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

The Creation of Man and Woman

(A)These are the generations
of the heavens and the earth when they were created,
in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens.

When no (B)bush of the field[a] was yet in the land[b] and no small plant of the field had yet sprung up—for the Lord God had not caused it to rain on the land, and there was no man (C)to work the ground, and a mist[c] was going up from the land and was watering the whole face of the ground— then the Lord God formed the man of (D)dust from the ground and (E)breathed into his (F)nostrils the breath of life, and (G)the man became a living creature. And the Lord God planted a (H)garden in Eden, in the east, and there he put the man whom he had formed. And out of the ground the Lord God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. (I)The tree of life was in the midst of the garden, (J)and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

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

15 The Lord God took the man (M)and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. 16 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, 17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (N)you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat[d] of it you (O)shall surely die.”

18 Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; (P)I will make him a helper fit for[e] him.” 19 (Q)Now out of the ground the Lord God had formed[f] every beast of the field and every bird of the heavens and (R)brought them to the man to see what he would call them. And whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name. 20 The man gave names to all livestock and to the birds of the heavens and to every beast of the field. But for Adam[g] there was not found a helper fit for him. 21 So the Lord God caused a (S)deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. 22 And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made[h] into a woman and brought her to the man. 23 Then the man said,

“This at last is (T)bone of my bones
    and flesh of my flesh;
she shall be called Woman,
    because she was (U)taken out of Man.”[i]

24 (V)Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. 25 And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.

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Footnotes

  1. Genesis 2:5 Or open country
  2. Genesis 2:5 Or earth; also verse 6
  3. Genesis 2:6 Or spring
  4. Genesis 2:17 Or when you eat
  5. Genesis 2:18 Or corresponding to; also verse 20
  6. Genesis 2:19 Or And out of the ground the Lord God formed
  7. Genesis 2:20 Or the man
  8. Genesis 2:22 Hebrew built
  9. Genesis 2:23 The Hebrew words for woman (ishshah) and man (ish) sound alike