God made the world, he made people male and female. ⁷ That is the reason that a man leaves his father and his mother. Then God joins him and his wife together. ⁸ The man and the woman become like one body. They are not two separate people any longer. They have come together as one person. ⁹ God has put them together to be husband and wife. So nobody should cause them to be separate.’^[a]