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

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