²⁶ From one man^[a] he made every nation of humanity to live all over the earth, fixing the seasons of the year and the national boundaries within which they live,

⁷ So the Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground, breathed life into his lungs,^[a] and the man became a living being.

The Creation of the Woman

¹⁸ Later, the Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make the woman^[a] to be an authority^[b] corresponding^[c] to him.” ¹⁹ After the Lord God formed from the ground every wild animal^[d] and every bird that flies, he brought each of them^[e] to the man to see what he would call it. Whatever the man called each living creature became its name. ²⁰ The man gave names to all the livestock, to the birds that fly, and to each of earth’s animals,^[f] but there was not found a strength^[g] corresponding^[h] to him, ²¹ so the Lord God caused a deep sleep to overshadow the man.

When the man^[i] was asleep, he removed one of the man’s^[j] ribs and closed up the flesh where it had been. ²² Then the Lord God formed the rib that he had taken from the man into a woman and brought her to the man. ²³ So the man exclaimed,

²⁴ (Therefore a man will leave his father and his mother and cling to his wife, and they will become one flesh.) ²⁵ Even though both the man and his wife were naked, they were not ashamed about it.^[l]

²⁸ God blessed the humans by saying to them, “Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it! Be masters over the fish in the ocean, the birds that fly, and every living thing that crawls on the earth!”

²⁹ God also told them,^[a] “Look! I have given you every seed-bearing plant that grows throughout^[b] the earth, along with every tree that grows seed-bearing fruit. They will produce your food.