Add parallel Print Page Options

Therefore heavens and earth be made perfect, and all the ornament of those. (And so the heavens and the earth, and all their ornaments, were finished.)

And God [ful]filled in the seventh day his work which he made; and he rested in the seventh day from all his work which he had made; (Yea, God finished his work by the seventh day; and so he rested on the seventh day from all the work which he had done;)

and he blessed the seventh day, and hallowed it; for in that day God ceased of all his work which he made of nought, that he should make. (and he blessed the seventh day, and made it holy; for on that day God ceased from all his work which he had made out of nothing, that he had intended to make.)

These be the generations of heaven and of earth, in the day wherein the Lord God made heaven and earth, (These be the generations, or the creation, of the heavens and the earth, in the days when the Lord God made the heavens and the earth,)

and each little tree of [the] earth before that it sprang out in [the] earth; and he made each herb of the field before that it burgeoned. For the Lord God had not (yet) rained on the earth, and no man there was that wrought the earth (and there was no man yet to work the earth);

but a well went out of [the] earth, and moisted all the higher part of the earth. (but a well, or a mist, went up out of the ground, and watered all the earth’s surface.)

Therefore the Lord God formed man of the slime of [the] earth, and breathed into his face the breathing of life; and man was made into a living soul. (And so the Lord God formed man out of the slime of the earth, and breathed into his face the breathe of life; and then the man was made into a living soul.)

Forsooth the Lord God planted at the beginning (the) paradise of liking, wherein he set man whom he had formed. (And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and he put the man there whom he had formed.)

And the Lord God brought forth (out) of the earth each tree fair in sight, and sweet to eat; also he brought forth the tree of life in the midst of paradise, and the tree of knowing of good and of evil (and he brought forth the tree of life in the middle of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil).

10 And a river went out from the place of liking to moist paradise, which river is parted from thence into four heads. (And a river went out from Eden to water the garden, and this river was parted from there into four rivers.)

11 The name of the one river is Pishon, that it is that compasseth all the land of Havilah, where gold cometh forth, (The name of the first river is Pishon, and it encircleth all the land of Havilah, where gold cometh from,)

12 and the gold of that land is the best, and there is found bdellium, that is, a tree of spicery, and the stone onyx; (and the gold of that land is the best, and bdellium, that is, a spice tree, is also found there, and the onyx stone as well;)

13 and the name of the second river is Gihon, that it is that compasseth all the land of Ethiopia (and it encircleth all the land of Ethiopia);

14 forsooth the name of the third river is Tigris, that goeth against Assyrians (which floweth east of Assyria); soothly the fourth river is that Euphrates.

15 Therefore the Lord God took man, and set him in (the) paradise of liking, that he should work and keep it. (And so the Lord God took the man, and put him in the Garden of Eden, so that he would work it, and care for it.)

16 And God commanded to him and said, Eat thou of each tree of paradise; (And God commanded to him and said, Thou can eat of every tree in the garden;)

17 forsooth eat thou not of the tree of knowing of good and of evil; for in whatever day thou shalt eat thereof, thou shalt die by death. (but thou shalt not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; for on the day that thou shalt eat of it, thou shalt die.)

18 And the Lord God said, It is not good that a man be alone; make we to him an helper like to himself (let us make for him a helper like himself).

19 And therefore when all living beasts of [the] earth, and all the volatiles of (the) heaven(s,) were formed of [the] earth, the Lord God brought those to Adam, that he should see what he should call those; for all thing that Adam called of living soul, that is the name thereof. (And so when all the living beasts of the earth, and all the birds of the air, were formed from the earth, the Lord God brought them to Adam, to see what he would call them; for whatever name that Adam called each thing with a living soul, that is its name.)

20 And Adam called by their names all living things, and all volatiles [of (the) heaven(s)], and all unreasonable beasts of [the] earth. Forsooth to Adam was not found an helper like him. (And so Adam named all the living things, yea, all the birds of the air, and all the unreasoning beasts of the earth. But there was not found for Adam a helper like himself.)

21 Therefore the Lord God sent sleep into Adam, and when he slept, God took one of his ribs, and filled flesh for it. (And so the Lord God sent sleep into Adam, and while he slept, God took one of his ribs, and then closed up the flesh over that place.)

22 And the Lord God builded the rib which he had taken from Adam into a woman, and brought her to Adam.

23 And Adam said, This is now a bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh; this shall be called virago, for she is taken (out) of man (she shall be called Woman, for she was taken from Man).

24 Wherefore a man shall forsake [his] father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife, and they shall be twain in one flesh [and two shall be in one flesh].

25 Forsooth ever either was naked, that is, Adam and his wife, and they were not ashamed. (And both of them were naked, that is, the man and his wife, but they were not ashamed.)

The Seventh Day—Rest

So the ·sky [heavens], the earth, and all ·that filled them [L their hosts] were ·finished [completed]. By the seventh day God ·finished [completed] the work he had been doing, so he ·rested [or ceased] from all his work [L he had done]. God blessed the seventh day and ·made it a holy day [consecrated it; set it apart], because on that day he ·rested [or ceased] from all the work he had done in creating [1:1] the world.

The First People

·This is the story [L These are the generations; C introduces a new section of the book; see also 5:1; 6:9; 10:1; 11:10, 27; 25:12, 19; 36:1, 9] of the creation of the ·sky [heavens] and the earth. When the ·Lord God [Yahweh Elohim; C Elohim is the common term for God; Lord (capital letters) represents the divine name YHWH, usually pronounced “Yahweh”; see Ex. 3:14–15] first made the earth and the ·sky [heavens], there were still no plants on the earth. Nothing was growing in the fields because the Lord God had not yet made it rain on the land. And there was no person to ·care for [or till; work] the ground, but a ·mist [or stream] would rise up from the earth and water all the ground.

