2
1So the heavens and the earth and everything else were created.
The seventh day
2By the seventh day God had finished his work, and so he rested.#Ex 20.11.#He 4.4,10. 3God blessed the seventh day and made it special because on that day he rested from his work.
4That's how God created the heavens and the earth.
The Garden of Eden
When the LORD God made the heavens and the earth, 5no grass or plants were growing anywhere. God had not yet sent any rain, and there was no one to work the land. 6But streams#2.6 streams: Or “mist”. came up from the ground and watered the earth.
7The LORD God took a handful of soil and made a man.#2.7 man: In Hebrew “man” comes from the same word as “soil”. God breathed life into the man, and the man started breathing.#1 Co 15.45. 8The LORD made a garden in a place called Eden, which was in the east, and he put the man there.
9The LORD God placed all kinds of beautiful trees and fruit trees in the garden. Two other trees were in the middle of the garden. One of the trees gave life—the other gave the power to know the difference between right and wrong.#Rev 2.7; 22.2,14.
10From Eden a river flowed out to water the garden, then it divided into four rivers. 11The first one is the River Pishon that flows through the land of Havilah, 12where pure gold, rare perfumes, and precious stones are found. 13The second is the River Gihon that winds through Ethiopia.#2.13 Ethiopia: The Hebrew text has “Cush”, which was a region south of Egypt that included parts of the present countries of Ethiopia and Sudan. 14The River Tigris that flows east of Assyria is the third, and the fourth is the River Euphrates.
15The LORD God put the man in the Garden of Eden to take care of it and to look after it. 16But the LORD told him, “You may eat fruit from any tree in the garden, 17except the one that has the power to let you know the difference between right and wrong. If you eat any fruit from that tree, you will die before the day is over!”
18The LORD God said, “It isn't good for the man to live alone. I need to make a suitable partner for him.” 19-20So the LORD took some soil and made animals and birds. He brought them to the man to see what names he would give each of them. Then the man named the tame animals and the birds and the wild animals. That's how they got their names.
None of these was the right kind of partner for the man. 21So the LORD God made him fall into a deep sleep, and he took out one of the man's ribs. Then after closing the man's side, 22the LORD made a woman out of the rib.
The LORD God brought her to the man, 23and the man exclaimed,
“Here is someone like me!
She is part of my body,
my own flesh and bones.
She came from me, a man.
So I will name her Woman!”#2.23 a man…woman: In Hebrew the words “man” and “woman” are similar.
24That's why a man will leave his own father and mother. He marries a woman, and the two of them become like one person.#Mt 19.5; Mk 10.7,8; 1 Co 6.16; Eph 5.31.
25Although the man and his wife were both naked, they were not ashamed.