5And every plant of the field before it sprung up in the earth, and every herb of the ground before it grew: for the Lord God had not rained upon the earth; and there was not a man to till the earth.

6But a spring rose out the earth, watering all the surface of the earth.

7And the Lord God formed man of the slime of the earth, and breathed into his face the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

8And the Lord God had planted a paradise of pleasure from the beginning: wherein he placed man whom he had formed.

9And the Lord God brought forth of the ground all manner of trees, fair to behold, and pleasant to eat of: the tree of life also in the midst of paradise: and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

10And a river went of the place of pleasure to water paradise, which from thence is divided into four heads.

11The name of the one is Phison: that is it which compasseth all the land of Hevilath, where gold groweth.

12And the gold of that land is very good: there is found bdellium, and the onyx stone.

13And the name of the second river is Gehon: the same is it that compasseth all the land of Ethiopia.

14And the name of the third river is Tigris: the same passeth along by the Assyrians. And the fourth river is Euphrates.

15And the Lord God took man, and put him into the paradise of pleasure, to dress it, and keep it.

16And he commanded him, saying: Of every tree of paradise thou shalt eat:

17But of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat. For in what day soever thou shalt eat of it, thou shalt die the death.

18And the Lord God said: It is not good for man to be alone; let us make him a help like unto himself.

19And the Lord God having formed out of the ground all the beasts of the earth, and all the fowls of the air, brought them to Adam to see what he would call them: for whatsoever Adam called any living creature the same is its name.

20And Adam called all the beasts by their names, and all the fowls of the air, and all the cattle of the field: but for Adam there was not found a helper like himself.

21Then the Lord God cast a deep sleep upon Adam: and when he was fast asleep, he took one of his ribs, and filled up flesh for it.

22And the Lord God built the rib which he took from Adam into a woman: and brought her to Adam.

23And Adam said: This now is bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called woman, because she was taken out of man.

24Wherefore a man shall leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they shall be two in one flesh.

25And they were both naked, to wit, Adam and his wife: and were not ashamed.

An historical text maintained by the British and Foreign Bible Society.

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Genesis 2

1So the creation of the heavens and the earth and everything in them was completed. 2On the seventh day God had finished his work of creation, so he rested#2:2 Or ceased; also in 2:3. from all his work. 3And God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, because it was the day when he rested from all his work of creation.

4This is the account of the creation of the heavens and the earth.

The Man and Woman in Eden

When the Lord God made the earth and the heavens, 5neither wild plants nor grains were growing on the earth. For the Lord God had not yet sent rain to water the earth, and there were no people to cultivate the soil. 6Instead, springs#2:6 Or mist. came up from the ground and watered all the land. 7Then the Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground. He breathed the breath of life into the man’s nostrils, and the man became a living person.

8Then the Lord God planted a garden in Eden in the east, and there he placed the man he had made. 9The Lord God made all sorts of trees grow up from the ground—trees that were beautiful and that produced delicious fruit. In the middle of the garden he placed the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

10A river flowed from the land of Eden, watering the garden and then dividing into four branches. 11The first branch, called the Pishon, flowed around the entire land of Havilah, where gold is found. 12The gold of that land is exceptionally pure; aromatic resin and onyx stone are also found there. 13The second branch, called the Gihon, flowed around the entire land of Cush. 14The third branch, called the Tigris, flowed east of the land of Asshur. The fourth branch is called the Euphrates.

15The Lord God placed the man in the Garden of Eden to tend and watch over it. 16But the Lord God warned him, “You may freely eat the fruit of every tree in the garden— 17except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If you eat its fruit, you are sure to die.”

18Then the Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper who is just right for him.” 19So the Lord God formed from the ground all the wild animals and all the birds of the sky. He brought them to the man#2:19 Or Adam, and so throughout the chapter. to see what he would call them, and the man chose a name for each one. 20He gave names to all the livestock, all the birds of the sky, and all the wild animals. But still there was no helper just right for him.

21So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep. While the man slept, the Lord God took out one of the man’s ribs#2:21 Or took a part of the man’s side. and closed up the opening. 22Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib, and he brought her to the man.

23“At last!” the man exclaimed.

“This one is bone from my bone,

and flesh from my flesh!

She will be called ‘woman,’

because she was taken from ‘man.’”

24This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.

25Now the man and his wife were both naked, but they felt no shame.

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Genesis 2

Genesis 2