Then the Lord God took dust from the ground and formed a man from it [C there is wordplay between “ground” (adama) and “man” (adam)]. He breathed the breath of life into the man’s nose, and the man became a living person. ·Then the Lord God [or The Lord God had] planted a garden in the east [C probably east of Palestine], in a place called Eden [C related to a word meaning “luxurious”], and put the man he had formed into it. The Lord God caused every ·beautiful [L desirous to see] tree and every tree that was good for food to grow out of the ground. In the middle of the garden, God put the tree ·that gives life [T of life] and also the tree ·that gives the knowledge [T of the knowledge] of good and evil.

10 A river flowed through Eden and watered the garden. From there the river ·branched out [divides] to become four ·rivers [L heads]. 11 The first river, named Pishon [C otherwise unknown], flows around the whole land of Havilah [C otherwise unknown], where there is gold. 12 The gold of that land is excellent. Bdellium [C a sweet-smelling resin like myrrh] and onyx [C a precious stone] are also found there. 13 The second river, named Gihon [C a small stream in Jerusalem (1 Kin. 1:33), but here perhaps referring to another river], flows around the whole land of Cush [C often referring to Ethiopia, but here likely a place in Mesopotamia; see 10:7]. 14 The third river, named Tigris [C a major river in Mesopotamia], flows out of Assyria [C in northern Mesopotamia (present-day Iraq)] toward the east. The fourth river is the Euphrates [C a major river in Mesopotamia; the location of Eden is uncertain, but this passage suggests Mesopotamia].

15 The Lord God [L took and] put ·the man [or Adam; 1:27] in the garden of Eden to ·care for [or till] it and ·work [take care of; look after] it. 16 The Lord God commanded him, “You may eat the fruit from ·any tree [or all the trees] in the garden, 17 but you must not eat the fruit from the tree ·which gives the [T of the] knowledge of good and evil [C eating from this tree would make Adam, not God, the determiner of right and wrong]. If you ever eat fruit from that tree, you will [L certainly] die!”

The First Woman

18 Then the Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper [C in the sense of a partner or ally; the word does not imply subordinate status; see Ps. 79:9] who ·is right for [is suitable for; corresponds with] him.”

19 From the ground God formed every ·wild animal [L animal of the field] and every bird in the ·sky [heavens], and he brought them to the man ·so the man could name them [L to see what he would call them]. Whatever the man called each living thing, that became its name. 20 The man gave names to all the ·tame animals [beasts; livestock], to the birds in the ·sky [heavens], and to all the ·wild animals [L animals of the field]. But ·Adam [or the man; 1:27] did not find a helper that was right for him [2:18]. 21 So the Lord God caused ·the man to sleep very deeply [L a deep sleep to fall on the man/Adam], and while he was asleep, God removed one of the man’s ·ribs [or sides]. Then God closed up the man’s skin at the place where he took the ·rib [or side]. 22 The Lord God used the ·rib [or side] from the man to ·make [L build; construct] a woman, and then he brought the woman to the man.

23 And the man said,

“·Now, this is someone whose bones came from my bones,
    whose body came from my body [L At last, this is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh].
·I will call her [L She will be called] ‘woman [C Hebrew ‘ishshah],’
    because she was taken out of man [C Hebrew ‘ish].”

24 So a man will leave his father and mother [C in the sense of a new primary loyalty] and be united with his wife, and the two will become one ·body [T flesh].

25 The man and his wife were naked, but they were not ashamed.

Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array.(A)

By the seventh day(B) God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work.(C) Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy,(D) because on it he rested(E) from all the work of creating(F) that he had done.

Adam and Eve

This is the account(G) of the heavens and the earth when they were created,(H) when the Lord God made the earth and the heavens.

Now no shrub had yet appeared on the earth[a] and no plant had yet sprung up,(I) for the Lord God had not sent rain on the earth(J) and there was no one to work the ground, but streams[b] came up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground. Then the Lord God formed(K) a man[c](L) from the dust(M) of the ground(N) and breathed into his nostrils the breath(O) of life,(P) and the man became a living being.(Q)

Now the Lord God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden;(R) and there he put the man he had formed. The Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees(S) that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life(T) and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.(U)

10 A river(V) watering the garden flowed from Eden;(W) from there it was separated into four headwaters. 11 The name of the first is the Pishon; it winds through the entire land of Havilah,(X) where there is gold. 12 (The gold of that land is good; aromatic resin[d](Y) and onyx are also there.) 13 The name of the second river is the Gihon; it winds through the entire land of Cush.[e] 14 The name of the third river is the Tigris;(Z) it runs along the east side of Ashur. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.(AA)

15 The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden(AB) 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;(AC) 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil,(AD) for when you eat from it you will certainly die.”(AE)

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

19 Now the Lord God had formed out of the ground all the wild animals(AG) and all the birds in the sky.(AH) He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called(AI) each living creature,(AJ) 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[f] no suitable helper(AK) was found. 21 So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep;(AL) and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs[g] and then closed up the place with flesh. 22 Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib[h](AM) he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.

23 The man said,

“This is now bone of my bones
    and flesh of my flesh;(AN)
she shall be called(AO) ‘woman,’
    for she was taken out of man.(AP)

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

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

Footnotes

  1. Genesis 2:5 Or land; also in verse 6
  2. Genesis 2:6 Or mist
  3. Genesis 2:7 The Hebrew for man (adam) sounds like and may be related to the Hebrew for ground (adamah); it is also the name Adam (see verse 20).
  4. Genesis 2:12 Or good; pearls
  5. Genesis 2:13 Possibly southeast Mesopotamia
  6. Genesis 2:20 Or the man
  7. Genesis 2:21 Or took part of the man’s side
  8. Genesis 2:22 Or part