Man and Woman in the Garden

These are the records(A) of the heavens and the earth, concerning their creation. At the time[a] that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens, no shrub of the field(B) had yet grown on the land,[b] 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(C) and breathed the breath of life into his nostrils,(D) and the man became a living being.(E)

The Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east,(F) 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,(G) as well as the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.(H)

10 A river went[c] out from Eden to water the garden. From there it divided and became the source of four rivers.[d] 11 The name of the first is Pishon, which flows through the entire land of Havilah,[e](I) where there is gold. 12 Gold from that land is pure;[f] bdellium[g] and onyx[h] 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,(J) which runs east of Assyria. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.(K)

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,(L) 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.”(M) 18 Then the Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper corresponding(N) 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.(O) 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[i] no helper was found corresponding to him. 21 So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to come over the man,(P) 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.(Q) 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.(R)

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

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Footnotes

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

These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created.

Another Account of the Creation

In the day that the Lord[a] God made the earth and the heavens, when no plant of the field was yet in the earth and no vegetation of the field had yet sprung up—for the Lord God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was no one to till the ground,(A) but a stream would rise from the earth and water the whole face of the ground— then the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground[b] and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.(B) And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he put the man whom he had formed.(C) Out of the ground the Lord God made 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 the knowledge of good and evil.(D)

10 A river flows out of Eden to water the garden, and from there it divides and becomes four branches. 11 The name of the first is Pishon; it is the one that flows around the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold, 12 and the gold of that land is good; bdellium and onyx stone are there.(E) 13 The name of the second river is Gihon; it is the one that flows around the whole land of Cush. 14 The name of the third river is Tigris, which flows east of Assyria. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.(F)

15 The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till it and keep it. 16 And the Lord God commanded the man, “You may freely eat of every tree of the garden, 17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die.”(G)

18 Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper as his partner.”(H) 19 So out of the ground the Lord God formed every animal of the field and every bird of the air and brought them to the man to see what he would call them, and whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name.(I) 20 The man gave names to all cattle and to the birds of the air and to every animal of the field, but for the man[c] there was not found a helper as his partner. 21 So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then he took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh.(J) 22 And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. 23 Then the man said,

“This at last is bone of my bones
    and flesh of my flesh;
this one shall be called Woman,
    for out of Man this one was taken.”(K)

24 Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother and clings to his wife, and they become one flesh.(L) 25 And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.(M)

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Footnotes

  1. 2.4 Heb YHWH, as in other places where “Lord” is spelled with capital letters (see also Ex 3.14–15 with notes)
  2. 2.7 In Heb the word for ground resembles the word for man
  3. 2.20 Or for Adam