1So the sky, the earth, and all that filled them were finished. 2By the seventh day God finished the work he had been doing, so he rested from all his work. 3God blessed the seventh day and made it a holy day, because on that day he rested from all the work he had done in creating the world.

The First People

4This is the story of the creation of the sky and the earth. When the Lord God first made the earth and the sky, 5there 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 the ground, 6but a mist would rise up from the earth and water all the ground.

7Then the Lord God took dust from the ground and formed a man from it. He breathed the breath of life into the man’s nose, and the man became a living person. 8Then the Lord God planted a garden in the east, in a place called Eden, and put the man he had formed into it. 9The Lord God caused every beautiful 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 and also the tree that gives the knowledge of good and evil.

10A river flowed through Eden and watered the garden. From there the river branched out to become four rivers. 11The first river, named Pishon, flows around the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold. 12The gold of that land is excellent. Bdellium and onyx are also found there. 13The second river, named Gihon, flows around the whole land of Cush. 14The third river, named Tigris, flows out of Assyria toward the east. The fourth river is the Euphrates.

15The Lord God put the man in the garden of Eden to care for it and work it. 16The Lord God commanded him, “You may eat the fruit from any tree in the garden, 17but you must not eat the fruit from the tree which gives the knowledge of good and evil. If you ever eat fruit from that tree, you will die!”

The First Woman

18Then the Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper who is right for him.”

19From the ground God formed every wild animal and every bird in the sky, and he brought them to the man so the man could name them. Whatever the man called each living thing, that became its name. 20The man gave names to all the tame animals, to the birds in the sky, and to all the wild animals. But Adam did not find a helper that was right for him. 21So the Lord God caused the man to sleep very deeply, and while he was asleep, God removed one of the man’s ribs. Then God closed up the man’s skin at the place where he took the rib. 22The Lord God used the rib from the man to make a woman, and then he brought the woman to the man.

23And the man said,

“Now, this is someone whose bones came from my bones,

whose body came from my body.

I will call her ‘woman,’

because she was taken out of man.”

24So a man will leave his father and mother and be united with his wife, and the two will become one body.

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

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Genesis 2

The Seventh Day

(Exodus 16:22–30; Hebrews 4:1–11)

1Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array. 2And by the seventh day God had finished the work He had been doing; so on that day He rested from all His work.#2:2 Cited in Hebrews 4:4

3Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because on that day He rested from all the work of creation that He had accomplished.

Man and Woman in the Garden

4This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord #2:4 Lord or GOD, with capital letters, represents the proper name of the God of Israel and the one true God, transliterated from the Hebrew as YHWH; here and throughout the Scriptures. God made them.

5Now no shrub of the field had yet appeared on the earth, nor had any plant of the field sprouted; for the Lord God had not yet sent rain upon the earth, and there was no man to cultivate the ground. 6But springs #2:6 Or mist welled up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground.

7Then the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed the breath of life into his nostrils, and the man became a living being.#2:7 Or a living soul; cited in 1 Corinthians 15:45

8And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, where He placed the man He had formed. 9Out of the ground the Lord God gave growth to every tree that is pleasing to the eye and good for food. And in the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

10Now a river flowed out of Eden to water the garden, and from there it branched into four headwaters:

11The name of the first river is Pishon; it winds through the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold. 12And the gold of that land is pure, and bdellium and onyx are found there.

13The name of the second river is Gihon; it winds through the whole land of Cush.

14The name of the third river is Hiddekel; it runs along the east side of Assyria.

And the fourth river is the Euphrates.

15Then the Lord God took the man and placed him in the Garden of Eden to cultivate and keep it.

16And the Lord God commanded him, “You may eat freely from every tree of the garden, 17but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; for in the day that you eat of it, you will surely die.”

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

19And out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air, and He brought them to the man to see what he would name each one. And whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. 20The man gave names to all the livestock, to the birds of the air, and to every beast of the field. But for Adam #2:20 Or the man, as in verses 19 and 21 no suitable helper was found.

21So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep, and while he slept, He took one of the man’s ribs #2:21 Or took part of the man’s side; similarly in verse 22 and closed up the area with flesh. 22And from the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man, He made a woman and brought her to him. 23And the man said:

“This is now bone of my bones

and flesh of my flesh;

she shall be called ‘woman,’

for out of man she was taken.”

24For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.#2:24 LXX and the two will become one flesh; cited in Matthew 19:5, Mark 10:7–8, 1 Corinthians 6:16, and Ephesians 5:31

25And the man and his wife were both naked, and they were not ashamed.

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Genesis 2

Genesis 2