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

The Seventh Day—Rest

1So the earth, the sky, and everything in them were finished. 2God finished the work he was doing, so on the seventh day he rested from his work. 3God blessed the seventh day and made it a holy day. He made it special because on that day he rested from all the work he did while creating the world.

The First Man and the Garden of Eden

4This is the story about the creation of the sky and the earth. This is what happened when the Lord God made the earth and the sky. 5This was before there were plants on the earth. Nothing was growing in the fields because the Lord God had not yet made it rain on the earth, and there was no one to care for the plants.

6So water#2:6 water Or “a mist.” came up from the earth and spread over the ground. 7Then the Lord God took dust from the ground and made a man.#2:7 man The Hebrew word means “man,” “people,” or the name “Adam.” It is like the word meaning “earth” or “red clay.” He breathed the breath of life into the man’s nose, and the man became a living thing. 8Then the Lord God planted a garden in the East,#2:8 East This usually means the area between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers as far east as the Persian Gulf. in a place named Eden. He put the man he made in that garden. 9Then the Lord God caused all the beautiful trees that were good for food to grow in the garden. In the middle of the garden, he put the tree of life and the tree that gives knowledge about good and evil.

10A river flowed from Eden and watered the garden. The river then separated and became four smaller rivers. 11The name of the first river was Pishon. This river flowed around the entire country of Havilah.#2:11 Havilah The land along the west coast of the Arabian peninsula and possibly, the part of Africa south of Ethiopia. 12(There is gold in that country, and that gold is pure. A kind of expensive perfume and onyx are also found there.) 13The name of the second river was Gihon. This river flowed around the whole land of Cush.#2:13 Cush Usually this means Ethiopia, but here, it probably refers to the area north and east of the Tigris River. 14The name of the third river was Tigris. This river flowed east of Assyria. The fourth river was the Euphrates.

15The Lord God put the man in the Garden of Eden to work the soil and take care of the garden. 16The Lord God gave him this command: “You may eat from any tree in the garden. 17But you must not eat from the tree that gives knowledge about good and evil. If you eat fruit from that tree, on that day you will certainly die!”

A Companion for Adam

18Then the Lord God said, “I see that it is not good for the man to be alone. I will make the companion he needs, one just right for him.”

19The Lord God used dust from the ground and made every animal in the fields and every bird in the air. He brought all these animals to the man, and the man gave them all a name. 20The man gave names to all the tame animals, to all the birds in the air, and to all the wild animals. He saw many animals and birds, but he could not find a companion that was right for him. 21So the Lord God caused the man to sleep very deeply. While he was asleep, God took one of the ribs from the man’s body. Then he closed the man’s skin where the rib had been. 22The Lord God used the rib from the man to make a woman. Then he brought the woman to the man. 23And the man said,

“Finally! One like me,

with bones from my bones

and a body from my body.

She was taken out of a man,

so I will call her ‘woman.’”

24That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife. In this way two people become one.

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

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Genesis 2

Genesis 2