So the heavens and the earth and everything in them were completed.(A) On the seventh[a] day God had completed his work that he had done, and he rested[b] on the seventh day from all his work that he had done.(B) God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, for on it he rested(C) from all his work of creation.(D)

Man and Woman in the Garden

These are the records(E) of the heavens and the earth, concerning their creation. At the time[c] that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens, no shrub of the field(F) had yet grown on the land,[d] and no plant of the field had yet sprouted, for the Lord God had not made it rain on the land, and there was no man to work the ground. But mist would come up from the earth and water all the ground. Then the Lord God formed the man out of the dust from the ground(G) and breathed the breath of life into his nostrils,(H) and the man became a living being.(I)

The Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east,(J) and there he placed the man he had formed. The Lord God caused to grow out of the ground every tree pleasing in appearance and good for food, including the tree of life in the middle of the garden,(K) as well as the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.(L)

10 A river went[e] out from Eden to water the garden. From there it divided and became the source of four rivers.[f] 11 The name of the first is Pishon, which flows through the entire land of Havilah,[g](M) where there is gold. 12 Gold from that land is pure;[h] bdellium[i] and onyx[j] are also there. 13 The name of the second river is Gihon, which flows through the entire land of Cush. 14 The name of the third river is Tigris,(N) which runs east of Assyria. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.(O)

15 The Lord God took the man and placed him in the garden of Eden to work it and watch over it. 16 And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree of the garden,(P) 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for on the day you eat from it, you will certainly die.”(Q) 18 Then the Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper corresponding(R) to him.” 19 The Lord God formed out of the ground every wild animal and every bird of the sky, and brought each to the man to see what he would call it.(S) And whatever the man called a living creature, that was its name. 20 The man gave names to all the livestock, to the birds of the sky, and to every wild animal; but for the man[k] no helper was found corresponding to him. 21 So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to come over the man,(T) and he slept. God took one of his ribs and closed the flesh at that place. 22 Then the Lord God made the rib he had taken from the man into a woman and brought her to the man.(U) 23 And the man said:

This one, at last, is bone of my bone
and flesh of my flesh;
this one will be called “woman,”
for she was taken from man.(V)

24 This is why a man leaves his father and mother and bonds with his wife, and they become one flesh.(W) 25 Both the man and his wife were naked, yet felt no shame.

Footnotes

  1. 2:2 Sam, LXX, Syr read sixth
  2. 2:2 Or ceased, also in v. 3
  3. 2:4 Lit creation on the day
  4. 2:5 Or earth
  5. 2:10 Or goes
  6. 2:10 Lit became four heads
  7. 2:11 Or of the Havilah
  8. 2:12 Lit good
  9. 2:12 A yellowish, transparent gum resin
  10. 2:12 Identity of this precious stone uncertain
  11. 2:20 Or for Adam

So the creation of the heavens and the earth and everything in them was completed. On the seventh day God had finished his work of creation, so he rested[a] from all his work. And God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, because it was the day when he rested from all his work of creation.

This is the account of the creation of the heavens and the earth.

The Man and Woman in Eden

When the Lord God made the earth and the heavens, neither wild plants nor grains were growing on the earth. For the Lord God had not yet sent rain to water the earth, and there were no people to cultivate the soil. Instead, springs[b] came up from the ground and watered all the land. Then the Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground. He breathed the breath of life into the man’s nostrils, and the man became a living person.

Then the Lord God planted a garden in Eden in the east, and there he placed the man he had made. The Lord God made all sorts of trees grow up from the ground—trees that were beautiful and that produced delicious fruit. In the middle of the garden he placed the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

10 A river flowed from the land of Eden, watering the garden and then dividing into four branches. 11 The first branch, called the Pishon, flowed around the entire land of Havilah, where gold is found. 12 The gold of that land is exceptionally pure; aromatic resin and onyx stone are also found there. 13 The second branch, called the Gihon, flowed around the entire land of Cush. 14 The third branch, called the Tigris, flowed east of the land of Asshur. The fourth branch is called the Euphrates.

15 The Lord God placed the man in the Garden of Eden to tend and watch over it. 16 But the Lord God warned him, “You may freely eat the fruit of every tree in the garden— 17 except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If you eat its fruit, you are sure to die.”

18 Then the Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper who is just right for him.” 19 So the Lord God formed from the ground all the wild animals and all the birds of the sky. He brought them to the man[c] to see what he would call them, and the man chose a name for each one. 20 He gave names to all the livestock, all the birds of the sky, and all the wild animals. But still there was no helper just right for him.

21 So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep. While the man slept, the Lord God took out one of the man’s ribs[d] and closed up the opening. 22 Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib, and he brought her to the man.

23 “At last!” the man exclaimed.

“This one is bone from my bone,
    and flesh from my flesh!
She will be called ‘woman,’
    because she was taken from ‘man.’”

24 This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.

25 Now the man and his wife were both naked, but they felt no shame.

Footnotes

  1. 2:2 Or ceased; also in 2:3.
  2. 2:6 Or mist.
  3. 2:19 Or Adam, and so throughout the chapter.
  4. 2:21 Or took a part of the man’s side.