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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Berĕshith (Genesis) 2

1Thus the heavens and the earth were completed, and all their array.

2And in the seventh day#In (not ‘by’ or ‘on’) the seventh day - Hebrew: Bayyom haShḇi‛i. Elohim completed His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had made.

3And Elohim blessed the seventh day and set it apart, because on it He rested from all His work which Elohim in creating had made.

4These are the births of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that יהוה Elohim made earth and heavens.

5Now no shrub of the field was yet on the earth, and no plant of the field had yet sprung up, for יהוה Elohim had not sent rain on the earth, and there was no man to till the ground,

6but a mist went up from the earth and watered the entire surface of the ground.

7And יהוה Elohim formed the man out of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils breath of lives. And the man became a living being.

8And יהוה Elohim planted a garden in Ěḏen, to the east, and there He put the man whom He had formed.

9And out of the ground יהוה Elohim made every tree grow that is pleasant to the sight and good for food, with the tree of life in the midst of the garden and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

10And a river went out of Ěḏen to water the garden, and from there it divided and became four heads.

11The name of the first is Pishon, it is the one surrounding the entire land of Ḥawilah, where there is gold.

12And the gold of that land is good. Bdellium is there, and the shoham stone.

13And the name of the second river is Giḥon, it is the one surrounding the entire land of Kush.

14And the name of the third river is Ḥiddeqel, it is the one which goes toward the east of Ashshur. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.

15And יהוה Elohim took the man and put him in the garden of Ěḏen to work it and to guard it.

16And יהוה Elohim commanded the man, saying, “Eat of every tree of the garden,

17but do not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for in the day that you eat of it you shall certainly die.”

18And יהוה Elohim said, “It is not good for the man to be alone, I am going to make a helper for him, as his counterpart.”

19And from the ground יהוה Elohim formed every beast of the field and every bird of the heavens, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them. And whatever the man called each living being, that was its name.

20So the man gave names to all livestock, and to the birds of the heavens, and to every beast of the field. But for the man there was not found a helper for him, as his counterpart.

21So יהוה Elohim caused a deep sleep to fall on the man, and he slept. And He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place.

22And the rib which יהוה Elohim had taken from the man He made into a woman, and He brought her to the man.

23And the man said, “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh. This one is called ‘woman,’ because she was taken out of man.”

24For this cause a man shall leave his father and mother, and cleave to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.

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

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Genesis 2

Berĕshith (Genesis) 2